The official rumor was that Emily Skinner was not happy with the show ON THE RECORD.
Having seen the tour, I will say that Ms. Skinner was in no way upstaged by Ashley Brown. However, it seems like Ashley Brown got the better notices.
That said, Emily Skinner was given the more mature, emotional works, while Ashley Brown got the big, belty numbers. If you were a lazy viewer, you would think Brown outshined, but it was who was assigned the material. Both actresses were great.
Plus, the show wasn't that great. There was a lame excuse for a book that was basically glances and head turns passing for plot/character development. I know that tour house in my community was disappointed in the almost complete lack of advertising support from Disney (who was in the thick of opening MARY POPPINS in London). The show was awkwardly made for adult audiences but targeted toward kids. The matinee I saw was badly attended and housed far too many young children for the nature of the show.
It's not that I didn't enjoy it (and I love the CD, a must-have), but it felt like someone was trying to make a quick-buck rather than really developing something great.
The show closed before the full tour was done. I think perhaps Emily Skinner was perhaps right.
How could "Carrie" have been directed by Terry Hands? (cue a billion of ignorant people's stupid predictible negative condescending answers who have never heard "when there's no one").
"There are only two worthwhile things to leave behind when we depart this world of ours: children and art."
-Sunday In The Park With George
I'm pretty sure that around here on the boards it seems fairly unanimous that the score to Carrie wasn't the problem and that particular song definitely is a highlight of the production.