Carrie the musical!

I was bored & watched the 2012 off-Broadway Production of Carrie the musical (AKA Broadway's biggest flop in 1988 even though Linzi Hateley won an award for it) & I decided to review it.

Carrie The Musical
Rating:***

Cast: Molly Ranson, Marin Mazzie, Christy Altomare, Derek Klena, Jeanna de Waal, Ben Thompson, Carmen Cusack
This adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel & one of the most famous horror films of 70's is rather mediocre compared to other shows, but is much better than the 1988 production. Molly Ranson plays Carrie White, a social outcast who experiences her first period which causes a stir with the other girls since her mother never told her, causing her to believe she's dying. Her fundamental religious mother constantly abuses her & believes she's sinned with 'the curse of blood' & forbids her to be a normal teenager.

Sue Snell, a girl from a popular clique which is led by the bullying & manipulative Chris Hargenson, begins to feel bad for taking part in the shower incident & decides her boyfriend, jock Tommy Ross, should take Carrie to the upcoming prom to show her a good time. While this is going on, Chris still hates Carrie & decides to humiliate her even further with the help of her boyfriend, Billy Nolan.

Carrie's gym teacher Miss Gardner, who acts as a confidante towards Carrie, convinces her to accept Tommy's prom invitation, while she's discovering she has telekinesis, which is triggered whenever she's upset or angry & decides to use it so she can confront her mother about going to prom, which she forbids. At prom, Carrie is gradually accepted by her peers & Chris forces her friend to rig the Prom King & Queen votes so Tommy & Carrie win, in order to act out her revenge for being banned from prom. The climax of the events show Chris & Billy dumping Carrie with pig's blood while she's on-stage, causing her to think everyone's laughing at her, flaring up her telekinesis & killing everybody inside as revenge. Causing more destruction on her way home, the ending, in my opinion, was weak & very predictable.

Like I said, this is much better than the 1988 version, but it's still average. The lyrics are horrible & the rhyming is odd & Carrie sings a solo all about her name & why nobody gets it right for some reason. My name is said wrong all the time because of the spelling & it bugs me, but I wouldn't randomly sing about it. The set design was actually quite cool, using projections for the bucket of pig's blood & the fire in the destruction scene. The costumes were OK, with the prom dress that Carrie wears looking like the one in the 1976 film.
Molly Ranson & Marin Mazzie were good in character, especially Marin as Margaret, being obsessed with religion & abusing her daughter, yet caring for her at the end. The other characters are bland & lifeless, with no individuality whatsoever.

Facts about Carrie
-Betty Buckley played Margaret in the 1988 Broadway production & previously played the gym teacher in the 1976 film.
-Carrie is based on 2 girls who Stephen King knew at school who were Christians & social outcasts & both died while in their 20's.
-In the 1988 production, pig's blood had to be poured on Carrie by Chris on-stage instead of on a cord above the stage as the body mic on Linzi would've clogged up & her song the Destruction started immediately afterwards so they couldn't wipe it off on time.
-The 1988 production started in Stratford upon Avon before transferring to London & eventually Broadway, which lasted for 5 performances & was Broadway's biggest flop. The next time this would happen was with Matilda the Musical over 20 years later, which would win the most number of Olivier awards for a show of all time.
-The gym teacher has had a load of name changes: in the novel, she's called Rita Desjardin, in the 1976 film she's called Miss Collins, in the musical she's called Miss Gardner & in the 2002 TV film, she's called Miss Desjarden. The 2013 remake will use the name from the original novel.
- Sissy Spacek was originally chosen to play Chris, but her husband convinced her to try out the lead role. She persuaded Brian DePalma by not washing her face, putting Vaseline in her hair & wearing a sailor dress her mum made her wear in year 7. She ended up being nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
- A sequel in 1999 called The Rage: Carrie 2 featured Amy Irving reprising her role as Sue & Emily Bergl as Rachel Lang, Carrie's half-sister who has the same telekinetic powers as Carrie. While the title references Carrie, she only appears in archive footage from the 1976 film which Sissy Spacek allowed them to use.

Christine Daae Collage!

Best Musical Kisses Ever!

1) The Phantom & Christine's in Love Never Dies! (the Australian one of course during 'Ah Christine'!) Mainly because this kiss is different from Phantom since it affirms the love that everyone wanted them to have, instead of pity & sorrow. When I was watching that kiss, I was thinking 'WHY THE HELL WASN'T THIS IN LONDON EVEN IF IT WOULD STILL SUCK ANYWAY?!' Also congrats to Anna O'Byrne for being given the part of Alternate Christine in the London production of Phantom even though I think she should be a principal!

2) The Phantom & Christine's in Phantom of the Opera because it's so romantic yet pitiful for Christine & it's also sweet that it's the Phantom's first EVER kiss!

