#101
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:03pm
Based upon what was presented tonight, do you think by opening night the show can make changes to take more risk, which most seem to agree to be missing?
She's Back! CARRIE - First preview !!! — Page 5
#102
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:03pm
I will go ahead and say I thought tonight's show was bad-- it was boring- it wasn't scary- they took whatever was interesting and memorable the first time and made it lifeless.
Is the show beyond hope? No-- but there is in my opinion a lot of work to be done on this revival and they need to start by loosening up and having more imagination and fun with it
Is the show beyond hope? No-- but there is in my opinion a lot of work to be done on this revival and they need to start by loosening up and having more imagination and fun with it
#103
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:05pm
Having just watched the 2 brief clips, I'll amend what I wrote: I think they have a very strong point of view, and handle on the tone (critical), and seem to be playing it consistently. I'm fascinated and compelled by what I just saw excerpted. There's a danger in leaping into the pit here with cut/dry opinions about then vs. now, and I fell into it. I cannot alter my experience of this show in the 80s; three viewings, pre-its iconic status and infamy, and then countless revisitings and recountings via footage, recordings, etc., blah blah. Those of us who saw it probably obsess with its 'daring' for all of the wrong reasons. We're unreliable witnesses in many ways, because our initial impressions have been filtered through the legendary infamy of the production itself. I look forward to reading many, many opinions, to seeing it at the end of next month, and feel grateful it's back.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#104
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:05pm
Idiot- I agree. Carrie is a horror story. It's not a family drama story about bullying and religious/overprotective mother. This production is like an X-Files episode without any of the supernatural stuff.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#105
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:06pm
Stafford may have a wonderful concept for the piece... and if that concept doesn't work, it really sucks for any other director or team that has/had/will want to tackle the musical.
He may think that a blood drop isn't necessary... well, if that leaves audiences and critics not liking the show, he's ruining it for everyone else. He is going to need to step back and look at the piece itself and not just his vision for it... He has two jobs. One is to direct Carrie. But his job is also to help prove that it works. A failed concept will be read as the show as a whole not working. Especially with people who don't know it, have heard amazing things about the show from their theatre geek friends, and will sit there, like someone said, this is what people obsess over?
He may think that a blood drop isn't necessary... well, if that leaves audiences and critics not liking the show, he's ruining it for everyone else. He is going to need to step back and look at the piece itself and not just his vision for it... He has two jobs. One is to direct Carrie. But his job is also to help prove that it works. A failed concept will be read as the show as a whole not working. Especially with people who don't know it, have heard amazing things about the show from their theatre geek friends, and will sit there, like someone said, this is what people obsess over?
#106
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:07pm
Does Marin have a physical transformation or does she look like Marin?
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#107
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:08pm
Whizzer -- from your 'first take', I have a feeling I'd experience the show just as you did.
#108
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:10pm
Does Marin have a physical transformation or does she look like Marin?
Take a look at BWW preview video.
Take a look at BWW preview video.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#109
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:12pm
WhizzerMarvin TrinaJasonMendel - Have you read the novel? It really is not much of a horror story and is very much about a human story with powers.
King once said that Carrie's powers and the way she used them at the end of the story was symbolic of someone holding a gun (Like the terrible high school shootings that sadly happen so often there). To me that means the writer himself looked at the work as to do with bullying, awakening feelings, isolation etc.
That is what has always excited me about Carrie, the human story. Yes the effects are fun and i agree they need to put the blood in if so many are p****d of by it, but as much as i LOVE the original musical for how silly it is it missed the human story, the critics hated that he had no heart, that's what im hoping they are trying to do with this version. From talking to Stafford i know that it's the human story he is trying to bring to the front.
King once said that Carrie's powers and the way she used them at the end of the story was symbolic of someone holding a gun (Like the terrible high school shootings that sadly happen so often there). To me that means the writer himself looked at the work as to do with bullying, awakening feelings, isolation etc.
That is what has always excited me about Carrie, the human story. Yes the effects are fun and i agree they need to put the blood in if so many are p****d of by it, but as much as i LOVE the original musical for how silly it is it missed the human story, the critics hated that he had no heart, that's what im hoping they are trying to do with this version. From talking to Stafford i know that it's the human story he is trying to bring to the front.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
#110
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:12pm
Yes the tone for this new production is second rate spring awakening. There is as I've said nothing creepy, nothing moving, nothing exciting about any of it. It's just safe- that's all it is. It could be a musical of a lifetime movie of it weren't for that wierd ending which dictates this is a HORROR story
#111
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:17pm
If this show isn't a roller coaster ride, it's nothing.
