#1
Posted: 4/18/12 at 9:55am
It's like those Southerners who swear that they won the Civil War...
We didn't fail, we DIDN'T!
We didn't fail, we DIDN'T!
A response from a "Carrie" producer...
#2
Posted: 4/18/12 at 10:09am
Opinions about the show aside that really does read like she's trying to convince herself it was worth it.
And what young talent? The writers aren't young. The director isn't young. Sure the cast is, but almost every show has young people in the company. That's hardly exceptional to Carrie.
But again, my comments are not on the show itself, but that rather this defensive response.
And what young talent? The writers aren't young. The director isn't young. Sure the cast is, but almost every show has young people in the company. That's hardly exceptional to Carrie.
But again, my comments are not on the show itself, but that rather this defensive response.
....but the world goes 'round
#3
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:11am
I don't think she's defensive, she asserting the whole point of live theatre-to take risks. MCC took risks and created a piece of theatre that some enjoyed, some didn't. They also had a lot of young talent (many of whom are still in school-thats different from a Broadway ensemble.)
I appreciated her comments. I'm glad MCC produced Carrie.
I appreciated her comments. I'm glad MCC produced Carrie.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#4
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:18am
"We take risks" is my second favorite euphemistic defense of failure, after "we think outside the box."
Every show is a "risk" in that no one knows if it will succeed or fail. MCC takes no more "risks" than any other company.
Carrie is a boring evening of bad writing by a trio of elderly hacks; there was no unusual risk here; in fact, I imagine MCC may have believed they had a safe, guaranteed audience, forgetting that only a small (yet highly vocal) minority is obsessed with mega-flops.
Every show is a "risk" in that no one knows if it will succeed or fail. MCC takes no more "risks" than any other company.
Carrie is a boring evening of bad writing by a trio of elderly hacks; there was no unusual risk here; in fact, I imagine MCC may have believed they had a safe, guaranteed audience, forgetting that only a small (yet highly vocal) minority is obsessed with mega-flops.
#5
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:29am
I would like to add another perspective to “ ‘Carrie’ Revival, Now Dead, Has an Autopsy” (Arts pages, April 10) and to shed light on the raison d’être of not-for-profit theater, which is supported primarily by generous donors and not ticket sales.
...and commercial enhancement producers.
...and commercial enhancement producers.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#6
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:32am
This is awesome. I saw and did not like the Carrie revival, but this letter is exactly what theatre is about. It is 2012 and ain't none of this new.
Critics are always going to rip the avant-garde, new things and risks are scary. After awhile though, these new things catch-on and one day are honed into something awe-inspiring, but that takes time. Then eventually that turns into homogenized crap so the critics can rip it again.
Critics are always going to rip the avant-garde, new things and risks are scary. After awhile though, these new things catch-on and one day are honed into something awe-inspiring, but that takes time. Then eventually that turns into homogenized crap so the critics can rip it again.
#7
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:36am
I'm not entirely sure of your point, finebydesign - are you saying that you believe there was ever anything new or avant garde about the musical Carrie?
#8
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:37am
I don't think this revival was in any way "artistically risky". Commercially risky, yes but don't confuse the two. But this musical didn't work for a reason - It's just not a very good musical. You can dress it up, put lipstick on it and get her hair did but you're still taking a pig to the prom (no pun intended. Well, maybe a little one).
I'm glad they revisited the piece, it's one of the most notorious and famous musicals of all time and it deserved to be seen by the people who helped made it such and who obsessed over it relentlessly. But at the end of the day it's flaws far outweigh it's positives and it shows. So good for them for having the courage to do the show and to get it recorded. Now people can find another flop to obsess over until they get it revived. I'm hoping it's INTO THE LIGHT or RAGGEDY ANN.
I'm glad they revisited the piece, it's one of the most notorious and famous musicals of all time and it deserved to be seen by the people who helped made it such and who obsessed over it relentlessly. But at the end of the day it's flaws far outweigh it's positives and it shows. So good for them for having the courage to do the show and to get it recorded. Now people can find another flop to obsess over until they get it revived. I'm hoping it's INTO THE LIGHT or RAGGEDY ANN.
