Carrie Musical Mixed With Movie Scenes

Get Immersed In Carrie

It's not enough to read Carrie, or see the movie, or listen to the musical -- it's time to experience it.

deadline.com posted news that Los Angeles' La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts will be converting its space on La Mirada Boulevard into into Ewan High School.  They are creating an “immersive theater” event that will put the audience "at the center of the action."  They are calling it "enviromental staging."  The program will open March 18, 2015.

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.

CARRIE musical original commercial

The original TV promo for the 1988 Carrie musical.

There Once Was A Musical Named Carrie

Not to be confused  with the current musical -- in 1988 there was a musical attempt at Carrie. The musical opened on Broadway May 12, 1988 and closed 3 days later. The show only ran a total of 16 previews and 5 performances. (FIVE!)

Playbill offers an interesting retrospective on the musical at playbill.com. (Be sure to view the  photo gallery)

Carrie: Book To Musical

Cohen Heads Back To Carrie

Lawrence D. Cohen, who wrote the 1976 Carrie screen play, is traveling to Beck Center on Friday, March 7 to see the Carrie musical for himself. He will also host a post-show talk to share his "CARRIE experience."

A broadwayworld.com article related that Choen offered a congratulatory note to Director Victoria Bussert, citing in particular her "creativity" in dealing with some of the technical challenges.

Is A CARRIE Musical Right For High School?

Aileen Wingblad (hometownlife.com) posted an article today about North Farmington Public School's and their decision to use Carrie The Musical as a high school play.  Appropriate?  Not so much, say some parents.  

Wingblad writes, "Supporters, though, say the story portrays the tragedies of bullying and nonacceptance — and invites thought on how to better deal with their consequences."

And objectors?  Well, here's an interesting point from Julie Devine, “I thought, ‘how arrogant, how insensitive and how reckless to put on a show that ends with a mass murder in a high school gym.’”


So take it to the principal, right?  “It pushes the notion of anti-bullying through a fantastical lens, It’s a look at difficult topics and engages people into thinking about it.”


What do you think?  Is A CARRIE Musical great for high school?

CARRIE THE MUSICAL heads to Ohio

Carrie is alive and well!

Mark Horning posted that Beck Center for the Arts and Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre Program are collaborating to co-produce "Carrie: The Musical."  The show will run from February 7 through March 9, 2014 on the Mackey Main Stage. Show times will be 8:00 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

The show is directed by Victoria Bussert (Director of Music Theatre at BWU) and stars Katherine DeBoer as the mother and Jodi Dominick as Mrs. Gardner, the phys-ed teacher (both appear courtesy of Actors Equity Association). Twenty actors from Baldwin University’s nationally recognized MT program make up the rest of the cast. Musical Direction is by Nancy Maier with Choreography by Gregory Daniels. The show features music by Michael Gore with lyrics by Dean Pitchford and book by Lawrence D. Cohen.

“I am very excited that the third annual Beck Center collaboration with Baldwin Wallace University Music Theatre program will bring Cleveland the local premiere of CARRIE the musical, based on the famous and infamous first novel by Stephen King,” remarked Bussert. “The collaboration has also brought highly-acclaimed productions of Spring Awakening and Next to Normal to the Beck Center stages.

Horning writes that the musical "pulses" with an  "amazing score ranging from high energy rock to epic melodies of nearly operatic proportion."

With a cast combining professional actors and Baldwin Wallace students, it promises to be a night you'll never forget!”

Tickets are

• $29 for adults 
• $26 for seniors (65 and older) with an additional $3 service fee per ticket applied at time of purchase. 
• $15 Student tickets with valid I.D. (includes service fee). 

 Purchase tickets online at beckcenter.org or call Customer Service at 216.521.2540, ext. 10. Beck Center for the Arts is located at 17801 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, just ten minutes west of downtown Cleveland. Free onsite parking is available.


www.examiner.com

BROADWAY WORLD: Carrie Musical Releasing Vocal Selections

Broadway World announced that Hal Leonard Will release vocal selections from CARRIE THE MUSICAL.  The book is looking toward a release  date of January 20, 2014 at $16.99

Broadway World notes:

Hal Leonard's folio offers 18 songs from that revival: Alma Mater, And Eve Was Weak, Carrie, Carrie (Reprise), Do Me a Favor, Dreamer in Disguise, Epilogue, Evening Prayers, I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance, In, A Night We'll Never Forget, Once You See, Open Your Heart, Unsuspecting Hearts, When There's No One, Why Not Me?, The World According to Chris, and You Shine, plus unforgettable color photos.

