CARRIE Reading? — Page 17

I know, eeek talking about a musical we love which recently got a new reading on a theatre board...whatever next?

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As i said Jane i just think thats wrong

If you look at a show like Legally Blonde, its targeted at one demographic, of course it has other fans but its mainly young girls.

Yet Carrie would get in fans of theatre purely because it would be an event, the younger crowd would come due to it been a thriller of sorts. The gay audience would come since Carrie is considered a gay fave, straight men and women would come because its seen as a bit different and not so 'theatre' etc

I think Carrie could find a huge audience

As i also stated, when it opened in the Stratford the show sold out in record time, this was before any hype about Carrie had begun, nobody at that point knew it was going to be infamous flop etc, they purchased tickets (higher priced tickets in comparison to normal RSC shows back then) based simply on the fact that it was Carrie.

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Well the producer always said if he did not fall in love with the show he would pass....he just was not having any Carrie loving haha

I still think there is a big chance it will be back very soon in one variation or another

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"Yet Carrie would get in fans of theatre purely because it would be an event ..."

And the "it's an event" audience would see the show within the first four weeks ...

".. the younger crowd would come due to it been a thriller of sorts..." But it's also a musical so it would turn off even more of the younger crowd than the sliver of a younger audience that would respond to a "thriller of sorts."

"The gay audience would come since Carrie is considered a gay fave..." I think that's stretching it. Like calling Levi Johnston a gay icon. Saying it doesn't make it so.

"straight men and women would come because its seen as a bit different and not so 'theatre' etc" Not so theatre, etc? How could an experience that involves going to a theater and sitting in seats and a curtain going up and people acting onstage and, even worse, bursting into song every so often, be, in any way, considered "not so theatre? etc?

"I think Carrie could find a huge audience"

Where? You've listed enough to sell tickets for maybe six weeks.

"As i also stated, when it opened in the Stratford the show sold out in record time, this was before any hype about Carrie had begun, nobody at that point knew it was going to be infamous flop" Yes, the key here is it sold out because people were excited to see a new musical with some sort of potential. That it didn't live up to it, that it is an "infamous flop," is the exact opposite of something that will motivate new audiences to buy tickets for it. Flop chasers will buy tickets, but they're a rare breed, and most of them, like Mr Roxy, wait until the house is being papered.

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"And the "it's an event" audience would see the show within the first four weeks ."
I think 4 weeks is a tad silly, that audience would keep it going for a good few months, and they would repeat

"but it's also a musical so it would turn off even more of the younger crowd than the sliver of a younger audience that would respond to a "thriller of sorts."

As was Rent, Wicked, Legally Blonde, Rock Of Ages etc etc which all bought new young people in to the theatre

"" I think that's stretching it. Like calling Levi Johnston a gay icon. Saying it doesn't make it so"

In a recent poll in Attitude Magazine i think it was Carrie was listed in the top 5 of commercial Horror/Thriller movies thats loved by the gay market, if you think of the subject matter its not hard to see why

"Where? You've listed enough to sell tickets for maybe six weeks. "
So straight couples, gay audiences, theatre people and new young audiences only keep a show running for 6 weeks, wow, broadway really is in need of help, maybe we can call in different life forms to boost the ticket sales, because if straight, gay, young,old, regular theatre goers and new audience members can only keep shows running 6 weeks then i have a tint feeling that Broadway is about to nose dive.

"the key here is it sold out because people were excited to see a new musical with some sort of potential. That it didn't live up to it, that it is an "infamous flop," is the exact opposite of something that will motivate new audiences to buy tickets for it. Flop chasers will buy tickets, but they're a rare breed, and most of them, like Mr Roxy, wait until the house is being papered"

As someone who is from the UK and had a close connection to the RSC i can tell you that Carrie sold well because people were excited about CARRIE the musical, not that it was a new musical.

This was not a show playing in the West End where the likes of Miss Saigon were opening at the same time, this was at the RSC.
The audience at the RSC are a tough sell when it comes to musicals but the idea of Carrie got them intrested (the press also picked up heavily on the show because it was Carrie, at one point people were predicting it would be a bigger hit than Saigon here).

The RSC house was also not papered at all, the show sold out very quickly and at one point talks were had about it extending its run because demand was so high, this was never gonna happen though as the Virginia was waiting.

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Thank you, Namo. Those are fascinating observations and as much as I wish you weren't right, you probably are. It's a very tricky sell of a show.

That being said, I hope the creators keep trying and the changes are for the better. Also, I hope to see it onstage live some day.

P

I'd actually like to hear what somebody like Jake Heggie or John Adams would do with The Shawshank Redemption.

Let's not lie... Stephen Sondheim with "It".

I've often joked that It should be a musical. The piece would need to be reconcieved a little.... the changes they made for the telefilm were good. I don't think we needed to see all the boys have sex with the girl when they were teenagers. Nor do I think we need to see that on a Broadway stage. But the right creative team could make it an extremely emotional roller-coaster of a musical. And a thriller to boot

"Get Out Of My Life (And Into The Painting)" - ROSE MADDER by Michael John LaChiusa

"Handcuffs On My Heart" - GERALD'S GAME by Adam Guettel

"(Just Like) Marilyn Monroe, Don'tcha Know?" - NEEDFUL THINGS by Larry O'Keefe/Neil Benjamin

"What Have You Seen In Room 217?" - THE SHINING by Kander & Ebb

"It's It/That's It" - IT by Andrew Lippa

P

Updated On: 12/10/09 at 11:27 PM

A few pages back someone claimed the producers pulled - and yes, nothing is going to happen now.

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I wouldn't say comic fans don't know it's out there- the musical was even recently referenced on The Simpsons, in a gag where the town billboard red "Spider-Pig the Musical- Songs by U2."

And as far as King adaptations that AREN'T jokes, there's a straight play and a musical of Misery, an opera based on The Man In The Black Suit, an original King piece with songs by John Mellencamp called Ghost Brothers, and a few others I don't remember.

But bear with me here... if Jason Robert Brown wrote The Green Mile, based on the award-winning book and film of the same name, tell me that wouldn't be the theater event of the year?