#9
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:39am
Press agents usually try to stop producers from sending ill-advised letters like this. Carrie wasn't cutting edge or risky in any way - more like MCC hoped a show would move to Broadway. It failed. There's not shame in that - you put on a show and people saw it. Now you move on.
#10
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:48am
I'm not saying it was new or avant-garde, but the idea of reviving something that was so maligned was a risk. They could have gone camp but went serious (as opposed to Xanadu).
My whole point is, that if a director, writer, singer, performer, dancer, artist want to do something I'm glad there are places like MCC. Julie Taymor sure does take a beating for doing her "experimentation" on such a large scale but we all know she has spent years developing her artistry by trial and error. In theatre you need to be able to fail. Otherwise you never know your audience, sometimes you want to piss people off, sometimes you want them to leave unhappy.
I love living in NYC because we get to catch the Carrie Revival. I saw a revival performance of God Bless Your Mrs. Rosewater once, these weren't supposed to be massive blockbusters. I also get to see shows like Carrie that come and go and disappear into the ether (both Wild Parties, Taymor's Green Bird) and countless off-off Broadway masterpieces.
My whole point is, that if a director, writer, singer, performer, dancer, artist want to do something I'm glad there are places like MCC. Julie Taymor sure does take a beating for doing her "experimentation" on such a large scale but we all know she has spent years developing her artistry by trial and error. In theatre you need to be able to fail. Otherwise you never know your audience, sometimes you want to piss people off, sometimes you want them to leave unhappy.
I love living in NYC because we get to catch the Carrie Revival. I saw a revival performance of God Bless Your Mrs. Rosewater once, these weren't supposed to be massive blockbusters. I also get to see shows like Carrie that come and go and disappear into the ether (both Wild Parties, Taymor's Green Bird) and countless off-off Broadway masterpieces.
#11
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:53am
I get what you're saying, but I don't really see how it applies to MCC. I've enjoyed a lot of what they've produced over the past several years, but there's nothing even remotely experimental about they plays they choose. They're regular plays, sometimes good, sometimes not so much. But avant or unusual? Never.
Updated On: 4/18/12 at 11:53 AM
#12
Posted: 4/18/12 at 11:56am
"Carrie is a boring evening of bad writing by a trio of elderly hacks"
To you. I, and many others enjoyed it. I feel she needed to reiterate this message because people forget this. Everyone can say thats a given, but then everyone is like, "why the hell did they do Carrie?"
To you. I, and many others enjoyed it. I feel she needed to reiterate this message because people forget this. Everyone can say thats a given, but then everyone is like, "why the hell did they do Carrie?"
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#13
Posted: 4/18/12 at 12:26pm
Sure, even the most awful show ever written (whatever that might be) has its fans. Some people liked Dance of the Vampires, and unironically, too, if you can imagine such a strange thing. Some people think soap operas and harlequin romances are good.
But the fact that Carrie shuttered early and played to quiet houses with lots of empty seats is proof that not enough people liked it for it to be considered any kind of success. And it isn't a "prestige" flop (like Follies), the kind that's championed by sophisticated audiences. It's just simply derided by most audiences.
But the fact that Carrie shuttered early and played to quiet houses with lots of empty seats is proof that not enough people liked it for it to be considered any kind of success. And it isn't a "prestige" flop (like Follies), the kind that's championed by sophisticated audiences. It's just simply derided by most audiences.
#14
Posted: 4/18/12 at 12:36pm
For thirty years I've been hearing that if we just took another crack at Carrie the world would see how beautiful it is! This was a doomed project from day one and they did it and it didn't click- again. This show has had a rabid, demanding cult that has championed it loudly for a long long time. Hats off to MCC for giving it a try, but small, rabid bands don't often translate into full cheering houses.
Mt only unfinished business with Carrie is will this production put a stake in the heart of the cult, or will it lay quietly for a year or two then rise up again, insisting THIS time, THIS TIME the world will celebrate the awesomeness that is Carrie!