And they give this  brief history of the musical: "Before becoming a musical, the novel Carrie was famously adapted for the screen in the 1976 Brian DePalma film of the same name starring Sissy Spacek. Since then, in its various incarnations, it has become an iconic pop culture brand all its own, making the Ghostlight Records release a highly-anticipated event."

The full article  is at www.broadwayworld.com

Hoboken Children's Theater runs with CARRIE

Get this. . .

Lisa Capps, who over the years has reprised multiple roles in Broadway productions of 'Les Miserables,' will star in the Hoboken Children Theater's upcoming musical, "Carrie," based on the Stephen King horror novel.

Which sounds cool -- except a Children Theater ?  What am I missing here?

hoboken.patch.com

 

Carrie Heads To The Philippines

Theater actress Mikkie Bradshaw as Carrie in Atlantis Productions' locol staging of the Broadway musical. -- Photo from the theater company's official Facebook page

Wow, look who's getting a lot of attention these days -- Carrie!  Miguel Dumaual, ABS-CBNnews.com, says that the 1998 Broadway Musical will be coming to the Philippines via Atlantis Productions.

The musical version of Carrie is set in the present, in the Chamberlain, Maine.  It appears high school bullying is something people can identify with world wide.

Coinciding with the debut run of "Carrie: The Musical" in the Philippines, Atlantis Productions will also release a four-track EP of the play featuring the local cast.
The local production will run until October 6.

the  full article is at: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

CARRIE Musical Headed To Los Angeles

A revised version of the Carrie musical is headed to Los Angeles.  The musical will run September 13-November 2.

So what's "revised" about it?  carrieinla.com posted: "Outrageous, controversial and completely thrilling, CARRIE comes to LA in a blazing new immersive production sure to be the theatrical event of the year."

Carrie Still Grabs Us

Remember how at the end of the 1976 De Palma version of Carrie, Carrie's hand reached from the grave?  It  was great!  And in a way, it was a deeply symbolic scene.  De Palma was making good  horror, not intending to symbolize anything.  But the truth is, Carrie still grabs us, doesn't she?

There are still Carrie stage plays, a major Broadway musical just wrapped up -- even after a major flop -- the book has been made into an audio book and in 2013 it will be a major motion picture. . . again.

Sissy Spacek did the unabridged audio edition in 2005 -- Twenty Nine years after she starred in the original  movie.  It's like Carrie just reached out and grabbed her.

Question: Why all these editions of a young writers first novel?  
Answer: Because Carrie still grabs us.

The writer of Carrie has gone on to do many other things.  Has he outdone Carrie?  I think in strict terms of writing, he has.  King is a much stronger, engrossing writer now than he was when Carrie was written.  But the story itself has not been "outdone" by King.  It continues to engage us, draw us in and fascinate us.

Stephen King has gotten older, yet Carrie remains eternally young.  New editions come like waves, retelling this strange story of a kid with powers that could blow the entire town of Haven off  the map.

Here  are the raw elements that make Carrie so powerful:

1. We all identify in some way with Carrie.  We've all been tormented in some way, cruelly picked on in Junior High or High School.  It was "middle school" in the town where I grew up, and it was terrible!

Before Carrie reached from the grave, she reached from the trashcan!  Stephen King's wife saved the novel from the trash can.  She was moved by it, thought it was powerful, and convinced King to return to the book.  What's so powerful about it?  Why does it touch us so deeply?  Come on -- the thing starts in a locker room!  Who hasn't  endured that agony?  Worse, for girls, Carrie suffers her  first  period in a pubic and scary scene.  The sense of shame, embarrassment  about her own body and teasing are all things almost everyone can identify with (though women can identify more directly with the period thing).

2. We all identify in some way with Carrie's tormentors.  Many of us have found ourselves on the wrong side of picking on someone else. Belittling someone, joining in or piling on -- and in our hearts, we were disappointed in ourselves.

3. Crazy people really do exist.  Mrs. White might be nuts, but she is the kind of nut who is not so far out there that  we can't all say, "Yeah, I know someone a little like that!"  She has a twisted theology that allows her to hate (in her case, hate men).  She believes that being hard on herself, and Carrie, will result in God's approval, resulting in self-righteousness.

from www.facebook.com/CarrieMovie

Religious nuts have the ability to miss the full sweep of the Gospel and pick up on bits of minutia -- twisting them into their own strange doctrine.  They particularly love prophecy, since no one can "prove" them wrong (in their own minds, at least).  Did anyone see the postings recently for the new  Carrie movie on facebook?  They showed  notes from Carrie with quotes from Revelation.  No doubt this is the work of Mrs. White.  Revelation is the favorite book of the religious weirdo.  There aren't just a few of these people!  There are so many, most of us have encountered more than one.

