Are Lea and Idina really staring in Carrie?

[finishmyhat]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:50am

Anyone seen this??

http://glee.community.fox.com/go/thread/view/100198/25002065/Glee_Cast_Members_in_2011_Revival_of_CARRIE_THE_MUSICAL


"Internet buzz is all ablaze! Check comments on TalkinBroadway and BroadwayWorld.com...

Carrie the Musical will return to Broadway in 2011 and GLEE CAST MEMBERS LEA MICHELE AND IDINA MENZEL are in talks to star as Carrie and her crazy mother.

For those who don't know, the show opened (and closed) in 1988 and is consdiered the biggest flop in Broadway history. Many agree the disaster lied in the hands of horrid director Terry Hands and cracked-out choreographer Debbie Allen. Advocates of the show, many PROFESSIONALS IN THE BUSINESS, agree the show could succeed if reworked. The score is one of the strongest written in the 1980s.

A reading was held in New York last year with a cast Broadway names. Producers feel that with bigger stars (i.e. Menzel and Michele), the show may produce a large enough box office advance to finally become the hit it could have been.

STAY TUNED!"

Please say it's not true.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:52am

Broadway? As the gals sing in the shower, "Dream onnnnnnnnnnn..."

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:57am

Many agree the disaster lied in the hands of horrid director Terry Hands and cracked-out choreographer Debbie Allen.

"lied in the hands"????

"cracked-out"???

Obviously this was not written by a professional in any business

[Joey.]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 2:12am

Staring at what?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 2:17am

I hate both of them with a passion.

[best12bars]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 3:46am

... because nothing says "an obsessively insane Christian missionary and her religiously abused daughter" like Idina Menzel and Lea Michele.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 3:53am

The answer to the question is probably not. Lea's name seems to get attached to a lot of rumors, and she has a hit TV show to film most of the year and concerts related to it. She doesn't have time to recreate a role in a new production right now.
I don't really think Idina's voice is right for Mrs. White. I would say this is all just rumor.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:04am

Eris -- I'm not sure if you were joking or nor, but the writer is obviously simply a fan of glee -- so likely a 15 year old.

What a horrid thing to say about Debbie Allen. And really, when would Michele ever be able to prep for a fall opening, and just how long could her contract be for. Ridiculous. (and it would be awful.)


If that somes true, I'd eat my hat.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 10:13am

That depends: is Lea Michele going to wear a fatsuit or are people involved in some version of Stephen King's story going to pretend Carrie isn't picked on because she's the fat weirdo with the crazy Christian mother?

Besides, we all know this is the perfect vehicle for Laura Benanti and Patti Lupone to star in.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:17pm

Sissy Spacek isnt' fat, didn't wear a fat suit. Her portrayal was pretty amazing. Kids get picked on for lots of reasons, none of them JUST because of one things.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 1:27pm

I'd go see it.

[baritonepride]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 2:31pm

I'd check it out.
Although I feel the need to correct something in the OP. Menzel *is* a Broadway name. Michele is now more of TV name.
Just annoys me when Broadway stars with legit powerhouse voices (i.e., Mendel) get associated w/ a pop culture phenomenon like GLEE, because it implies that the only thing of importance the star is associated with is the PC phenomenon.
[/rant]

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/7/11 at 7:52pm

dramamama, the original novel and the Broadway musical specify she's overweight. Carrie is fat, super-religious, shy, annoying, and utterly forgettable. If you misunderstand my point about size, I'll clarify.

A beautiful thin girl is not going to have as much impact as someone who many audience members will already look at and underestimate. The two film adaptations and the unofficial Carrie adaptation that starred a drag queen a few years ago made her rail thin and beautiful. That makes her an instantly sympathetic character which was never King's intentions. This is a girl who goes on to murder her entire high school class because of a prank. If there's even a chance that Carrie could genuinely be accepted, the story falls apart. Why cast a well-known and beautiful girl in a role meant to isolate the character as much from the ideals of teenage beauty?