(Hint: It will be the latter.)
Mt only unfinished business with Carrie is will this production put a stake in the heart of the cult, or will it lay quietly for a year or two then rise up again, insisting THIS time, THIS TIME the world will celebrate the awesomeness that is Carrie!
(Hint: It will be the latter.)
#15
Posted: 4/18/12 at 1:19pm
Though I ended up liking (not loving) CARRIE, mostly because of the performers, I don't think MCC failed, unless they lost $, (everyone says they didn't, but Someone paid for it and lost what they paid) The creators Did fail because they couldn't "fix" the show and prove their point.
#16
Posted: 4/18/12 at 1:37pm
"Some people liked Dance of the Vampires, and unironically, too, if you can imagine such a strange thing. Some people think soap operas and harlequin romances are good."
And who says they aren't good? You? I can't help but infer from reading your opinions that you consider them as facts instead of just your opinions.
and yes, some people liked DOTV. I did. I also liked Pillowman. Isn't that strange?
And who says they aren't good? You? I can't help but infer from reading your opinions that you consider them as facts instead of just your opinions.
and yes, some people liked DOTV. I did. I also liked Pillowman. Isn't that strange?
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#17
Posted: 4/18/12 at 1:46pm
newintown, you are sounding like you have an axe to grind. You are making some assumptions about the Carrie audiences. The audiences when I saw it (more than once) jumped to their feet and were very enthusiastic. Maybe it was for Marin or Molly, who knows, but the actors and audience would have been under the impression that it was well recieved.I know many people who had a good time-thats not saying it was viewed as high art.
When speaking to the actors they were saying every nights audiences were really effusive.
Also, the show ended its extension early, but ended up playing an extra week of performances. I had tickets for the original final performance.
I agree with Jane. You act like somehow you have the final word on this matter. Lots of people enjoyed Carrie-get over it.
When speaking to the actors they were saying every nights audiences were really effusive.
Also, the show ended its extension early, but ended up playing an extra week of performances. I had tickets for the original final performance.
I agree with Jane. You act like somehow you have the final word on this matter. Lots of people enjoyed Carrie-get over it.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#18
Posted: 4/18/12 at 1:50pm
JoeKv99, you needn't wait for the 'cult to rise'. We never fell.
I've said before and will say again right now, there is a production of this show that could be very fun and very successful without being 'camp' like Xanadu. Granted, the people who find the story too undignified or too pig's bloodsey for the stage will never like it, but so what?
The Arima production was most certainly not it.
If rights to this show are released for other production companies to do with as they will, it'll happen.
I've said before and will say again right now, there is a production of this show that could be very fun and very successful without being 'camp' like Xanadu. Granted, the people who find the story too undignified or too pig's bloodsey for the stage will never like it, but so what?
The Arima production was most certainly not it.
If rights to this show are released for other production companies to do with as they will, it'll happen.
Updated On: 4/18/12 at 01:50 PM
#19
Posted: 4/18/12 at 1:54pm
Jane, love the hat, and if you think soap operas and harlequin romances are anything other than garbage, then go, enjoy. But don't pretend you aren't the butt of jokes similar to those about people with plastic slipcovers on their furniture.
Betty, it's truly lame to hide behind the childish accusation that, because I disagree with you about the value of an awful show like Carrie I "have an axe to grind." It reduces the discourse to the sandbox level.
As for the show "playing an extra week" - if you know anything about nonprofit theatre in NYC, you know they all build the extension into the run from the start so they can proclaim that the their show is such a hit, it "extended." In essence, Carrie was always set to run until April 22; it closed on April 8. Early.
Maybe you thought Carrie was the apex of American musical theatre; good for you. But it might be better to live in the real world where the show closed early and was mocked and derided by most. If those "assumptions" weren't true, the show would be extending and making a profit. Simple as that.
Betty, it's truly lame to hide behind the childish accusation that, because I disagree with you about the value of an awful show like Carrie I "have an axe to grind." It reduces the discourse to the sandbox level.