SIDE NOTE. . . what does the note mean?  A lot  to crazy people!  But to sane people, not much.  Wormwood: Revelation 8:11 , Revelation 9:10 Scorpions.  You can make whatever you want of such symbols, if you don't worry about context. . . and when it comes to Bible exposition, Mrs. White does not worry about context. 

4. Carrie nukes her oppressors.  It's wonderful!  She gets even with those who hurt her.  We look forward to seeing everyone get what they deserve.  Or, put another  way, Carrie pays off.  Some books don't.  They tease  and play and then leave you empty.  (Try the Needful Things movie for an example of hollow endings).  But with Carrie, the bad guys get sunk!  In fact, she does what everyone wants to do from time to time -- she drops burning heaps of revenge down on her  tormentors.

Another  "Bully" book that gets remade a lot is Steinbeck's "Of Mice And Men."  The book also has a surprise ending that leaves us talking and rethinking things.  I wouldn't change the ending even if I had the power to . . . but I would like a choose your own adventure on that story.  How about Carrie White lend Lennie Small her powers for a moment and let him do in the big bad farm hands, who are nothing more than taunting teenage girls.

5. It doesn't take King long to get his work done.  Carrie is a short novel.  Any adaptation follows the  same pattern of torment and  then revenge.  But a nice thing about Carrie -- the revenge sequences are not a quick tack on at the end.  In Carrie, we get to relish her powerful revenge.  There are a lot of "oh yeah" moments as Carrie brings down the house.

6. Surprise -- We keep going back, partly, because we want to see HOW exactly she'll carry out her revenge in each edition.  I like De Palma's version best, where mama gets a strange form of crucifixion.  More than that, De Palma lets Carrie reach from the grave. . . very nice!

I asked my wife, "Why does Carrie continue to have such life?  Why does the story about a tormented school girl get so many editions?"  She said it is a timeless story, yet as years go by it lends itself to  new perspectives.  So the story remains essentially, but allows  room for creativity.  This is exactly why I am looking forward to the new Carrie movie.

For a novel written in 1974, Carrie continues to  have an amazing grip on us.

Carrie: I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance

playbill.com has posted an article  titled, "THE SCREENING ROOM: Exclusive Look at Carrie's "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance"  (HERE)  The music is very good.

Carrie Musical Audio CD

Cemetery Dance has announced that you can now purchase a copy of the Carrie Musical Audio CD. The publisher is Ghostlight, the cost is $15.99

From Cemetery Dance:

The long-awaited, first ever Carrie cast recording is finally here, ending the almost quarter century wait for an official release. 

Bootlegging of the show's intense and stirring song cycle had reached unprecedented levels for a musical over the years among its devout following. This fan-base is now growing exponentially as Carrie is a hot, officially licensable property for high schools, colleges, and theatre companies across the nation. 

Stephen King's classic fable has become a staple of mainstream pop culture from the bestselling novel, to the Academy Award® nominated film, to this legendary musical, the latter of which had not been seen or heard since its 1988 Broadway production--until now. Twenty-four years on, the show's original authors teamed with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale. 

Set today, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the film), music by Academy Award® winner Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award® winner Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose). The cast features Tony Award® nominee Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) as Carrie's evangelical mother, Margaret White, and the stunning Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) as the lonely, vengeful, yet fragile girl at the center of it all.

Track Listings

1. In
2. Carrie
3. Open Your Heart
4. And Eve Was Weak
5. The World According To Chris
6. Evening Prayers
7. Dreamer In Disguise
8. Once You See
9. Unsuspecting Hearts
10. Do Me A Favor
11. I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance
12. A Night We'll Never Forget
13. You Shine
14. Why Not Me
15. Stay Here Instead
16. When There's No One
17. Prom Arrival
18. Unsuspecting Hearts (Reprise)
19. Dreamer In Disguise (Reprise)
20. Prom Climax
21. Alma Mater
22. The Destruction
23. Carrie (Reprise)
24. Epilogue

Purchase it HERE

Sound Track For Carrie Musical

Broadway World has noted that Amazon.com is releasing a CD titled, "premiere cast", a recording for CARRIE: THE MUSICAL.  The CD is set to be released September 25.

Broadway World gives this brief history of the musical:

Off-Broadway's reworked and re-imagined production of Carrie, the musical, had its first preview on January 31, 2012, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The show opened officially on March 1, 2012. Carrie was forced to cut short its previously announced extension and closed following the evening performance on Sunday, April 8, 2012, after 34 previews and 46 performances. 

Based on Stephen King's bestselling novel, the musical of Carrie hadn't been seen since its legendary 1988 Broadway production. The show's original authors joined with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) and MCC Theater for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of the gripping tale. 

