Performance Date – 5 February 2012

The newly revised production of the musicalization of the Carrie story is alive and well at the Lucile Lortel theatre this winter.  Due to the immortal failure of the original Broadway production (1988 – played 16 previews and only 5 performances ), questions about this telling of the tale of  Carrie White have been replayed in the minds of  theatrical types for years.  Can it be revived? Can it be re-worked? Why was it such an infamous flop? These questions and more are answered in the current production that brings to the forefront the thematic element of School Bullying.

The title character as played by Molly Ranson in the current show is less schizo-weirdo (created by Sissy Spacek in the film version, 1976) and more a hopeless child-abuse case that is trying her best to make her way through that awkward phase known as High School. We feel true compassion for this character throughout the piece and even though the majority of viewers already know how this tragedy is to play out, we are drawn to root for this character and hope that she can succeed in getting out unscathed. Molly Ranson is a joy to watch as she weaves her way through this truly tiresome and difficult life split between her off-the-wall mother and the cruelty that can be inflicted by one’s peers.

Marin Mazzie, playing the role of Margaret, Carrie’s estranged mother, is flawless! She has all the cool collectiveness of a woman in her daily struggle to do what’s right and trudge through her mundane life while at the same time releasing her manic fits of derangement with such precision-timing and skill that you will almost question the actresses’ sanity at points. Her vocals are truly glorious in both aural pleasure and speaking for the character. This is glorious casting at it’s best. Her songs are, easily some of the best moments in the show and the tug-of-war between mother and daughter is a good example of great theatre within this sometimes “hokey” script and sub-par lyrics.

The producers of this version have decided to update the setting of the story to take place in current times, which is neither here nor there. No compelling reason was established, apart from the obvious strengthening of the School Bullying theme, which really is the apparent driving force in this particular re-write.  Albeit the costuming would be more interesting if it were to be set in the period in which the story was written. Another noteworthy change from the original Broadway is the addition of a narrative structure by one one of the characters, Sue Snell. It has been added, apparently to bridge the gap between audience and tale and ends up lending a very didactic approach to story-telling. This stage convention attempts to show us that this tragedy was not brought about in vain.

Awkwardly, not all of the songs in this production ring true. The writers, Dean Pitchford (lyrics) & Lawrence Cohen (music) could have done a bit more work to contemporize the songs in this production (although the arrangements are truly great) considering the artistic choice to update the script. There are moments when one sits there thinking, “why are they singing about this”? which is clearly not a good sign in Musical. Truly only a few numbers need re-writing in order to provide a viable “new version” that would be marketable in the current times. The title song, “Carrie,” in particular is unfortunately very weak, and about 3 verse/choruses too long. Which might not be so bad if it weren’t the second song in the show. A fan-favorite, “Unsuspecting Hearts,” made memorable by it’s inclusion on the album of duets by Alice Ripley and  Emily Skinner in their post Side Show collaboration (1998) is a melodic show-stopper as sung by the character of the school gym teacher, Miss Gardner who is skillfully portrayed by Carmen Cusak(originally played in the film by Betty Buckley who went on to play Margaret in the original Broadway Production). This is the best song in the show and one that many an audience member wishes would have been worked into the fabric of the entire score a bit better. Particularly the last moment in the show when the ensemble reprises some other not-so-great tune as a reflection on the events… we just wanna hear the good song again!

And for readers interested in “hot things beary” there is a special treat for you, one of the characters that is playing against Carrie throughout, Billy Nolan (played by John Travolta in the film) is played by relative newcomer Ben Thompson @B_ThompsonNYC .  Woof. We will definitely be seeing more of this beefy, beardy, big guy in shows to come. His vocals are great, his dancing is great and he has impeccable presence on stage. (Worth the ticket price).

This one doesn’t come around all that often, kids… they have recently extended the run til the end of April 2012… get down there and see it! It’s a piece of musical theatre history that’s playing here right now!