Broadway Breakdown: Matt Reviews ENGLISH, TEETH, ALL IN, and Something Different…

Host: Matt Koplik
Date: January 24, 2025

Overview

This episode is a rapid-fire, opinion-packed collection of Matt Koplik's reviews and hot takes on four current NYC theatre happenings: the just-closed musical Teeth, Broadway’s new Pulitzer-winner English, the experimental solo project Telemachus, and the buzzy, starry All In: Comedy About Love. Matt brings his signature mix of insider tidbits, no-bullshit analysis, and irreverent language to dissect what works, what flops, and what deserves your attention—or not—on New York’s stages right now.

Written for listeners ranging from deep musical nerds to casual Broadway fans, this episode includes:

• Scene-setting Tony Awards eligibility updates (01:45)
• A deep-dive review of Teeth, the Off-Broadway cult-hit musical (11:15)
• A rapid, cutting rundown of All In: Comedy About Love (43:28)
• A thoughtful exploration of English and its impact (51:01)
• An ode to the innovative solo piece Telemachus (1:29:26)

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tony Awards Eligibility Recent News (01:45 – 11:15)

• Matt explains the chaos caused by new Tony eligibility rulings, including last-minute changes about who is considered a lead or featured (e.g., Jennifer Simard for Death Becomes Her, Helen J. Shen for Maybe Happy Ending) and the surprising reclassification of Eureka Day as a revival.
• Matt schools listeners on reading between the lines with billing. "If there’s something that you’re hoping to read that isn’t there [in Tony eligibility news], go to the opening night credits of the show you’re thinking about and that’ll give you a better idea.” (09:32)
• Sharp speculation on the implications for the nomination races, especially in the crowded leading and featured actress in a musical categories.

2. Review: TEETH, the Cult Camp-Horror-Feminist Musical (11:15 – 43:28)

Summary & Context

• Teeth is a new musical by Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop) and Anna K. Jacobs, based on the 2007 cult horror film about a teenage girl with vagina dentata.
• Matt saw both the Playwrights Horizons world premiere and the New World Stages commercial run; he breaks down what changed and why.

Notable Analysis

• “The show is very much meant to be funny… even when things get, quote unquote, scary and, you know, sexual assault-y, there is a wink to all of it.” (20:12)
• Matt gives a vivid plot summary: Don, a religious teen, navigates purity culture, church patriarchy, and an awakening superpower—her lethal anatomy.
• Discusses the production’s playful camp tone, meta-theatrical blood-splatter ("splash section"), and why certain changes to pacing greatly improved Act 1.
• On changing the cast: “Andy Karl definitely leaned more into the camp vibe… I preferred Pasquale as the pastor and I preferred Andy Karl as the doctor.” (34:09)
• Matt’s blunt assessment on why Teeth didn't run longer Off-Broadway: “It is too expensive a show to run Off-Broadway. The financial model just did not make sense. They needed it to sell at like 90% or 95% capacity at every performance in order to just like, break even.” (40:49)
• Praises the dedicated fanbase and predicts cult status for years to come.

Memorable Moments / Quotes

• "It's just a very delightfully weird, slightly horror, slightly campy, slightly feminist musical that I think a lot of people will probably dislike. But it will have its fans, and the fans that it does have will be committed to it probably forever.” (42:30)
• "If you need 200 to 300 seats to be paying 150 bucks every time for a show like this, you've got to rethink how you're going to do it.” (41:03)
• “There’s a lot of endorphins that you get when a show is absolutely in your wheelhouse. ... That’s what Teeth is for some people.” (43:00)

3. Review: ALL IN: Comedy About Love (43:28 – 51:01)

Summary & Context

• A “comedy about love” built around Simon Rich short stories, featuring a cast in constant rotation (originally John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Richard Kind, later Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Rannells, A.D. Bryant, etc.), directed by Alex Timbers. The Bengsons provide interstitial music.
• The show is essentially four actors reading witty stories from chairs, with lighting and projections.

Notable Analysis

• "This is not a play. It’s not even really a TED Talk. It is story time for adults." (44:49)
• Matt is unimpressed, calling it “highway robbery” given ticket prices and minimal production value, though he admits the performers are charming.
• Feels the writing is clever at best, “but it’s overall not really substantive in any way. It’s not hilarious and it’s not deep.”

Memorable Moments / Quotes

• “Of the 90 minutes I spent there, I would say that I laughed a total of five minutes sprinkled throughout. Maybe even less than that.” (46:55)
• “This is not something that offended me as a piece of art—maybe it offends me a bit in terms of the pricing—but… it’s just sort of there.” (48:45)
• "We're gonna forget about it so soon. That's why I'm not really gonna talk about it much more after this." (49:50)

4. Review: ENGLISH (Roundabout Theatre Company, Broadway debut) (51:01 – 1:29:26)

Summary & Context

• 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Sanaz Toossi about a classroom of Iranian English learners and their teacher, exploring identity, longing, and the pain/joy of learning a new language.