As for the show "playing an extra week" - if you know anything about nonprofit theatre in NYC, you know they all build the extension into the run from the start so they can proclaim that the their show is such a hit, it "extended." In essence, Carrie was always set to run until April 22; it closed on April 8. Early.
Maybe you thought Carrie was the apex of American musical theatre; good for you. But it might be better to live in the real world where the show closed early and was mocked and derided by most. If those "assumptions" weren't true, the show would be extending and making a profit. Simple as that.
#20
Posted: 4/18/12 at 2:06pm
oy, newintown, oy vey.
No, I don't think soaps are high art, but the one I watched was fun and it gave me enjoyment. I don't know about harlequin romances because I never read one. I'm sure they are good to many people. I don't happen to have the need to make those people appear to be "wrong" or stupid for their opinions, as you do.
I'm the butt of jokes? Like people with plastic slipcovers? I wish you could see the smile on my face. Of course you don't know me, but if you did, you know how totally off you are. You don't know the first thing you are talking about re me.
You appear to have the need to make others feel stupid and wrong. You come on here, make fun of people who like things that you don't, and then you call them sensitive Susans if they complain. What are you, the gestapo?
You really are too much. thanks for liking the hat but buh bye.
No, I don't think soaps are high art, but the one I watched was fun and it gave me enjoyment. I don't know about harlequin romances because I never read one. I'm sure they are good to many people. I don't happen to have the need to make those people appear to be "wrong" or stupid for their opinions, as you do.
I'm the butt of jokes? Like people with plastic slipcovers? I wish you could see the smile on my face. Of course you don't know me, but if you did, you know how totally off you are. You don't know the first thing you are talking about re me.
You appear to have the need to make others feel stupid and wrong. You come on here, make fun of people who like things that you don't, and then you call them sensitive Susans if they complain. What are you, the gestapo?
You really are too much. thanks for liking the hat but buh bye.
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#21
Posted: 4/18/12 at 2:06pm
Ok,newintown, maybe you don't have an axe to grind. However based on reading the majority of your posts, you appear to be an angry and unhappy person who lives to deride others.
Enjoy life through your crap colored glasses.
You're very nasty to people and seem to enjoy the sandbox.
Enjoy life through your crap colored glasses.
You're very nasty to people and seem to enjoy the sandbox.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#22
Posted: 4/18/12 at 2:26pm
So this means it's coming to LA? 
"I never had theatre producers run after me. Some people want to make more Broadway shows out of movies. But Elliot and I aren't going to do Batman: The Musical." - Julie Taymor 1999
#23
Posted: 4/18/12 at 2:31pm
"You appear to have the need to make others feel stupid and wrong. You come on here, make fun of people who like things that you don't, and then you call them sensitive Susans if they complain."
Jane, that's probably the most accurate description of that particular poster I've read to date (well, I have seen one other in a PM, but it wasn't printable). A naughty boy who needs attention, and has to get it on a message board. Sad, really.
It is interesting, Bettyboy, that said poster frequently accuses others of childish behavior even as he's indulging in it. He's still name-calling - the only difference is that he uses a more adult vocabulary. It's still schoolyard behavior. I think Jane has it right, though - just ignore the nasty boy in the sandbox.
Thanks for the article, though.
Jane, that's probably the most accurate description of that particular poster I've read to date (well, I have seen one other in a PM, but it wasn't printable). A naughty boy who needs attention, and has to get it on a message board. Sad, really.
It is interesting, Bettyboy, that said poster frequently accuses others of childish behavior even as he's indulging in it. He's still name-calling - the only difference is that he uses a more adult vocabulary. It's still schoolyard behavior. I think Jane has it right, though - just ignore the nasty boy in the sandbox.
Thanks for the article, though.
Updated On: 4/18/12 at 02:31 PM
#24
Posted: 4/18/12 at 2:33pm
Ghostlight, I vaguely remember that poster saying she was a woman, but you never know on here!
<-----I'M TOTES ROLLING MY EYES
#25
Posted: 4/18/12 at 4:46pm
"MCC will continue to take risks."
I see I am not the only one laughing at the quote.
I see I am not the only one laughing at the quote.
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