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Carrie: On and Off-Broadway
It's not exactly what you'd call a charmed title.
In 1988, a musical named Carrie, based of the famous horror novel by Stephen King, opened on Broadway to appalling reviews and closed three days later.
Undaunted, Theatre Couture and its leader Eric Jackson have created another stage piece based on the work. Called Carrie: A Period Piece, it will bow Off-Broadway at P.S. 122 on Dec. 6 and run through Dec. 30.
Drag performer and Downtown theatre legend Sherry Vine will star and Basil Twist (Symphonie Fantastique) will create special puppets.
"Carrie," one of King's best known and most enduring works, is about the vengeful adventures of an ostracized teenage girl, tormented at school and at home, who finds she has telekinetic powers. As anyone with even a passing interest in Broadway's most infamous fiascos knows, the novel was transformed by composer Michael Gore, lyricist Dean Pitchford and librettist Lawrence D. Cohen into a musical. The show, directed by Terry Hands, starred Linzi Hateley as Carrie and Betty Buckley as her religious fanatic mother. The title has since become something of a catchword for "flop."
"It will definitely be very black comedy," Eric Jackson previously told Playbill.com. "But that's inherent in the novel. It's a very serious take on the pressures and pain of adolescence. But 'Carrie' is also so well known in our culture; we all know the story. Everybody feels it's their story. Because of that collective unconscious, there's a way to have fun with the story. There will be comedy and camp, and some horror, and maybe a little blood."
Past Theatre Couture projects—such as Doll and the 1997 Off-Broadway transfer Tell Tale—have also played P.S. 122.
Somewhat incredibly, Jackson's first wish was to restage the Broadway musical. However, he found the creative team less than excited about the idea. "We talked to them at one point," said Jackson. "We had a meeting. But they are interested in having that production vindicated. They don't want someone to make fun of it. We wanted to celebrate it, but also lampoon it."
Thus rejected, Jackson, taking a different tack, decided to adapt King's novel from scratch. He began by writing the author's lawyer. "We got an immediate response back," he recalled. "He wrote, 'Are you out of your mind?' But, at the bottom of the letter, I noticed the lawyer had cc'd Stephen King."
Rebuffed a second time, Jackson was ready to abandon "Carrie."
"I had given up," he said. "I was angry that they hadn't read my letter more closely. I was done."
Then two weeks after the initial correspondence, Jackson received a second letter from King's lawyer, saying "King had asked him to pursue the matter."
Jackson quickly pounded out an exuberant six-page letter to King, explaining why he wanted to adapt "Carrie" and the approach the theatre company would take to the material, mailing it off with a stash of Theatre Couture clippings. Finally, King's lawyer replied, granting the troupe the rights to the book. "I just flipped," said Jackson.
In 1988, a musical named Carrie, based of the famous horror novel by Stephen King, opened on Broadway to appalling reviews and closed three days later.
Undaunted, Theatre Couture and its leader Eric Jackson have created another stage piece based on the work. Called Carrie: A Period Piece, it will bow Off-Broadway at P.S. 122 on Dec. 6 and run through Dec. 30.
Drag performer and Downtown theatre legend Sherry Vine will star and Basil Twist (Symphonie Fantastique) will create special puppets.
"Carrie," one of King's best known and most enduring works, is about the vengeful adventures of an ostracized teenage girl, tormented at school and at home, who finds she has telekinetic powers. As anyone with even a passing interest in Broadway's most infamous fiascos knows, the novel was transformed by composer Michael Gore, lyricist Dean Pitchford and librettist Lawrence D. Cohen into a musical. The show, directed by Terry Hands, starred Linzi Hateley as Carrie and Betty Buckley as her religious fanatic mother. The title has since become something of a catchword for "flop."
"It will definitely be very black comedy," Eric Jackson previously told Playbill.com. "But that's inherent in the novel. It's a very serious take on the pressures and pain of adolescence. But 'Carrie' is also so well known in our culture; we all know the story. Everybody feels it's their story. Because of that collective unconscious, there's a way to have fun with the story. There will be comedy and camp, and some horror, and maybe a little blood."