Notable Analysis

• Praises the acting ensemble: “This has really been a phenomenal season for acting ensembles—this, Eureka Day, Cult of Love, Hills of California, O Mary… Everyone is in service to everyone on stage.” (53:40)
• Outlines the five main characters, their motivations, and how language operates in the play as both barrier and identity shaper.
• Explores staging choices: English is spoken with accent/as broken English; Farsi is played as flawless English (until, in the finale, the actors actually speak Farsi with no subtitles—a deliberate act to put the audience in the students' shoes).
• Shares the playwright’s reaction to audience discomfort at the unsubtitled Farsi: “If you can’t sit in the discomfort of not knowing what someone else is saying for, you know, no more than three minutes, then you absolutely did not understand anything about this play, which is totally fair.” (1:23:45)
• Connects the play to broader discussions of language, assimilation, and the artistic duty to make stories specific—not didactic or universally “positive.”
• Affirms lead Tala Ashe’s awards prospects and commends Roundabout for producing such work.

Memorable Moments / Quotes

• “No one wants to sound or feel stupid. And when you have a limited vocabulary as you are learning a new language, it's so easy to just feel stupid. That is probably like the number one thing that gets at our sensitivity." (57:32)
• On audience discomfort in a show’s ending: "…that question [about not providing subtitles] ultimately says more about you as the audience than it does about me [the playwright]." (1:24:39)
• “You don't have to enjoy it, you don't have to like the play, but you need to try to understand what the play is doing before you can make a statement about it." (1:25:38)
• “Not everything worth seeing is on Broadway. Not everything worth seeing is even finished… Some things you see are going to challenge you, they're going to bore you a little bit. But there is something special in nothing but pure creativity and channeling what you are passionate about.” (1:30:12, as segue to next section)

5. Review: TELEMACHUS (1:29:26 – End)

Summary & Context

• A solo, workshopped performance project by Joseph Medeiros: the first four books of Homer’s The Odyssey, performed in Ancient Greek for a small audience.
• Medeiros uses creative, homespun props, projections, audience participation (s’mores!), and personal storytelling.

Notable Analysis

• Finds it a stunning feat of creativity, even if outside his theatre "wheelhouse".
• Applauds Medeiros’ ingenuity using everyday objects ("turns a blue pillow to an ocean", “soccer jerseys for Penelope’s suitors”), and the show’s playful spirit of communal storytelling and permission to disengage ("You have permission to be bored. It's important to know what happens to our brain, where our minds go when we're bored.").
• Draws a larger lesson about the value of challenging, experimental theatre—and the need for audiences to seek out work that's not easy, familiar, or commercial.

Memorable Moments / Quotes

• "[It] reminded me and reminds us all that there is so much out there beyond just Broadway, beyond just musicals, beyond just the English language. Inspiration can come anywhere." (1:35:50)
• “Telemachos is absolutely the thing I remember the most vividly and the most passionately about… even the times when I was bored, this was so inspiring in its magnitude and in its personal components.” (1:37:30)
• "You don't know you're only drinking Sanka until you've tasted coffee.” (1:39:40)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Tony Eligibility Announcements & Insights: 01:45 – 11:15
• Teeth Review & Deep Dive: 11:15 – 43:28
• All In: Comedy About Love Review: 43:28 – 51:01
• English Review & Analysis: 51:01 – 1:29:26
• Telemachus Review & Broader Reflections: 1:29:26 – End

Final Thoughts & Tone

• Matt wraps up by urging listeners to take risks on unfamiliar or challenging theatre: “If you consider yourself a lover of theater, see as much different theater as you can. See Telemachos, see Teeth, then see English and wash it all down with a performance of Aladdin if you so choose. Or Moulin Rouge or Titanique. There's merit in all of it, right?” (1:36:46)
• The tone blends blunt honesty, erudite theatre knowledge, and casual profanity: informed, irreverent, and passionate throughout.

For Follow-Up & Further Interaction

• Matt invites questions on the Discord Channel (especially about Teeth and English) and hints at an in-person event in NYC, February 8th at the Marriott.
• The Come From Away episode is promised soon, with self-aware running-gag energy.

In Summary:
A jam-packed, colorful episode blending sharp industry takes and detailed critical reviews. Matt celebrates what’s great and mercilessly skewers the forgettable, making a strong case for why curiosity, open-mindedness, and risk-taking are still the heart of a vibrant theatre-going life.