Carrie: The Musical Experience
A little history.
Carrie is one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw it when I was 16 and it got me. Not just the ending (although my friend
grabbed my wrist out of fear at the same moment as the screen shot, that was
fun), but the whole thing. The build
from start to climax, the music, the use of split screen were all tremendous as
a build up to the ultimate scenes. I
especially enjoyed the homage to Psycho (Bates High School, the violins, the
edits before she got into the bath) and the symbolism (the school’s mascot was
a bee, an insect that stings once and dies).
And the casting, wow. Piper
Laurie was amazing. Amy Irving gave what
I consider her best performance, just the right amount of underperformance to
get the point home. William Katt, he was
just adorable. The sparkle in his eye
was what you wanted to see when he asked Carrie out and when they subsequently
began to discover their feelings. Nancy
Allen, who was just the right mixture of hot and bitch. P.J. Soles with her goofiness. Betty Buckley
with her caring and maternal instincts.
I’ve always felt it was Travolta’s best role. And Sissy Spacek as Carrie. Perfect.
Brilliant transformation. Loved
her and loved the movie (can you tell).
About 20 years ago or so (I don’t remember and honestly it’s
not necessary to be exact), I heard they were making a musical. My first thought was, how? My next was, where can I see it? If I recall it was either far off Broadway or
in London or something. I remember
reading that Betty Buckley was playing the mother (thought that was a great
idea) and then it disappeared. One of
those many shows that open and close and no one is the wiser. Jump forward to a few years ago. I heard about the production again. I found the music on Amazon (and bought it). And I waited for the opportunity to arise for
me to see it. That opportunity appeared
on October 17, 2015. And I took it. I got two tickets for the 11:00 PM (yep 11 at
night) show.
The doors of the theatre were decorated to appear as if
there were people inside struggling to get out.
They were frosted over (to appear as if the theatre was full of smoke)
and you saw hands, or arms, or heads pressed against the inside of the
glass. Very cool. Throughout the lobby there were prom posters
and tables with flowers and sashes and tiara’s.
The signs (indicating the rest room, the lobby, the balcony) had bloody
handprints. There was one whole room
decorated to look like the farm where an innocent pig would give up its life
for a practical joke. Another small room
had been done up to look like a locker room with a wall of showers and a bloody
message “Carrie White Eats Shit” scrawled across it. There was an empty ball room with balloons
and a disco ball and the remains of furniture.
A locker, Carrie’s, with books and a statue of the Virgin Mother. In the Men’s room, aside from the bloody handprints,
one mirror had the words, They’re all going to laugh at you, written in
blood. Talk about getting you in the
mood.
The play itself was performed in the round on the stage of
the theatre. You enter through what looks
like the entrance to a school gym and the seats are actually bleachers. Three sections, Sophomores, which were in the
back and highest up, Juniors, which were closer but just behind the Seniors, 4
sections of 4 rows of bleachers, 6 across a row. We were soon to find out that the Senior
bleachers moved throughout the play to get you into the action. For example (and minimal spoiler alert)
during the infamous shower scene (while Carrie writhes on the floor being
pelted by . . . well, you know), the seats are moved right into the
action. In a way, making you as guilty
of intimidation as Carrie’s school mates.
I am not going to go through a scene by scene reconstruction
or analysis; I strongly recommend taking the opportunity to see this play when
it comes to your town. I do want to say
that it is potentially the best theatre experience I have had in a long time,
be it community theatre, semi professional, or professional. The staging was unique but necessary for the
show to work as it did. The acting was
top rate. You pitied Carrie, you
understood Sue, you fell for Tommy, and you hated (yet were charmed by)
Chris. The absolute best performance was
Carrie’s Mom. Wonderful voice and in a
role that has the potential to go too far, restrained. Really enjoyed the music (especially now that
I had some additional context from the CD I’ve owned for 2 years). And the effects, great. In many cases you had a sense of how the
telepathy was being executed, but it really didn’t matter. It drew you in. One fun note, when the blood dropped on her
(and I was thinking they would use streamers or sparkles or something, but they
used real, well stage, blood), I felt a little something on my wrist. I looked and there were two drops on my
arm. I later discovered a little more on
my shirt. This just added to the
moment. There’s a part of me that hopes
it doesn’t wash out of the shirt. Oh
yeah, and there is nudity in the shower scene.
The beauty of this production was that it wasn’t a horror
story. Where the movie, and to some
extent the original book, seemed to be more about suspense and scares, on
stage, the story is more about the characters and their interactions. It wasn’t about the prom and what happened
there, it was more about how and why they got there. It’s difficult for me to actually put the
feeling into words but I wouldn’t call this play a scary play, it was much more
a drama. A study of actions and
resulting consequences.
Finally, the true test of a play to me is the desire to see
it again. Well, I was ready to go back the
next day. And I still will try to see it
while it’s running in Los Angeles.
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