Spacek sold it because of her talent, taking on a very hunched and apprehensive posture and struggling to get even the most simplistic sentences out without sounding like she was going to die from an anxiety attack. She had the room to do that because the film spent a lot of time building up the drama and filling in the backstory through other characters.

I don't think this musical has the room to allow a bombastic riffing singer like Lea Michele to paint Carrie in subtle shades of unfortunate. You have to look at this girl and know she's had a hard life and I don't buy that from Michele. I don't buy humble or quiet, either. It's not right to judge someone before they play a role, but people would walk in expecting Rachel Berry and would try to connect the dots between Carrie and Rachel that are superficial at best.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 8:14am

continuing trentsketch's line of thought, if she starts out and we can see that she is at least pleasant to look at it, it sort of takes away from her prom moments. If she is gawkish and awkward looking (which I feel both Spacek and Bettis portrayed) then seeing her at the prom in a nice dress and all cleaned up and looking homley but pretty gives you the hope needed to make the ending that much more tragic.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 11:40pm

It would be a joke to not cast Carrie's mother as Alice Ripley.

Carrie wouldn't be serious with lea and idina. Lea is way too pretty, and she would look beautiful on stage, instead of how Carrie was meant to look. Idina would be okay, I think! I enjoy her skills :)

[tourboi]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 11:44pm

I might just start crying if this ever came to pass.

I want the show back, but not with two of my least favorite performers ever.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/8/11 at 11:49pm

Kristin & Laura Bell Bundy should do it.

[LegallyBroadway2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 8:41am

I think Lea would be a great Sue. Perfect role for her. And idina would be a better mrs. gardner. Now, I'd love it more if that were the casting!

Who could play Chris? Chris Colfer?

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 10:38am

LUV!!!!!! I dont care how it gets to Broadway. Just get it the hell back on the boards!!!! ;o)

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 12:16pm

According to this casting call, they still need cast the role of Miss Gardner.

http://www.playbill.com/jobs/find/job_detail/36819.html

[newintown]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 12:38pm

Of the thousands of idiotic threads on this site, this might be the most idiotic...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 1:58pm

This is a girl who goes on to murder her entire high school class because of a prank. If there's even a chance that Carrie could genuinely be accepted, the story falls apart.

Sorry, but I have to disagree. Carrie murders her high school class because of the culmination of a lifetime abuse until she ultimately snaps from the ultimate show of public humiliation. She was used to being "pranked", but what happens at the prom goes so far beyond what would be considered a prank. And yes, there has to be the element of Carrie's acceptance by at least some of her peers. It is essential to the arc of the story (why else would Carrie attend the prom?). Without it, there is no element of suspense in what has become a classic and familiar story.

It would be a joke to not cast Carrie's mother as Alice Ripley.

Considering her most recent track record, I don't think she'd have the vocal stamina. Emily Skinner would be my first choice for Mrs. White. And I'd much rather see Lea Michele as Chris than Carrie or Sue. Bring in a fresh new face for Carrie. It would help eliminate audience preconceptions and maker her transformation more effective. I don't remember anyone taking issue with not being familiar with Linzi Hately.

And while I hated the original staging and some of the choreography, Debbie Allen's work for the opening number was astounding. That took a tremendous amount of physical and vocal stamina to get through In followed up by little down time to transition into Dream On.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 2:02pm

"Carrie wouldn't be serious with lea and idina. Lea is way too pretty, and she would look beautiful on stage, instead of how Carrie was meant to look."

That was my immediate thought.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 2:09pm

I think Judy Kuhn would make a great Margaret.

Why am I posting in this thread?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/9/11 at 2:15pm

LOVE Judy Kuhn! Good one, doodle. She needs to be back on Broadway. Marla Schaffel could work, too. Or if they really wanted to go out there, a primarily African-American cast with Audra as Mrs. White and La Chanze as Miss Gardner. Of course, I'm just speculating and I know it would require careful casting and direction to keep it from becoming a cliched story of racism in America, but I think it's an interesting approach on the material.