Behind the fake tinsel of Broadway is real tinsel.
#112
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:20pm
"From talking to Stafford i know that it's the human story he is trying to bring to the front."
That's a little like giving a poetry reading with Cirque du Soleil in the background. The girl moves things with her mind then kills everyone at a prom while drenched in pig's blood.
That's a little like giving a poetry reading with Cirque du Soleil in the background. The girl moves things with her mind then kills everyone at a prom while drenched in pig's blood.
#113
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:20pm
songanddanceman- I confess I haven't read the novel. I'm a big fan of the movie though, and believe it's the iconic telling of the material most people will be familiar with and set their expectations to match.
They can say they are going back to the novel as the inspiration, but they can't discount how most people know the story.
They can say they are going back to the novel as the inspiration, but they can't discount how most people know the story.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#114
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:20pm
It's not the blood drop that bothers me, so much.
It's the ridiculous ending where Carrie uses her telekenisis to give Margret a heart attack.
That's the emotional core ending of the show. And it comes off as so wimpy and ineffectual (and confusing, if you don't know what's happening). I think if they could stage a knife throw (Jesus, carny folk have been able to pull this off for years) it would have a much more emotional punch, right when the show needs it.
It's the ridiculous ending where Carrie uses her telekenisis to give Margret a heart attack.
That's the emotional core ending of the show. And it comes off as so wimpy and ineffectual (and confusing, if you don't know what's happening). I think if they could stage a knife throw (Jesus, carny folk have been able to pull this off for years) it would have a much more emotional punch, right when the show needs it.
#115
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:26pm
How's the front row? Thats where I'm sitting. Is the stage high?
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#116
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:27pm
That's how she killed her in the novel, this is NOT the movie on stage, it's based on the novel. And yes i am sure many will have seen the film but the book is also a major seller so i am hoping that at least some will have read the book....anyone? (can you tell i love the book?)
I think this was always going to the problem of Carrie on stage. In the 80s they were compared to the book and movie (it failed on both counts) and now it has to compare with the Book, Movie and the 88 Musical. It's a tough one. From what i can tell (the way the story is told, the ending etc) they are sticking closer to the novel.
As for the Spring Awakening thing, i remmeber many people on here saying how they thought the teen aspect of the show should sound more SA because the 'pop' sound was to dated.
I think this was always going to the problem of Carrie on stage. In the 80s they were compared to the book and movie (it failed on both counts) and now it has to compare with the Book, Movie and the 88 Musical. It's a tough one. From what i can tell (the way the story is told, the ending etc) they are sticking closer to the novel.
As for the Spring Awakening thing, i remmeber many people on here saying how they thought the teen aspect of the show should sound more SA because the 'pop' sound was to dated.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
Updated On: 1/31/12 at 11:27 PM
#117
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:29pm
Updated On: 2/19/18 at 11:29 PM
#118
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:31pm
It drives me crazy when people say Carrie isn't really a horror story, it's about a girl and her mother and bullying or that the Exorcist isn't a horror story, it's about a priest confronted with his faith-/- sure, these humanistic elements are what partly makes the stories involving and realistic. But you don't read these books or watch these movies to witness an intricate analysis of the human psyche - you read them to be shocked and scared and disturbed-- and when you go to the bookstore you find them in the HORROR section.
I've read Carrie and its beautifully written and very unnerving and very much a genre book
I've read Carrie and its beautifully written and very unnerving and very much a genre book
#119
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:31pm
Songanddance -- yes, I read the book, but a looooonggg time ago. The reason I read it was because it was a horror story and I love horror stories.
In the book, didn't the prom destruction primarily happen just because of a candle tipped over on a table? I don't think most of the movie's carnage was in the book.
I still maintain, though, that when people buy a ticket to CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, they want to see some carnage on that stage. Do something 'like' the movie and it would go very very far. I've always thought that the way to make this show a hit was to give the audience EXACTLY what they're expecting.
In the book, didn't the prom destruction primarily happen just because of a candle tipped over on a table? I don't think most of the movie's carnage was in the book.