Past Theatre Couture projects—such as Doll and the 1997 Off-Broadway transfer Tell Tale—have also played P.S. 122.
Somewhat incredibly, Jackson's first wish was to restage the Broadway musical. However, he found the creative team less than excited about the idea. "We talked to them at one point," said Jackson. "We had a meeting. But they are interested in having that production vindicated. They don't want someone to make fun of it. We wanted to celebrate it, but also lampoon it."
Thus rejected, Jackson, taking a different tack, decided to adapt King's novel from scratch. He began by writing the author's lawyer. "We got an immediate response back," he recalled. "He wrote, 'Are you out of your mind?' But, at the bottom of the letter, I noticed the lawyer had cc'd Stephen King."
Rebuffed a second time, Jackson was ready to abandon "Carrie."
"I had given up," he said. "I was angry that they hadn't read my letter more closely. I was done."
Then two weeks after the initial correspondence, Jackson received a second letter from King's lawyer, saying "King had asked him to pursue the matter."
Jackson quickly pounded out an exuberant six-page letter to King, explaining why he wanted to adapt "Carrie" and the approach the theatre company would take to the material, mailing it off with a stash of Theatre Couture clippings. Finally, King's lawyer replied, granting the troupe the rights to the book. "I just flipped," said Jackson.
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Keith Levy — a.k.a. Sherry Vine — will play the title character in Erik Jackson's play, which will be put on by the company Theatre Couture and will feature visual effects by the Obie Award winner Basil Twist (Symphonie Fantastique ).
Carrie will be directed by the Theatre Couture's resident director Josh Rosenzweig. Other performers include Kate Goehring, Keri Meoni, Kathy Searle, Rafi Silver, Matt Wilkas, Marnye Young, David Ilku and Danielle Skraastad.
Set design is by Tobin Ost, costumes are by David Moyer and lighting is by Paul Hackenmueller. Original music and sound design is created by Robert Kaplowitz.
Jackson has served as an editor for Show People and Time Out New York magazines, and has written two other plays that have played P.S. 122 — Charlie! and Doll — plus Tell-Tale, which played the Cherry Lane Theatre. He co-wrote the book for Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, a musical featuring the songs of Neil Sedaka.
Tickets, priced $18, are available by calling (212) 352-3101. P.S. 122 is located at 150 First Avenue at Ninth Street.
Thirty years after we first saw that photograph of a blood-drenched Sissy Spacek in her prom dress, pretty much everyone knows how the movie “Carrie” ends. But the story’s big prom-night finish has never been more fun than in the deliberately cheesy comedy version of “Carrie” at Performance Space 122. (Poor Miss Gardner, the phys ed teacher, done in by a silvery cardboard star!)
Clearly, Stephen King has a wonderfully warped sense of humor to have approved this new adaptation of his novel about a sweet but vengeful teenage misfit with telekinetic powers.
The show, written by Erik Jackson, opens with the silhouettes of three nubile teenage girls showering porn-actress style to the rhythm of the Foreigner hit “Hot Blooded. ” Neatly directed by Josh Rosenzweig, it remains playful to the end.
We are definitely in the 1970s. Keri Meoni plays the dumb blonde Norma Watson like Suzanne Somers’s Chrissy in the sitcom “Three’s Company.” Kathy Searle, as Christine Hargensen, the original Mean Girl, is wearing Farrah Fawcett’s hair (but brown).
Then there is Carrie.
Keith Levy (as his lovely alter ego, Sherry Vine) plays Carrie in likable absurdist style. At first she is barely capable of human speech. Then the character shifts into a new gear reminiscent of Michael McDonald’s creepy little-boy character, Stuart, on “Mad TV.”
Most of the performances are joyously on target, among them Danielle Skraastad as Miss Gardner, who ogles her female students and openly lusts after Tommy Ross, the big man on campus who is also a nice guy. (Omnisexuality was big in the ’70s too.) Matthew Wilkas gives a fine low-key performance as Tommy, who tells Carrie that he hopes he doesn’t “look too fruity” in his pastel tuxedo.
