She's Back! CARRIE - First preview !!! - Page 39

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/28/12 at 3:17pm

"Know what this show HAS?
Molly Ranson!!
Molly Ranson!!
Molly Ranson!!

Screw everything else said here.
GO see this show for Molly Ranson!
She is Fabulous!!"

I honestly think she is possibly the worst thing in the show. She (or her director) don't get it.

[missthemountains]

Posted: 2/28/12 at 11:33pm

It's clearly Stafford, if anyone. You definitely are in the minority to say Ranson is the worst thing in the show. I thought her performance was so powerful that when she came home after the prom in Act II crying to Margaret I myself felt a little teary-eyed. She gave an incredible, heart-felt performance, and if this were on Broadway, would be worthy of a Tony for sure.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:19am

Exactly, miss. If there's any unanimous opinion of the show it's about Ranson's superb performance. She gets it 100 per cent. Would definitely at least be nominated for a Tony.

[jansalrose2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:56am

I'm pretty confused as to how this EVER made it out of a rehearsal studio, let alone onto a Broadway/Off Bway stage. I thought it was quite literally one of the most atrocious things I've ever seen. I'm quite dumbfounded by what I just saw. Is it a parody? Is it MEANT to be taken seriously? Did the book writer/composer even READ 'Carrie' the novel when adapting the characters? Why was half of the script 'modernized' and the other half dated? The dialogue was laughably trite, and everything happens way too fast. I felt like I was watching 'Silence the Musical'.

I honestly can't remember one song. But I do remember some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard. Some of those songs made 'Roses are red, violets are blue' sound like a masterpiece.

Marin and Molly are fantastic performers, but even they couldn't bring life to such a dead script. There was no character development...just spectrum to spectrum. Call me crazy, but I don't think either actress was directed to go FAR enough. I've tried to look at this show so many ways to understand the cult following, and I'm guessing the trick is to NOT take it seriously and embrace how over-the-top ridiculous the whole thing is? (And I'm not talking about the story. I'm solely talking about the music and the book). I've never been so underwhelmed by a musical. If anyone would like to discuss what merits they think this production has (I'm not familiar with anything besides what I saw tonight) I really am quite curious to hear others' perspective. I have no qualms with the performers. Just the freakishly weak material.


Updated On: 2/29/12 at 01:56 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 9:09am

I am so with you, jan - it's amateurish, pedestrian writing all through. Obvious, trite, blind to the elements of the story that are unique, reducing the whole thing to the intelligence level of a tv movie.

[MSmith2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 12:34pm

All this writing about the material as though its a sacred text is hilarious. It's compelling source material, but it's a pulp novel that has problems of its own, not least of which are some stock characters, clunky dialogue and cumbersome narrative passages. The movie also has issues masked by two great perfs and DePalma's virtuoso direction (even his destruction on film isn't all it could/should be, by his own admission). Macbeth it ain't. Recognizing the limitations inherent in the material, I still had a good time and was moved and think there is definitely much to admire along the way. That opinion seems to get shot down a lot by the vocal ones on this thread, but I'm hardly alone. I'm glad she's back and I'm glad to see that they did not seem to treat the material so preciously. Flaws and all, it's totally worth seeing for one's self.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 12:39pm

Far be it from me to cry shill (cough), but MSmith joined when Carrie started previews, and MSmith only posts about Carrie, and MSmith does dearly love that Carrie.

But I would never cry shill.

Not me.

No, never.

[MSmith2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 12:42pm

Did you say shrill???

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 12:48pm

Sorry, typo. I meant "skrill," as in "money," or "cash."

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 12:58pm

I never could understand why anyone is bothered even if a person IS a shill. How does that impact your life in any way? It's just like any other advertisement on tv, radio, magazines, the net, etc. If you don't want the product, don't get it.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:07pm

I never could understand why anyone is bothered even if a person says a person IS a shill.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:10pm

^ aww, I'm sorry for you. Now would you mind telling me why you do care if someone's a shill?

