CARRIE Reviews — Page 5

"And yes, you may have the critics on your side, but who gives a damn about critics anymore!? Movie critics, book critics, theater critics? No one cares what they have to say anymore and people go to see what they want to see."

Umm...yeah people still do care what critics think. Theater is expensive. I often look at reviews to see if a show is something that I want to take the risk and spend money on. And I can usually tell by a review if I'm going to like the show or not...even if the review is negative.

I've been interested in seeing Carrie because of the notoriety of the original production and I'm a big Stephen King fan. I've been waiting for the reviews to see if it's something worth spending money on. And judging from these reviews the answer is no. I have no interest in going to see a Carrie that plays it safe. What's the point?

I'll save everyone some time.

Critics are irrelevant
Brantley is the only relevant critic
Brantley is not as relevant as he used to be
I liked Carrie
Carrie will never be good
My opinion is the only valid opinion

The end.

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Bravo Jemstar! I'm with you on both counts: the negative vitriol on this board that is hypocritically presented or defended as an "exchange of ideas"; and that Carrie, despite some things that don't really work so well, works rather well overall. I found it inventively staged, entertaining and moving both times I saw it as well. And it got standing ovations both times I attended it too.

Good grief. Does anyone here let the critics decide if you are going to like a show or not ? Come on, honestly ? It's all a matter of opinion, and everyone has a different one. I personally enjoyed Carrie over Phantom of the Opera. So, there you go.

Loved this bit from the AP review--spot on:

What doesn't fit is the attempt from a group of men on the other side of 40 to sound like teenagers. The action is updated to present day, but the dialogue and lyrics smack of "Porky's."

"Oh, c'mon, church-girl — dance with me. I'll make you see God," the head bully teases Carrie at one point, although he looks more like he's in grad school than high school. In one song, three boys sing: "We better get laid! It's the least we deserve, after everything we've paid."

Two secondary characters — Tommy, the cliched big-hearted star football player and secret novelist (a solid Derek Klena) and his girlfriend, the all-around Miss Perfect who tries to show compassion to Carrie (an underused Christy Altomare) — look lifted from Archie Comics. One thing that might get cut immediately: the closeted gay bully who has a fondness for his male friends.

Stagegrade's aggregated grade is a C, based on all the reviews.
Stagegrade

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There really is no fault here.

Carrie just isn't a very good musical.

You can't have a musical when the music isn't very good. You can't have a musical about a menstrual period without it seeming tacky. And you can't have a musical when one of the main characters---- (the mother) is not totally written, underdeveloped and makes no sense.

She loves her child so much that she doesn't want her to go to the prom because she may get hurt. She goes to the prom and she gets hurt and then the mother kills her. WTF. This makes no sense. No matter who plays her. I dont care if it's Marin Mazie, Betty Buckly, Ethel Merman, Harvey Fierstein or Mary Martin.

Wait. Harvey or Ethel may have worked but
the whole musical 1988 and present wreaks of tawdriness. Which is why Harvey or Ethel May have worked.

I went to see it because I missed it in 1988, I was curious. I wanted to see what all the talk was about. Apparently the "talk" was about the overblown, over the top, over produced aspects production of Carrie in 1988.

Stripped of all the overblown and over produced aspects....what is left is a tawdry tale that possibly should never have been musicalized and just isn't very good.

And instead of being overproduced, this production looks cheap. Let's call it a noble effort and let's move on.

Those boys are telling it like it is, except when they identify the clueless geezer-writers as "middle-aged;" what, are they going to live to 120?

But I think they've got it exactly right that the writing deserves nothing but derision.

Feingold, as the one real critic writing in NYC, says it best and most succinctly.

Patty and Emily posted their review of Carrie if anyone is interested. It's pretty funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bqpD9CWC-E