Absurdism is the order of the day. The items that Carrie moves with her mind include Tupperware and a bong. When the prom king and queen are named, they react silently, in slow motion. But much of the campy dialogue comes straight from the 1976 movie.
This “Carrie” has puppets, designed by Basil Twist and operated by Ceili Clemens. The best of them is the adorable pig that closes Act I with a horror-movie-style death scene, perfectly played.
“Carrie” is at Performance Space 122, 150 First Avenue, at Ninth Street, East Village, (212) 352-3101, through Dec. 30.
"Carrie" ran five performances on Broadway in 1988, but those who saw it can never forget it.
It set a new standard on Broadway for camp awfulness. As Ken Mandelbaum notes in his indispensable book "Not Since 'Carrie': 40 Years of Musical Flops," it seemed as if every fiasco in theatrical history "was piled high, and 'Carrie' was playing on top of them all."
The confident producers attempting to resurrect it are Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum, whose enviable track record includes "Rent," "Avenue Q" and "West Side Story."
Next month, they're producing a six-figure workshop of the musical, based on Stephen King's 1974 thriller about a teenage girl with telekinetic powers.
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Last month we got wind that a new production of Carrie: The Musical was headed to Broadway with producers Jeffrey Seller and Kevin McCollum (of Rent, Avenue Q, West Side Story) spearheading the project. Now, Playbill has announced the complete cast for the musical based upon Stephen King's novel and it looks like we have ourselves a new Carrie.
Stafford Arima will direct the 29-hour Equity reading that will take place in Manhattan Nov. 20. The cast will feature Sutton Foster as gym teacher Ms. Gardner, Marin Mazzie as Margaret White, Molly Ranson as Carrie (pictured left) and Jennifer Damiano as Sue.
Also revealed in the cast are "American Idol" finalist Diana DeGarmo (Hairspray, The Toxic Avenger) as Chris, Matt Doyle as Tommy and John Arthur Greene as Billy.
The Carrie ensemble includes Corey Boardman, Lilli Cooper, Katrina Rose Dideriksen, Benjamin Eakeley, Emily Ferranti, Kyle Harris, Philip Hoffman, Kaitlin Kiyan, Max Kumangai, Mackenzie Mauzy, Preston Sadleir, Jonathan Schwartz, Bud Weber and Sasha Weiss.
Producer Seller has reunited composer Michael Gore, lyricist Dean Pitchford and book writer Lawrence D. Cohen, whom took a crack at the stage show back in 1988 to reprise their roles for this update.
You can actually check out an official Carrie: The Musical website with plenty of tid-bits on the original show, as well as info on the new one right here.
PC: Tell me about Michael bringing CARRIE back to Broadway.
LG: Well, Pat, you'll be happy to know that Michael is in the process of bringing CARRIE back to life in a kind of new incarnation.
PC: Oh, I know and I love the improvements. Actually, earlier today, I interviewed Preston Sadleir who was in the workshop. It's fate for you to give me this scoop! I love, love, love the new version. Is it coming back to Broadway?
LG: I believe they are going to try, yes. I believe they are going to do it with Bernie Telsey. They are heading in for, I think, another reading and then I think they are then going to go into production.
PC: They've done amazing work. It's one of the great lost scores.
LG: And I know that they've spent a lot of time rewriting. Dean [Pitchford, the lyricist] has been in a lot over the summer. They've rewritten the entire second act. They've put a lot of work into it!
PC: And it shows!
LG: And they've marked that time out, they expect to be in and stay in New York for the workshops. It's gonna be a go!
PC: No way! CARRIE is coming back to Broadway!
LG: I've got my fingers crossed, I'm sure it's going to be wonderful.
PC: All the Broadway fans cannot wait for this.
LG: They won't have to wait much longer!
Hide the pigs, cancel the prom and dust off your anecdotes about one of Broadway’s most notorious flops. The musical “Carrie” is looking for sweet revenge on the New York stage.