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:26pm

^ hmm, just as I thought.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:32pm

Oh, jane, stop this crazy thing.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 1:56pm

why, cause you can't answer my question?

I'm stopping because I'm busy with something else right now.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:04pm

Swing and a miss...

[Owen22]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:11pm

Perhaps Molly is talented. I don't really think so, but more to the point, she is NOT "Carrie". Linzi Hately (in a much worse version of this show) caught what is unique about this character. What Sissy had in spades, and to a lesser degree Angela Bettis understood. Molly plays her as a "normal" girl. She might as well be playing Sue. There is nothing different about her Carrie, nothing that indicates she lived in an abusive home all her life, nothing pointing toward a girl who got down on her knees and prayed in the cafeteria in third grade, nothing to show the unique and terrible power this girl possesses. There is nothing distinctively "Carrie" about her version of the character. A lot of it is direction, granted. But I don't like Marin's Margaret interpretation much either, yet I can admit she does somehow capture an iota of what King wrote. Molly misses it almost altogether. And you're right, I am so in the minority on this opinion and I don't know why. To me its so freakin' obvious. She almost ruined the entire show for me.

[philly03]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:16pm

I also thought Linzi Hateley was more "Carrie" than Molly Ranson, but she was still good. I didn't think she was vulnerable enough in the beginning.. especially with how quickly the title song comes in this production. I thought Molly was a pretty confident Carrie, which is wrong.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:20pm

Believing that the minority opinion is "wrong" and the majority opinion is "right" is a symptom of a tiny mind.

Believing that you can identify the "majority" opinion is a symptom of no mind at all.

[Kev]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 2:29pm

And you're right, I am so in the minority on this opinion and I don't know why.

I am, as well. Ranson, and her director, sacrificed much of Carrie's vulnerability. She was very confident, bold, and even sassy towards her mother and fellow students. I did not see a broken girl. And her smirk towards Margaret at the close of Act One just left me cold. Ultimately, I found the performance pretty unsympathetic.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 3:21pm

Whoops, never answered jane's silly query.

Here's the thing, jane - this site's value lies in it being a place for people to share opinions.

When people try to turn it into a cost-free marketing tool, it loses some of that value.

Shills are here to sell, to try to make a buck from everyone else. The rest are here just to chat, to share our opinions with others with similar interests.

Make sense?

[binau]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 5:03pm

Guh. The clips taken from the show seem to have captured Mazzie's voice at its worst, and her "Eve Was Weak" is coming across as a lot less intense because of it.

Updated On: 2/29/12 at 05:03 PM

[romgitsean]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 5:46pm

Is it just me, or no matter what this show does, everyone on here seems to hate it? Yeesh. I guess that's BWW for ya. I thought the clips were pretty good - Marin's costume looks so much better than what is was. And did they change her wig? Somehow she looks more manic, and I really like it.

I know it's been asked, but what does everyone miss about the old gal, and what's everyone's favorite improvement?

I personally miss Heaven the most. For some reason, I felt the octect in Stratford (with Margaret included) was actually kinda cool. It was very operatic and unique. In a way, the prom scene is very theatrical - there are a lot of emotions going on in that scene between all the main characters and I thought it was a really interesting way of tying it all together.

What I miss the least? Probably Dream On. Even the awful songs in the original Carrie (Out For Blood, Don't Waste The Moon) were at least fun, but no matter what incarnation (Stratford, Broadway, Stagedoor, Emerson) Dream On NEVER worked.

[ljay889]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 5:55pm

Marin's acting is great there. These clips must have been filmed recently, because she was never using head voice in that song at all.

I also like the new costume, and agree that she does looks more manic now.

[Jane2]

Posted: 2/29/12 at 6:09pm

newintown, I understand what you're saying. I guess I shouldn't expect everyone to ignore a shill and make their own decisions like I do.

Thanks for answering my question~