OnStage: It was the end of my freshman year at college and, as a Stephen King fan, I was prepared for a bit of a drought in his schedule. He had just published five novels in a row over the course of just over a year (well, six or seven if you count It twice, since the book is the size of a grand piano). Luckily, I had the musical version of Carrie to look forward to upon returning home from school for the summer. The show opened on Thursday, May 12, 1988 during my last week of classes and I had tickets to see the show with some friends for Saturday, May 21. Unfortunately, the show closed on Sunday, May 15 after five performances (there were sixteen previews before that and a four week run in Stratford-upon-Avon, England before that).
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Reading through this article it reminded me of another smaller show that hasn't yet gotten the production value it deserves: Heathers. It seem's like in both cases the shows just really need more attention to their source material. I cannot believe that there has yet to be a production of Carrie that uses the massive amount of stage blood that I would imagine they would use. It's also a little bit curious that the original creators of the show have been so hesitant to allow for the rights of the show to be purchased. The only reason I could see for them being uncomfortable giving the rights out to the show is if they didn't feel confident in the work themselves, which seems a bit strange considering it seems as though it was mostly the director's fault for not giving the production the value it deserved. To be fair however, there could be a lot more underlying factors than this outsider is letting on.
I have worked on a production of Carrie the Musical and I actually enjoyed it a lot. I do not think the show is as bad as people make it out to be or as bad as the critics made it out to be. I still listen to the music on spotify because I think some of the songs are very well written and sound good. The script may not be the strongest and was probably part of the reason the critics did not like the show. I find it interesting that the producers got scared after the bad reviews and pulled out very quickly. I did not know that was the reason it closed so quickly. Maybe if the producers were used to doing theatre and understood that sometimes you get bad reviews but the show is still popular with the public, the show could have stayed open longer. It sounds like the show improved a lot when they rewrote it and took out the bad songs. I wonder if that version would last longer on Broadway.
I mean, the title of the article alone is so interesting. I did a little more searching on the OnStage blog and sadly did not recognize any of the other titles that they had articles on. The idea of a misunderstood musical is a very peculiar one. So often in the arts culture, audiences are decisive and know what they want in a show. Even more decisive are the critics that typically lean in similar directions. An example of this is “Finding Neverland”. Critics absolutely dismissed it when it came to Broadway, it received zero Tony nominations, however it has continued to tour and I have heard more word of mouth recommendations on this tour then any tour that has come through recently. I see this article as a larger comment on how we as audiences function as individuals and as a collective. In groups, we feel pressured to agree and not voice opinions if they steer from the collective thought, however these articles are a step in the right direction.
I had the great pleasure of viewing Carrie the Musical three years ago at Oakland University, in Rochester, Michigan. I remember leaving the production thinking it was impressive but unremarkable. It failed to inspire further conversation, and, three years later, I cannot remember much about it aside from a few scenes, one of which was original and added onto the beginning and end of the show by the university. Just for background, I am completely enamored by all things Carrie. I love the book and it remains one of my favorites, and I have seen or partaken in every Carrie related or inspired entertainment media that I have come across. For me to not remember this is a big deal. On those grounds, I disagree with the idea of it being a “misunderstood” musical. By all means, I’m sure rewriting the songs helps plenty in adding to its entertainment value, but it doesn’t change the fact that the show is not remarkable nor does it challenge anything. Sometimes, shows get bad reviews just because they deserve them.
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