Off Broadway, the MCC Theater has acquired the rights to mount the first professional production of “Carrie” since it closed on Broadway in 1988, three days after opening to a pile of hide-under-the-covers reviews and setting a record by losing more than $7 million. The musical’s original creative team and the director Stafford Arima are working toward a major production at the Lucille Lortel Theater during the 2011-12 season, according to MCC’s co-artistic director Bernard Telsey.
The creators are in the midst of heavily reworking the musical’s book — based on the 1974 Stephen King novel about a misfit girl with fatal telekinetic powers — as well as its score to create a more serious psychological drama about adolescence, bullying and one awfully complicated mother-daughter relationship, Mr. Arima said.
He predicted that about half of the songs would be different from the Broadway score, which was never recorded, contributing to the show’s legendary status.
Among the songs already jettisoned is the notorious Act II opener, “Out for Blood,” in which high school mean girls and boys work themselves into a state of murderous rapture as they seek pigs’ blood for a cruel prom-night prank against Carrie, a character best known from Sissy Spacek’s portrayal in the 1976 film adaptation.
With Betty Buckley as the biggest name in its cast (Linzi Hateley played the title role), “Carrie” opened on Broadway in May 1988 in a bloody, bloated production that cost almost as much as another major show that season, “The Phantom of the Opera.” Whereas “Phantom” has gone on to make $800 million on Broadway alone, “Carrie” closed after 16 previews and five regular performances.
Rocco Landesman, who was president of Jujamcyn Theaters, which had $500,000 in the show, memorably told Time magazine, “This is the biggest flop in the world history of the theater, going all the way back to Aristophanes.” Indeed, the flame-out was preserved for posterity in a 1991 book (and title), “Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops.”
All of which, of course, made “Carrie” ripe for cult status, helping it become one of those shows that far more people claim to have seen before it closed than possibly could have. One who was in the audience, with the Playbill to prove it, was Mr. Arima. He recalled traveling from his home in Toronto that spring, at 19, with his mother on their annual Broadway sojourn and seeing the first Saturday matinee preview on April 30, 1988.
“I had never seen a crowd go wild like the ‘Carrie’ crowd did, the infectious and almost hypnotic quality to some of the songs, the absolute roar from the audience at the end as Carrie dies,” Mr. Arima said. “Personally, too, as a theater geek who had been bad at gym, I related very much to the archetype of the misfit. How many of us can remember being made fun of in high school because we were too smart, too shy, too awkward?”
Mr. Arima, who directed the Off Broadway hit “Altar Boyz,” did not give “Carrie” much more thought until 2008, when he was sharing theater memories with his mother before her death. He soon began making inquiries about reviving or perhaps reworking the show, which led him to the creators.
In the years since “Carrie” closed, said Lawrence D. Cohen, the book writer, the creators received hundreds of requests for the rights from regional and community theaters, colleges and high schools, and European companies. There were online petitions too. The only known production after Broadway was an unauthorized amateur mounting in 1999 at the Stagedoor Manor performing arts camp, which included a reworked ending and an actual teenage cast.
The Broadway producers Kevin McCollum and Jeffrey Seller (“Rent” and “Avenue Q”) mounted a closed-door workshop production of “Carrie” in late 2009, using new material from Mr. Cohen, the composer Michael Gore and the lyricist Dean Pitchford, under Mr. Arima’s direction. The two producers ultimately decided not to move forward with the piece; in a telephone interview Mr. Seller declined to explain why, but said that part of the point of the workshop was to provoke ideas for a future production, and that he was pleased that Mr. Telsey had a vision for a far more intimate “Carrie” in the 299-seat Lucille Lortel.
Mr. Telsey said the draft script was in “very workable shape right now,” yet was so different from the original that he was not sure if MCC’s “Carrie” would be considered a revival or a reimagined work. While the story has not been radically altered, Mr. Telsey said the authors had gone far in “humanizing” Margaret White, Carrie’s oppressively religious mother (played by Ms. Buckley on Broadway) and portraying Carrie’s varied emotions, which were swamped in the 1988 production by the special effects for her kinetic powers.