3) Elphaba & Fiyero's from Wicked! Such a sweet ending to a very passionate love song which confirms their love after years of lying to Glinda about their infatuations with each other.

4) Mickey & Linda's from Blood Brothers! It was possibly one of the funniest kisses I've ever seen since how long it is & how comical it is since Mickey's been in love with Linda for years & how shy he was to tell her his feelings.

5) Tony & Maria's first kiss from West Side Story! It's so sweet since it's the first time they meet & are unaware that they're from rival gangs with their loving causing one of the saddest deaths ever!



I really struggled with this one so if there are any others kisses I missed, please let me know!

Actors who have played more than one role in the same show!

Since I just found out Louise Dearman will be the only actress to play Glinda & Elphaba in Wicked, I decided to show some facts of other actors who have played different roles in the same show!

1) Ramin Karimloo in 2 situations: in 2004 he played Raoul in Phantom & returned in 2008 as the Phantom! He also played Enjolras & Feuilly & an understudy Marius in his first run of Les Miz & went on to play Jean Valjean in 2012!

2) Hadley Fraser played Marius in Les Miz in 2002, before returning to play Javert in 2011-2012!

3) Tim Martin Gleason played Raoul in Phantom in the US tour & returned as the Phantom!

4) Glee star Lea Michele played Young Cosette in Les Miz when she was 8 & ended up playing Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl production!

5) Lea Salonga was previously Eponine in to 90's in Les Miz & ended up playing Fantine in the 2006 Broadway revival!

6) In a similar situation, Caroline Sheen played Eponine in Les Miz & returned as Fantine in 2011-2012 before leaving for her pregnancy!

7) Some Phantom buffs might not know this, but London Christine Nicky Adams returned to Phantom in 2009-2010 as Madame Giry! I saw her as Madame Giry & I must say, I was quite shocked that she's capable to play a young soprano & an aging ballet teacher in a five year gap!

8) Rosemary Ashe was the original London Carlotta & returned for the 25th Anniversary Concert as the Confidante in the Il Muto scene!

9) Bebe Neuwirth was Velma Kelly in Chicago in 1996 on Broadway & returned 10 years later as Roxie Hart!

10) Steve Barton was the Original London & Broadway Raoul in 1986 & eventually returned as the Phantom in 1990!

Top 10 Best Death Scenes in Musicals!

1) Satine's death from Moulin Rouge! I was just crying my eyes out as she was dying in Christian's arms while he was crying & begging that she'd live & it was even more sad since the scene before made it the perfect ending we all wanted!

2) Eponine's death from Les Miz! The song she & Marius sing is so beautiful yet tragic & she doesn't want any sympathy or fretting over the fact she's dying since she can confess her love for Marius. Also, since 2006 I've found it even more sad that she dies just before she can kiss Marius, which made me cry my eyes out!

3) Enjolras' death from Les Miz! His death is so powerful, waving the giant red flag since it symbolizes the students' beliefs dying with them!

4) Fantine's death from Les Miz! I just found it so sad that she died sacifricing her life for her daughter & shows her devotion towards her, as well as creating an important part of the plot with Jean Valjean adopting Cosette.

5) Jean Valjean's death from Les Miz! I found it so sad that with his whole life after being in prison was about redeeming himself, he had to die almost alone. Also, what made it worse was that he dies on Marius & Cosette's wedding night, which is really when she needs him most!

6) Christine's death from Love Never Dies! This just shows the best & worst way to die is in the arms of the man you've loved all your life, even if she was already married to an abusive man & cheated on him resulting with a love child & was shot by her best friend in a sudden rage!

7) Mickey & Eddie's deaths from Blood Brothers! I counted them as one since they die at the same time by accident, with Mickey killing Eddie being practically the same as Meg killing Christine in Love Never Dies, since they're both waving guns around & are coaxed for a short time before going into a rage with jealousy & therefore accidentally triggering the guns! I was crying so hard when the twins died the moment they found out the truth, even though I saw it coming since the prologue showed them dying.

8) Nancy's death from Oliver! It's so sad she had to be clubbed to death by the man she loves, when he thinks she betrays him when she really saved him from being caught out, in order to save Oliver so he can be reunited with his family!

9) The first suicide on the list, Judas' death from Jesus Christ Superstar. His death is just amazing & symbolic since his ongoing guilt for betraying Jesus will always be with him & basically showing he was talked into betraying Jesus for money & that he'd regret for the rest of his life.

10) All the death scenes from Sweeney Todd! I just think it's cool virtually all the deaths are done by slitting throats & I always wonder how it's done on-stage. However I think a major one is Todd & Lucy's deaths because of the regret Todd feels when he realises he killed his beloved wife because he was consumed with revenge for what happened 15 years prior when he was separated from Lucy & his then infant daughter Johanna.

I have GOT to get this as a canvas!

This is my idea of HEAVEN!!! I wish I was with everyone in that room right now! (even if I've met Ramin & Sierra!)