The full article is HERE

Carrie: The Mother Of All Prom Horror Flicks

I enjoyed Brian Truitt's USA Today article, titled, “Horror films squeeze the life out of proms.”

What King story could have come to Mr.Truitt’s mind as he penned this article?  Perhaps. . .  CARRIE?!

Truitt cites Scott Weinberg from FEARnet.com as saying that the prom is an ideal backdrop for horror movies, and that it is “surprising that more movies haven't mined the theme.”  More movies haven’t mined the theme?  Well, Carrie alone has mined the theme!  She’s stayed at it with adaptations in the 70's, 80's, 90's and right past Y2K (remember that?)  to the present day – she’s still mining the theme!

Carrie gets around.  Let’s see, just off the top of my head, Carrie has been:

• A book
• A movie
• A TV movie
• A Broadway musical
• A play
• A teen play about bullying
• now a new movie that promises to be more faithful to the source material.

If we go with the quick count, then there have been at least seven different versions of Carrie.  That means this one story alone has ruined the prom 7 times.

Truitt compares the theme’s found in Carrie to the new movie The Loved Ones, writing:

The original is a classic, with Sissy Spacek's bullied title character having her one shining prom moment ruined by a bucket of pig blood (though she exracts revenge). The Loved Ones is a similar story of "a girl who never really had a chance because she had such a messed-up socialization," says first-time writer/director Sean Byrne. "It's a candy nightmare."

Truitt goes  on to discuss with Weinberg the upcoming Carrie remake, citing Weinberg as saying that he thinks the new crew will "do justice to the original which remains the mother of all prom horror flicks."

Weinberg  said:

"That slaughter in the gymnasium is pretty crazy," he says. "De Palma, love him or hate him, lets you know visually they're trapped. They're all going to die. You expect her to get her revenge, but I don't know, man, that's pretty harsh." 

So, tell me. .  . was Carrie's revenge too "harsh"?  My vote is no!  But I did like the TV remake a lot, which added a hopeful ending and some likable  side characters.

The full article is HERE.

CARRIE Interview: Molly Ransom

Andrew Gans has posted a great interview with the star of the Carrie musical, Molly Ransom.


Asked how she could describe Carrie, Ransom responds:

“Carrie is an outsider… I think she's just a normal high school teenage girl, who wants, more than anything, to be loved and respected and accepted—to be accepted by her peer group and have a loving relationship with her mother. But things don't really work out for her very well.”

When Gans asked if she had a favorite moment in the show, Ransom said she likes the end, when she gets to destroy. . . well, everything!  She sees the “message” of Carrie being about bullying and notes that King was ahead of his time.  She notes that Piper Laurie attended a performance, and suggests that there will probably be a recording done of the musical.  She says that she acted in an independent movie called “Franny”, but doesn’t know when it is coming out.

The full interview is HERE.

Here are some highlights posted at playbill:

Carrie News

Picture Credit: HERE

Carrie certainly is a popular story!  A couple of items concerning Carrie:

MUSICAL

Broadway world has announced that the musical Carrie will not fulfill it's announced extension.  That means it will close April 8.

The directors are quoted as saying:

“MCC, the authors, and the director achieved what we all set out to do – to rescue Carrie from oblivion and to give her new life. Plans are underway to preserve this production for Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, so it may live on in the memories of the thousands of theatergoers who saw and loved it.”  (Full story HERE)

Hold on!  What are they talking about?  "Rescue Carrie from oblivion"?  All that work was simply about rescuing the old musical?  This was to save face?  Surely not!  It seems like they're closing up shop and saying, "Well, we did better than last time.  Yeah. . . YEAH!  In fact, we saved the previous musical.  And, come to think of it, that's what we intended to do all along."

REMAKE:

Now. . . on to the Carrie remake.  Claude Brodesser-Akner posted an article at Vulture.com titled: "We hear the top candidates for the Carrie remake are. . ."

• Chloë Moretz (15) and Haley Bennett (24).  Now hold on. . . so one of these ladies is 15, and the other is 24. Meaning they'll be at least 16 and 25 when filming starts.  Can you imagine a 25 year old Carrie?
• For the part of Carrie's crazy mama, Julianne Moore is being considered.
• The film will be directed by Kimberly Peirce.

So why make a remake of an already great film?  Got me!  I dunno.  Why not remake Salem's Lot or Fire-Starter.  Dread Central offers this explanation:

Uncle Creepy over at Dread Central offers this explanation: “The script for this latest reboot has been written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, whose rewrite work helped save Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark on Broadway. Aguirre-Sacasa set out to write a version of Carrie that is more faithful to the King book and more grounded than the Brian De Palma-directed original film.”