I remember a lot, but as its many years ago, some details might be a bit sketchy…
When you first entered the theater, I remember it being painted all black and the audience being lit in red light. As a regular theater goer, this was quite striking. It set the mood perfectly. I don't remember if there was a unique stage curtain, but there might have been.
Instead of the regular process of dimming the house lights, the show opens with a blackout perfectly timed to a loud chord from the opening note of the overture. It was spooky and perfect. I was immediately captivated and ready to be enthralled. (Word was that Carrie was a disaster, but I had already seen many shows that I enjoyed that arrived with negative press, so I remember being exciting and ready to enjoy this despite what I had heard).
If you follow the link provided on the Carrie website, you can see the opening number. My initial thoughts were wow! and 'wtf':
Wow: The opening set was a stage completely contained by white walls and ceiling. Knowing the movie well, I was immediately excited because I thought this is a perfect set up for the blood that I knew would be coming later. (I was mistaken.)
'WTF': the girls on stage, high school gym students were costumed in the most ridiculous outfits. The were dressed more appropriately as Las Vegas showgirls (sans feathers), than high school students taking gym. The tone was completely wrong. The number was great, energetic, well sung and danced, but I couldn't get over how ridiculously they were costumed. In fact, most of the costumes of the young students were over sexed and completely inappropriate for the piece. In my opinion, this was one of the main reason why the show failed. The tone was sexualized, not as young girls experiencing puberty, but as a highly sexualized Broadway / Las Vegas spectacle trying to appeal to a male audience expecting 'tits and ass'.
A smoked translucent screen came up from the floor which the girls undressed behind representing the locker room showers. The set was pretty cool and the transitions great.
Linzi Hateley was wonderful. Her voice strong and her stage presence perfect. (In fact, it was Ms. Hateley's performance that drove me to want to find any existing material for the years I looked.) Betty Buckley was also brilliant. She was introduce on a small wagon of their house which traveled downstage while the back wall of the house rotated vertically (similar to a freestanding chalk board). Again, the set was impressive for its time.
I knew Charlotte d'Ambroise's work and I grew up seeing her father dance at the ballet, so I was excited to see her in a lead role. As expected, her dancing was great, her voice okay. Gene Anthony Ray did not impress me.
Most of the music was upbeat and contemporary. This was a time when Broadway was still trying to figure out how to do 'rock' and 'pop', so I was pleasantly surprised by my memory of the score. Years later, when I came across the Sound Engineer's recording, I was reminded how much I enjoyed the music.
Of course, I was waiting for the big gym scene, knowing that the set seemed perfect for taking on all the blood that I was sure would ensue. What a disappointment!
Instead of the blood being dropped from the flies (the stage ceiling was also a white wall which would hinge down to become a really cool stairway) the blood was carried on and then poured over Carrie's head. The tension created in the film about the blood being rigged over the prom stage wasn't a part of the musical.
I was hoping for gallons and gallons – a pool load – of blood as an effect to cover the limitations of stagecraft, but got a rather lame throwing of a single bucket of blood. The murders that followed were also lame. (I think to years later and American Psycho and wish that something similar had occurred on the Carrie stage. It did not.)
The 'big' sequence ends with Carrie standing on a pedestal perfectly aligned with a cutout in the stage ceiling. The ceiling comes down revealing a huge stairway leading from downstage to upstage. At the top of the steps was Betty Buckley who sings as she descends the stairs. Carrie stabs her.
I don't remember if there was anything like the grave scene at the end of the movie. I believe there wasn't, but I could be mistaken.
There were aspects of Carrie that were really good. I actually believe if the costumes weren't so ridiculous and hadn't set the absolutely wrong tone, the show would have been much better. Not sure if it would have 'worked', there was far too many other issues, but it wouldn't have felt so 'wrong'. They also desperately needed a much better final gym sequence. The white box the show took place within was a perfect set up and had they taken advantage of that single element, the finale would have worked so much better.
Carrie also suffered from poor word of mouth. Nobody could understand how they were going to put it on stage and when the initial word was that it was a huge disaster, the nail was in the coffin.
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I have a few more memories, so reach out if you want to read more, but I figure I've typed enough.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
Updated On: 5/10/20 at 02:54 PM
, but amazing that you got to meet Debbie though!