I still maintain, though, that when people buy a ticket to CARRIE: THE MUSICAL, they want to see some carnage on that stage. Do something 'like' the movie and it would go very very far. I've always thought that the way to make this show a hit was to give the audience EXACTLY what they're expecting.
#120
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:36pm
Love the book. Carrie went apesh*t- she destroyed the entire town. The movie downplayed the book's destruction.
I mean, she torched the whole town, the entire business section, this one street she walked, all the telephone and power lines she sent to the street and killed people running to the school. more than just the prom goers died that night.
I mean, she torched the whole town, the entire business section, this one street she walked, all the telephone and power lines she sent to the street and killed people running to the school. more than just the prom goers died that night.
Updated On: 1/31/12 at 11:36 PM
#121
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:36pm
In the book Carrie destroys the entire town- if anything the destruction of the prom and the city is almost apocalyptic- its way more intense than anything in the film.
#122
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:37pm
The creative team can say this is the novel on stage and not the movie, but it would be a mistake to pretend that the movie doesn't exist and that many, many more people are familiar with the movie than the novel.
The same logic can be used with stuff like The Color Purple and even Bonnie & Clyde. Creative teams can go on and on about basing things on novels/real-life stories, but if the movie versions are what people know and love they can't be ignored.
This is most true about Carrie. The movie is SO perfect in many ways. The performances are utterly perfect, the screenplay is wonderful and the destruction is magnificent. The movie sets a very high bar for this material. If someone is going to adapt the story again it can't feel less than the film or what's the point?
The same logic can be used with stuff like The Color Purple and even Bonnie & Clyde. Creative teams can go on and on about basing things on novels/real-life stories, but if the movie versions are what people know and love they can't be ignored.
This is most true about Carrie. The movie is SO perfect in many ways. The performances are utterly perfect, the screenplay is wonderful and the destruction is magnificent. The movie sets a very high bar for this material. If someone is going to adapt the story again it can't feel less than the film or what's the point?
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Updated On: 1/31/12 at 11:37 PM
#123
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:39pm
Ah yes -- they actually did show that in the TV version, which I've mostly blocked out. Had a party for that TV thing and was so let down. Each guest had a pillowcase with their name scrawled in blood (dirty pillows) containing pork rinds and tampons to throw at the screen.
Hmm. I've spent a lot of time in my life thinking about this story....
Hmm. I've spent a lot of time in my life thinking about this story....
#124
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:41pm
I was there tonight and have to say I respectfully disagree with Whizzer. I found the story very touching, and felt that it worked for one reason: Molly Ranson. She gives a true star performance and every second she was on the stage I was mesmerized. I cared about her, and was really emotionally involved.
Yes, the second act was a cop out for several reasons, but overall I found it a pretty exciting night of theater. I thought the young cast was generally very strong, and that Marin Mazzie was superb.
I have not been fully exposed to the original, and have only seen a few clips online, but I found myself really enjoying the show and this production. Yes, the supernatural elements need to be heightened and most importantly the production NEEDS BLOOD, but I still really connected with this.
Overall I thought it was a great first preview and hope that the show has a good run. The cast was very gracious at the stage door as well.
Yes, the second act was a cop out for several reasons, but overall I found it a pretty exciting night of theater. I thought the young cast was generally very strong, and that Marin Mazzie was superb.
I have not been fully exposed to the original, and have only seen a few clips online, but I found myself really enjoying the show and this production. Yes, the supernatural elements need to be heightened and most importantly the production NEEDS BLOOD, but I still really connected with this.
Overall I thought it was a great first preview and hope that the show has a good run. The cast was very gracious at the stage door as well.
#125
Posted: 1/31/12 at 11:41pm
Michael Bennett i am not saying that there is not a horror element to Carrie, of course there is, and a very good one, but 90 percent of the book does not deal with anything to do with horror. Yes i agree its a genre book (my all time fave, i have read it about 30 times) but King has filled it with layer upon layer of things that deal with the human spirit, that after all is the heart of the novel.
As for the show been scary, i didnt really find anything in the book or film scary, it's just sinister at times, the ending i never thought was supposed to scare, yes it was a moment of horror but not a scare.
And Idiot im so thrilled you have read the book, its beyond brilliant.
As for the show been scary, i didnt really find anything in the book or film scary, it's just sinister at times, the ending i never thought was supposed to scare, yes it was a moment of horror but not a scare.
And Idiot im so thrilled you have read the book, its beyond brilliant.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
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