‘Jawbreaker’ Musical Coming To LA With Rebecca Gayheart Returning

EXCLUSIVE: Well, peachy fuckin’ keen! Darren Stein‘s 1999 teen cult classic Jawbreaker is getting the stage musical treatment this fall in Los Angeles.

Debuting in September at Hollywood’s Hudson Theatre, Rebecca Gayheart is returning 27 years after starring in the original, for Jawbreaker The Musical, a limited workshop engagement based on the movie written and directed by Stein, in which a group of high school girls accidentally kills their best friend in a birthday prank gone wrong and have to cover up the crime.

Gayheart (Broadway’s Steel Magnolias), who played reluctant popular girl Julie Freeman in the film, is starring in the musical as Principal Sherwood (originated onscreen by Carol Kane). Additional casting will be announced soon.

Returning to the treacherous halls of Reagan High, Jawbreaker The Musical is described as a high-gloss teen thriller that follows the rise—and unraveling—of a ruthless clique of teenage girls whose reign of power takes a deadly turn. Fueled by the adrenaline of a pop concert and laced with biting humor, the musical explores the intoxicating—and often dangerous—nature of power, identity and survival in a world obsessed with status. Learn it. Live it. Love it.

Directed by Matt DiCarlo (The Comedy About Spies) with choreography by Jay Jackson (RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranja), the musical features a book written by Stein, with original music by Jeff Thomson (Pump Up the Volume) and lyrics by Jordan Mann (Trails). It’s produced at Hudson Theatre by Knot Free Productions.

“It feels right to launch the musical in LA where the film was shot and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the team we’ve assembled,” said Stein.

Premiering at Sundance in 1999, Jawbreaker was initially a box office flop, before soon becoming a cult classic for its razor-sharp satire and stylized camp aesthetic. The film also stars Rose McGowan, Judy Greer, Julie Benz, Pam Grier, Marilyn Manson and Tatyana Ali.

Stein previously debuted a Jawbreaker musical in 2010, co-written with Thomson and Mann, with stars like Elizabeth Gillies, Joanna ‘Jojo’ Levesque, Frankie Grande, Kate Flannery and Jenna Leigh Green attached in various presentations.