Asked if he could see anything stopping MCC from mounting “Carrie,” Mr. Telsey said: “Not at this point. Certainly we’re not intimidated by the Broadway blockbuster flop status. By opening Off Broadway, in a smaller and far different production, I think ‘Carrie’ would receive a fair, fresh look that had nothing to do with its legend.”
MCC THEATER will present Revisiting Carrie, a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes of MCC Theater's upcoming production of the musical Carrie, on August 1, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC). The show's creators - bookwriter Lawrence D. Cohen, composer Michael Gore and lyricist Dean Pitchford, along with director Stafford Arima - will discuss the exciting process of revisiting and reimagining this legendary musical, which MCC Theater is producing as part of its 2011-2012 mainstage season. Throughout the evening, Molly Ranson (Carrie), Marin Mazzie (Carrie's mother, Margaret), and other cast members will perform song selections for a taste of what's to come this January, when Carrie returns to the stage anew. This event will provide audience members a one-time, exclusive opportunity to hear directly from the show's creators as well as the all-new vocal arrangements and artistic vision for this highly anticipated production. Tickets are priced at $39, $59, and $99 ($99 tickets include an autographed event poster) and are now on sale by visiting www.mcctheater.org.
Carrie White is a misfit. At school, she's an outcast who's bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she's at the mercy of her loving but cruelly over-protective mother. But Carrie's just discovered she's got a special power, and if pushed too far, she's not afraid to use it...
Based on Stephen King's bestselling novel, the musical of Carrie hasn't been seen since its legendary 1988 Broadway production. Now, the show's original authors have joined with director Stafford Arima (Altar Boyz) and MCC Theater for a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale. Set today, in the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, Carrie features a book by Lawrence D. Cohen (screenwriter of the classic film), music by Academy Award winning composer Michael Gore (Fame, Terms of Endearment), and lyrics by Academy Award winning lyricist Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose). The cast will be led by Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal, Kiss Me Kate) as Carrie's evangelical mother, Margaret White, and Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) as the lonely, vengeful, yet fragile girl at the center of it all. Performances begin at the Lucille Lortel Theatre January 31, 2012.
MCC's world premiere production of Michael Weller's Side Effects, starring Joely Richardson (David Fincher's upcoming The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, "Nip/Tuck") and Cotter Smith (Kin, Next Fall) opens this Sunday, June 19, 2011. Tickets for Side Effects are available by visiting www.mcctheater.org or by contacting Ticket Central directly at www.ticketcentral.com or calling 212-279-4200.
MCC Theater is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary season as one of New York City's leading Off Broadway theater companies, committed to presenting New York and world premieres each season. When MCC Theater was founded in 1986, its mission was simple: to bring new theatrical voices to theater-going audiences. MCC Theater continues to accomplish this yearly through three programmatic areas: its mainstage works; its Playwrights' Coalition, which actively seeks and develops new and emerging writers; and its Education & Outreach Programs, including the Youth Company, which allow more than 1,200 students yearly to experience theater, increase literacy and discover their own voices through the creation of original theater pieces. Notable MCC Theater highlights include: the 2008 Tony Award-nominated reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute, last season's The Pride, Fifty Words, the 2004 Tony-winning production of Bryony Lavery's Frozen; Neil LaBute's Fat Pig; Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living; Marsha Norman's Trudy Blue; Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit; Tim Blake Nelson's The Grey Zone and Alan Bowne's Beirut. Over the years, the dedication to the work of new and emerging artists has earned MCC Theater a variety of awards.
For more information on MCC Theater, visit www.mcctheater.org.
he creative team and stars of the upcoming Off-Broadway revival of Carrie, the dark pop musical based on Stephen King's novel about a teen with telekinetic powers, offer audiences a sneak peek at their creation Aug. 1 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
MCC Theater, which is developing an Off-Broadway revival of the infamous 1980's Broadway flop, is behind the sold-out 7 PM evening titled "Revisiting Carrie."
