CARRIE Reading?- Page 17

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:03pm

This has really gotten worse than a bunch of straight guys talking about their fantasy football league.

[Dantes]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:19pm

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

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:24pm

"I do think the pull out was probably due in large part to difficulty in targeting an audience for the show. Like I said before - it would obviously appeal to theatre people just based on the novelty and the history - but I'm not sure who would be the real target audience."

Not surprised at all. That's the very reason I stated pages ago why Carrie wouldn't be a hit - too esoteric.

[Dantes]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:30pm

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.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:34pm

Perhaps, Dantes. However, I don't know the producers who were originally involved in this undertaking, but I trust that they spent plenty of time on this problem and couldn't come up with a winning plan.

[Dantes]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:36pm

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

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:42pm

I hope so too because I'm definitely in the demographic for this show.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 8:57pm

"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.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 9:04pm

Namo, you know I love you, but isn't there another thread for you to haunt since you find this one so distasteful?

Or are you enough of a masochist/hypocrite to make fun of and rip apart a thread only to seriously participate in it moments later? Just curious.

P
Updated On: 12/9/09 at 09:04 PM

[Dantes]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 9:12pm

"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.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 9:17pm

I don't find it distasteful. I'm just surprised there is so much fantasy about this show. Remember, I actually saw it the first time around. Nobody has fantasized a single aspect that I believe would make this property viable, financially or artistically. Dreaming up falsehoods like mythical hordes of young people who would see it because it in some way isn't theatre is exactly sort of thing that needs a cold hard bucket of reality splashed on it.

There is one way this show could thrive and there's no way to get away with it. You have to make Carrie a bad good guy and you have to make the other kids basically good bad guys and you have to cheat on the ending, a la Wicked. You turn it into a girl empowerment show and you make the young female audience sympathize with the oddball (because even cheerleaders nowadays say they're nerds, nobody ADMITS to being popular because they feel it would threaten any real popularity they have) while secretly letting them know they're the cool kids for seeing the show.

And everybody has to survive.

That's it. That's the ONLY way Carrie could be a modest success on Broadway. In other words, they'd have to alienate you Carrie fetishists from the get-go.

Glad to have been of service to this thread.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 12/9/09 at 9:21pm

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

[Gavin Rehfeldt]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 3:19pm

All of this is why a concert version, perhaps for charity, would be the best way to present Carrie.

Thinking about it, what other King novels should be adapted for musical theater? Who might write them?

The Stand! by Boublil and Schonberg?

IT! by Jason Robert Brown?

The Dark Tower! by Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman... (are they alive?)

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 3:45pm

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

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 4:13pm

"The Dark Tower! by Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman... (are they alive?)"

Uhry was just in LA with Parade. Not sure about Waldman.

[Disneyland Magic Man]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 9:55pm

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

[Gavin Rehfeldt]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 11:21pm

I can see The Clown's production number "Beep Beep (Richie)" coming to life. Maybe we should just write a song review of theater pieces adapted from various Stephen King works.

"Here's Johnny!" from Shining!

"We've Got A Dog Problem" from Cujo!

"(Why Can't My Driver) Love Only Me?" from Christine!

"Something's Come Back (From the Pet Semetary)" from Burial Ground

Ok, time to watch some season 5 LOST with commentary and make some mulled wine. See ya!

[Pgenre]

Posted: 12/10/09 at 11:27pm

"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

[camncal]

Posted: 12/27/09 at 10:25pm

so what was the end result of the reading? not going to happen?

[binau]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 2:26am

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

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 4:44am

MANY shows die with a reading. Or even after SEVERAL readings. It's not uncommon. I think it would be a HUGE uphill battle to try to again sell ANY show that flopped as famously as did Carrie.

And I totally agree with Namo -- I don't think the audience is there. For the most part you have to appeal to the established Bway audience...if you can't get them to support your show, word of mouth won't happen. And word of mouth is how you get to the NON b'way people to finally attend a show.

Spidermman isn't going to naturally bring in comic book people, because they don't even know it exists yet. (for the most part) They have no reason to know because Bway doens't really exist for them. Once it opens, and people they know SEE it and TALK about it, then they beging to trickle in and then tell other comic book fans THEN will your target audience BEGIN to be introduced. Even that is a gamble.

Right now; my theater kids (even the boys) are NOT interested in seeing it. They think it sounds ridiculous or like a 'kids' show. My NON theater kids, dont know of it's existence...and would be turned off by the idea of a musicsl of Spiderman. And yes, I'm sure there are exceptions, but I am talking as a whole -- they had an opportunity to chose to see it on April trip....and out of a list of 15 shows it EASILY came in in the bottom third of their choices. (Good thing now that it probably won't BE open.) And that's a little bit of a shame as I WANT to see what a 50 million dollar musical looks like: I don't want to spend MY money to do so. (I go for free.)

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 10:54am

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?

[Gavin Rehfeldt]

Posted: 12/28/09 at 3:23pm

I found a Misery musical theater piece (I didn't see it referred to as an opera, but I haven't heard it yet, so..) recently and am intrigued.

Comic books fans cover such a broad spectrum right now it is hard to gauge. Some know about the SM musical, but many don't want to know anything beyond Green Lantern: Blackest Night at the moment. They might lift an eyebrow if someone mentioned the Branagh Thor film, but after many poorly executed comic to film adaptations the typical comic book fan isn't too concerned with comic book movies.

BUT, every hardcore Spiderman fan is curious to see it, no doubt about it.