MACT
a guest submission by Randal Forster
When “Carrie: The Musical” first opened in 1988, it was supposed to rival “Les Miserables” and “Phantom of the Opera” as the next greatest show to hit Broadway. After all, how could this project fail? It was based upon the popular book Carrie, by Stephen King, that had been transformed into a successful movie. Terry Hand, a world class director, was leading the charge to bring the story to life on the stage. They hired Debbie Allen, who had just completed the successful movie, Fame, to do the choreography, and the famous Barbara Cook took on the role of Margaret.
After completing its pre-Broadway tryouts in the United Kingdom at Stratford-upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre, the creative team decided to forgo the traditional path of doing a West End London premier because they felt the story of Carrie was truly an American fable. They brought the show directly to New York City where it was an absolute disaster.
The show received mostly negative reviews and closed after 16 previews and 5 regular performances on Broadway. With a budget of $8 million, it is considered one of the most notable flops in Broadway theatre history. As a result of its difficult production history and limited run, Carrie: The Musical gained a cult following.
In 1991, Ken Mandelbaun chronicled the history of “flop” Broadway musicals in a book entitled Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops. In 2021 there was a podcast and subsequent 2023 book, Out for Blood: The Story of Carrie the Musical, which documented the show’s creation and development.
In 2009, the original writing team decided to give Carrie: The Musical another shot. The book and score were entirely revised, cutting more than half of the original songs and replacing them with new ones. The character of Sue Snell was also re-imaged to be a type of narrator throughout the show.
In 2012, they opened their new production Off-Broadway. The revival received better reviews than the original production. This, then, became the official version of the show and a year later the rights for licensing became available. Since then, several Regional, Community, High School, and College Theatres have staged successful productions of this chilling musical.
The musical has finally found an audience and has become a “cult classic” in the world of musical theatre.
Carrie: The Musical definitely has a sordid past. The show is not your traditional “happy go lucky” musical theatre piece. Spoiler Alert: everyone is dead at the end (except Sue Snell) and if you read the original novel, you already knew that. When people think of the “Carrie story”, two things come to mind: the prom and a bucket of pig’s blood. However, there is much more to this musical than that. The story is first and foremost a tale a fiction with an interesting plot and complex characters. The events described by King in the novel are truly horrific and somewhat unbelievable. The acts of abuse perpetrated on people by other people are indeed chilling.
Carrie White is a young girl who is bullied by her peers and often tortured by her overly religious fanatical mother. Carrie just wants to “fit in” just like the rest of the kids in her school. She has the power of telekinesis, which in the end, causes her to destroy everything she loves simply because she was driven to the edge by her surroundings.
Maybe you were bullied as a child at school or even bullied as an adult in the workplace. It is also possible that you were once the person being the bully and causing someone else to feel pain. Whatever the situation, I would venture to guess that we can all relate to one or more characters in this story. We are all human, which makes us all flawed. What does it cost to be kind? Or maybe we should ask ourselves, what is the price that our society is willing to pay to be unkind?
I am thrilled that the original writing team learned from the past and created a different show. They took a risk reworking their original musical and developing a better show. It is now an entirely different script with revised songs and music.
I am excited to share what they wrote on the page and bring it to life on our stage. I understand that this story may not be for everyone, however I do hope that you will take a risk and experience Carrie: the Musical. I know you will find it a true theatrical event.
Embrace the Halloween spirit this fall and immerse yourself into the world of Carrie White. I know it will be a night we’ll never forget!
[Editor’s note: Randal Forster directed Riverland Theatre’s production of Carrie: The Musical. He is also Co-Executive Director of MACT member Summerset Theatre and the Executive Director of Mower County Historical Society.]