Bookwriter Lawrence D. Cohen (who penned the original screenplay), composer Michael Gore and lyricist Dean Pitchford have been re-working the musical over the past several seasons in preparation for a January 2012 Off-Broadway run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.
"Revisiting Carrie" aligns Cohen, Gore and Pitchford to discuss their latest work on the musical. Director Stafford Arima, who shepherded recent workshops of Carrie and will stage the Off-Broadway production, is also scheduled to participate.
The musical's stars, Molly Ranson (Jerusalem, August: Osage County) and Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie (Passion, Ragtime, Next to Normal), who will star as Carrie and Margaret White, respectively, are also scheduled to be on hand to perform songs from the musical.
Carrie performances begin at the Lortel Theatre Jan. 31, 2012. The production team will include music director/arranger Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Broadway's Company), choreographer Matt Williams, orchestrator Doug Besterman and vocal designer AnnMarie Milazzo. [ch8232]The production is billed as "a newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision of this gripping tale," set in present-day Maine.
According to MCC, "Carrie White is a misfit. At school, she's an outcast who's bullied by the popular crowd, and virtually invisible to everyone else. At home, she's at the mercy of her loving but cruelly over-protective mother. But Carrie's just discovered she's got a special power, and if pushed too far, she's not afraid to use it…"[ch8232]
Visit mcctheater.org. The Lucille Lortel Theatre is located at 121 Christopher Street.
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Carrie: The Musical – Premiere Cast Recording takes King’s story of a troubled teenager with special powers -- whose tortured social life is a symptom of, and made more unbearable by, her religious fanatic of a mother -- and sets it to a pop/rock score that is intense, stirring, profound and, ultimately, heartbreaking. One can virtually see the show in the mind’s eye while listening to the song-cycle.
Featuring fan favorite songs such as “In”, “And Eve Was Weak”, and “The World According To Chris”, the recording immortalizes the recent Off-Broadway revival featuring the knockout vocal performances of Tony Award® nominee Marin Mazzie (Ragtime, Kiss Me Kate, Next to Normal), breakout star Molly Ranson, and the incredible cast of the 2012 MCC Theater production.
Carrie: The Musical, which originally appeared on Broadway in 1988, features music & lyrics by Academy Award® winners Michael Gore (Fame, Terms Of Endearment) and Dean Pitchford (Fame, Footloose), and a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, who also penned the classic film’s screenplay. The cast album will be released on September 25th and is available for pre-order through Ghostlight Records’ website.
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Carrie the Musical: What Were They Thinking? is an intensely personal chronicle, tracking Lawrence Cohen’s four-decade history with Stephen King’s classic fable—from reading the manuscript in 1973 while a reader for producer David Susskind, to writing the screenplay for the classic 1976 Brian de Palma film; from deciding to turn it into a musical (1984) to the path that led to the controversial Royal Shakespeare Company and legendary Broadway production that crashed and burned in 1988; to collaborating on its rebirth and resurrection for MCC Theater Off-Broadway in 2012.
Rarely has a theatrical account been so first person and insider based—naming names, telling never-before-told stories, and revealing what its creators were thinking. Passionate and visceral, it provides a highly informative and educational behind-the-scenes look into just how musicals are written and put together.
How did a show that even its harshest critic, Frank Rich, admitted “was a workable idea for a musical” and Ken Mandelbaum argued was “salvageable” go so far off track? How did an Oscar-winning composer and lyricist, plus the award-nominated screenwriter of the original film, produce a work that proved so divisive to audiences and critics? How did a musical that the world-renowned Royal Shakespeare Company chose as its follow-up to Les Misérables become such a train wreck? What were they thinking?
Or—Was there another story behind the headlines?
Follow the “Rocky”-like journey of the show from its very inception to its unpredictable resurrection that earned it thirteen theater award nominations, plus an award for Best Revival from the Off-Broadway Alliance, the recording of the show by the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center for its archives, the release of a long-awaited cast recording on Ghostlight Records, and licensing by Rodgers and Hammerstein, allowing Carrie to enter the global theater repertoire. Talk about a miracle and a happy ending.
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