Carrie Revival? — Page 7

Well, she was all the way back upstage.

Obviously no fire walls, but little fires all about the stage?
Plus lighting effects that can make it look like the fires are bigger than they appear...

I'll miss the stairway to heaven though. That was ridiculous. But oh so right.

Well nobody in those shows gets an actual bucket of water dumped on their head before singing a ten minute piece of music - except for that time when Ethel Merman was up in the flies of SOUND OF MUSIC after Mary Martin stole her Tony for GYPSY - oh nevermind.

I think (I'm not sure though) if "Carrie" comes back to Broadway it will probably make more money than it did in the 80's, only if it really becomes a spectacle. I was actually shocked that it didn't have a huge advance sale because of the name! The trouble with shows is if there is no spectacle, no money is made. The only shows at the moment that are non-spectacles that are at high attendance and make a lot of money are Avenue Q and The Drowsy Chaperone. "Wicked" is a great example of a show that stays open because it's a spectacle. The book is flawed and the score is mediocre (in my opinion). We do not want "Carrie" (if she comes back) to run for 5 performances. "Carrie" closed after 5 performances, because after the horrid reviews were released, the public cancelled many of their ticket orders. The producers also pulled because of the well...horrid reviews. I saw it during previews and I wasn't sure of what I was seeing. The Overture was great and then, the curtain lifted. OUCH. The set was very weird. The opening number was great, but I didn't think for a minute that we were in a gym or that the girls were in high school. It only got stranger from that point. The mother daughter scenes were both frightening and captivating. Betty Buckley's voice was commanding and Linzi Hateley had a really pure innocence to her singing. Then when the ensemble numbers came on, I started to grunt, it was as if I was watching a poor imitation of Grease (like others have said). When the prom began, it was ridiculous. The disco ball was amazing because of the way it shined all over the audience, but that was it. Nothing else resembled a prom! When that fatal moment happened, it was very disappointing. I was waiting for that blood to spill from above and when I saw Billy spill a bucket of a tiny amount of what looked like strawberry ice cream topping, it was ridiculous. "The Destruction" was a great number, it really showed off Linzi's vocal talents, but the way it was pulled off was dumb. When the lasers flew over the audience, it was awesome. I thought, "this is gonna be good", then I realized that was it. Every person at the prom just crawled around the stage in looks of pain, but it didn't even look as though they died. It didn't have a dramatic effect...at all. When the staircase came down, I started laughing. Where the hell did Margaret come from?! The heavens?! She stabs Carrie then Carrie touches her chest and she dies...okayyyyy. They both die, Sue is waiting at the bottom of the stage and holds Carrie in her arms and she dies and the lights go down. I wasn't sure whether to boo or applaud. I ended up giving the cast a standing ovation. As absurd and as horrible as the show was, I actually ended up having a fun time. The audience went wild, and some, well, walked out during the Curtain Calls in horror. It was an interesting yet flawed production because of it's overall look and story structure. Sorry if this was long and annoying, but I just wanted to give you guys my WHOLE opinion on the 1988 Broadway production. I have high hopes for this production, but they are really going to have to spruce this thing up a lot. Meaning that they must spend as much as they can on effects!

Updated On: 6/8/06 at 04:22 PM

If I remember correctly, after Carrie crushes her mother's heart with her powers, she leaves the home which demolishes in her wake and wanders down the road. She collapses into a ditch and is found by Sue and communicates telepathically with Sue until she dies in Sue's arms.

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Updated On: 6/8/06 at 04:57 PM

I think this show has to be revived. Look at all the posts it is causing! It is something that we need back somewhere at some theatre! Its short lived life shall be resurrected!

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Very true and I am very excited! I really really really hope its playing somewhere when I am in the UK next year!

