Carrie Musical Can Hold Her Own

broadwayworld.com reports that Carrie The Musical is a summer sensation for FlynnArts Summer Youth Theater.  The musical opened the program July 18 at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.

The broadwayworld article notes that 1988 flop and the 2009 "revamp."  So what's new?

2009 saw a major revamp of CARRIE by its creators, composer Michael Gore, lyricist Dean Pitchford, and bookwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, along with director Stafford Arima. The revision met with critical acclaim in a 2012 off-Broadway revival featuring Molly Ranson as Carrie White and Marin Mazzie as Margaret White. 

Of course, what's unique is FlynnArts choice to do Carrie as a "youth musical" with no one under the age of 19.  Broadwayworld raves, "There are no weak links in this cast, and many of the young actors display near-professional ability."

FlynnArts provides this age advisory for CARRIE, THE MUSICAL: Although bloody, Carrie is not actually gory. (The blood is a cruel prank meant to humiliate Carrie about the onset of her period.) Overall this is a tale of bullying and supernatural revenge (which will take an abstract form in this production - no gruesome violence.) Carrie's mother also demonstrates an abusive parenting style that some children (and adults!) might find disturbing to experience in close proximity. That said, we think most youth aged 11+ can handle the content with a parent or guardian present to field questions, and the ultimate anti-bullying message of the piece is a vital one for middle- and high-schoolers to grasp.