Carrie Revival?

[sweeedboy]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 5:43pm

Hey guys... the following message was posted on the west end board, thought you might be interested:

"OH MY GOD i recieved a submission list from my agent today and what was on it
looking for strong singers and dancers for a new wworkshop production of CARRIE THE MUSICAL
i cant belive it .For thoose of you who dont know carrie was a 8million dollar flop on broadway in 1988 and starred the lovely linzi hately(then 17)and betty buckley as well as sally ann tripplet gene anthony ray and darlene love.The show gathered a huge cult following ever since(coz a lot of the show was bloody good just badly staged)and has been crying out for a return ever since and now it looks like it just might have one.Carrie of course is based on the stephen king horror novel and film but makes for a hugely exciting musical(i have a pirate copy from stratford where it originally opened in 88 before moving to new york on dvd )
We often have many submisions for workshops that never happen lets hope this issnt one of them coz this is one show that needs to come back."

another poster then says that they have cut the following songs:

IN
Dream On
Wotta Night
Hurts to be Strong
Out for Blood
Open Your Heart
Heaven

The last two, i am suprised at as they are both quite good songs, especially the octet in heaven! "In" has supposedly been replaced with the original workshop "ain't it a bitch." Who knows how true this is, but there ya go.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 6:22pm

I am dying to see this!

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:19pm

Out for Blood is my Favorite! and so is IN! and Hurts to be Strong needs to be in it! the others, its not a major hit.

[exedore]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:29pm

*IF* this is real, how can they cut "Open Your Heart"? It's an incredibly beautiful song, and does an excellent job of introducing Margaret White and setting the atmosphere for "And Eve Was Weak".

/also liked IN
//If they cut something, why not "Don't Waste The Moon" (although I like that one too...)

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:31pm

havent heard waste the moon (exedore can u send it to me?) but yes i agree Open Your Heart is beautiful, u see the kind and nice side to Margaret and u learn to like her as a charcter

[Danielm]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:55pm

They need to keep Debbie Allen far, far away from it.

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:56pm

Please GOD let this be true.

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:58pm

ha! Debbie Alan hasnt been seen or heard near Broadway since Carrie

[acrocksyo]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 7:59pm

Please God let this be true! I would fly to London to see it!

[JustChillin8908]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:02pm

I guess I'm one of the only people who reads the Broadway board as well as the West End board...

Either way I hope this is true and it somehow makes it back to America.

[Danielm]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:04pm

Exactly, overthemoon, and we need to keep it that way. Debbie Allen isn't so much non-talented as anti-talented. She's like the anti-chirst of dancing. She can take whatever might have been good and turn it into stomach churning awfulness.

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:04pm

oh i think it will...i mean if it does fanominal in westend then i mean it's bound to come here....u know how sold out that show will be? its the most celebrated Broadway flop! if it was revived with just the right cast it may just work this time around.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:06pm

fanominal?

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:07pm

Phenomenal with the word "fan" in it...get it? haha

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:10pm

Oh.

Well, just because it's a famous Broadway flop doesn't mean it's going to be sold out. Only hardcore theatregoers have ever heard of it. And being that 70% of the audience on Broadway today is tourists...it's not exactly going to be an easy sell.

Unless it has an amazing cast.

[Over the Moon]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:12pm

which im sure it will have...i mean the casting directers (if this ever hits Broadway) are going to come back with a bang

[Carrie White]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:15pm

I will be playing Carrie, and Linzi Hately will be playing my mother. Its going to be a hit.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:27pm

No way "Open Your Heart" could be cut, so the entire thing sounds bogus.

[mrkringas]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 8:55pm

It was originally posted on the West End board by someone very credible in the past. Also there has been discussion about this workshop around the other london based boards and a few friends in the biz.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/1/06 at 9:11pm

The show was waaaaay bad and I'm sorry you can't blame Debbie Allen for that. The score and script are both sub-par (that's being polite). And for the record Debbie Allen is an AMAZING dancer. You've obviously not seen her in the Sweet Charity and West Side Story revivals. I find it funny that you could see a show like Carrie and call out Debbie Allen as the problem with it. She may have been A problem but if you put Bob Fosse on as choreographer, you've still got a rank show.


They could cut Open Your heart and write something better that does the same job. I'm sure they're not gonna cut things and not replace them with something else.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 5/2/06 at 12:22am

Awww, I love most of those songs! At least some of the songs live on in The Wedding Singer.

[Nycboi23]

Posted: 5/2/06 at 4:12pm

so basically, if the rumor is true (doubtful), then the cut songs result in Carrie losing the very essence of the reason why it's a cult classic. Although IN and OUT FOR BLOOD are ultra-campy numbers, they're the reason Carrie is unique. I'm sure they would want a monymaker, so it would be interesting to see what songs would replace them. IN and OUT FOR BLOOD are awesome! I love all the songs on the "cut" list. As I stated before, it's doubtful we can confirm any of these rumors and it still seems like a Carrie Revival, revamped even, is TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Usually in show business it is.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/2/06 at 4:16pm

nycboi - I agree.

Carrie is CARRIE because of every aspect of it - good and bad.

You could make the show an absolute, brilliant masterpiece, lacking flaws...but then it isn't the CARRIE we all love.

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 5/2/06 at 4:36pm

Carrie could work in the hands of someone with a distinct vision. Most of the show is salvageable depending on what number you're speaking of. If you thought Out For Blood was bad, you should of heard it when they originally titled the song CRACKERJACK. I have seen the entire show and coming from an objective perspective the show is salvageable but you cannot treat it as a parody of itself. It would too easy for some people to cross that line and reach campy, but if people actually took the story seriously, then there's a seriously beautiful story there.

Although there are some people out there who would just treat it like Mean Girls. Sadly enough, Carrie would not work as camp. I believe it would be stunning if taken down that dark road. I would love John Doyle to direct it (minus the actor/musician thing) and just horrify us with what it could be and should be.

[sweeedboy]

Posted: 5/2/06 at 4:54pm

I also agree, carrie could be brilliant. Some of the scenes make for incredibly intense theater. I think that definitely needs to be done seriously, and i agree it needs rewrites. "dream on" was probably one of the worst songs ever written for musical theater. And those girls who were sharp everytime they hit the 'ooooonnn...' UGGG
I think the potential is there for one of the most roller coaster rides of musical theater. The crazy intense mother/daughter scenes in counterpoint with chris/sue/teenagers... the show just needs to find more balance and also explain carrie's powers a bit better.