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Didn't they set a wall on fire at the end of the reworked Martin Guerre? The flames weren't particularly powerful, but with lighting were quite effective (from the back of the stalls)

And yes, Witches had a collapsing church which was fairly impressive (though not so much after the show moved theatres).

westendartist1- do you know anymore information about the unnamed shower scene song? "Dream On" was brutal, and I hope they came up with a song that the singers won't crack terribly on. Also, how much has "Don't Waste The Moon" changed, the staging was terrible because of the abstract look, but for the 80's the whole 3-level drive-in set was kind of cool. I just wanted to know if you knew how the drive-in set is planned to look like (if it's in the script-details) and if the lyrics have changed tremendously or just a little bit. One other thing, are they going to have any sort of scenes in the cellar. We never really got to see where Carrie went to pray, and if maybe the set designer created a sort of enclosed cellar set piece with spiritual items inside, it could almost match the horrifying claustrophobic feeling of the movie. I'm just mentioning this because in the original production, Sue just walked to the front of the stage and Carrie's voice was played in the background, which didn't make much sense.

I'm not sure how much they can change the lyrics, I think "Out For Blood" should stay a memory. In Stratford, it was called "Crackerjack", which to this day, I have no idea what it means. It sounded really stupid, except the orchestrations sounded a little bit better in Stratford. I honestly think most of the original RSC orchestrations were great with the exception of "And Eve Was Weak" because it made a major improvement from Stratford when it hit Broadway, it had much more intensity than it did when it played Stratford. When "Out For Blood" was placed in the Broadway production it was just a dumb excuse for a dance number. The song was catchy, but was completely ridiculous! They were dancing (pelvic thrusts and other sexual movements) to the killing of a pig! The whole scene was horrible, I was just in awe at what I was seeing. As much as the music is catchy, I completely understand why Charlotte D'Amboise disliked the song, It made absolutely no sense and the lyrics were really, REALLY bad. If only you heard this song during the original workshop, that was even worse. Maybe as a homage to "Out For Blood", they could use some of the orchestrations for the pigs blood scene, but when it comes to the song itself, it should stay a distant memory.

I stuck on that one, I mean Allison Fischer is a great singer and was really the best part about "Lestat". I just can't see her being Carrie White, she doesn't look like she can really bring out that innocence that Carrie needs. Linzi Hateley was perfect because she fit the role, she was plump and had a very strong amount of innocence that the role required. I actually felt for her when I was watching her sing "And Eve Was Weak" and "Evening Prayers". I think they should find an unknown to play the part, there is so much talent waiting to be found, that's the way they happened to stumble upon Linzi. I just really hope some of the original cast considers participating in the revival if it happens to come back to Broadway. I don't think that Charlotte will do it because she is a bit older, but she definitely hasn't lost her charm! Linzi is also a bit too old to be playing Carrie again and I don't think Sally Ann Triplett will jump to the offer as well, and sadly Gene Anthony Ray has passed, he was the most energetic dancer I have ever seen, it's really sad. The only possibility is that Betty Buckley might sign on because "Carrie" is so close to her heart. If anyone has seen the Act I Broadway dvd (i know westendartist1 has), Betty Buckley briefly talked backstage about how upset she was that the show was closing and said towards the end of her little interview, "this is what happens in showbusiness". Then "Carrie" was history. Back onto the original subject, I don't think Allison Fischer would fit the role, and I'm sure there is another show waiting out there that can use her great vocal talents.

westendartist1- Thanks for the info! I hope the unnamed shower song takes place in a locker room and then a REALISTIC shower! In the original production, it was almost laughable, the shower floats?!I completely agree with you on "Out For Blood", it was REALLY awful. It has absolutely no place in this new production because of the tone the new revival is going for. It seems as though it is really going for the true meaning of the story and if "Out For Blood" was to stay all the seriousness would turn to camp! After 18 years, does anyone actually think that the producers would even think of putting this song back in the show?! It would be insanity, and plus, this song was one of the major reasons why this show closed so fast on Broadway. The show has potential as it stands now, but let's just hope the new songs end up great while staying within the true seriousness of the story about a tormented girl who just isn't accepted.

A soap star from the uk called michelle ryan is been looked at for the part of sue according to one of her freinds who came to see footloose even though she has never really sung professionaly before yikes

Dear Lord i would love to see Celia Kennan Bolger as Carrie.