Rebecca Gayheart Makes Musical Debut in Jawbreaker Musical — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Rebecca Gayheart makes her musical theater debut in Jawbreaker The Musical at Hudson Backstage Theatre, running through Sept. 20, playing Principal Sherwood — a role fused from two characters in the 1999 film.
- Director Darren Stein, who wrote both the original film and the musical's book, combined Ms. Sherwood (Carol Kane) and Detective Vera Cruz (Pam Grier) into one character that gains a transformation arc absent from the movie.
- Gayheart told Deadline she's "scared shitless" about singing her one solo, admitting "I'm not a singer" but planning to make the scene "entertaining and fun" regardless.
- The Principal Sherwood solo features whip-cracking choreography by Jay Jackson, known as Laganja from RuPaul's Drag Race.
- Gayheart hopes former Jawbreaker co-stars Julie Benz, Judy Greer, and Rose McGowan could each take turns playing the role during a potential West End run in London.
- Gayheart said she'd reprise serial killer Brenda Bates in a potential Urban Legend reboot, calling the character "ahead of her time" for letting a female be a justified killer.
Why it matters: The Jawbreaker musical marks a 27-year homecoming for both star and writer-director, with Stein reshaping his own film by merging the mousy administrator and tough-talking detective into one arc. For Gayheart, the debut is her first time doing a musical despite prior Broadway work in straight plays like Steel Magnolias — a deliberate stretch beyond her comfort zone into live singing and choreography.
Ask SkimNews
