CARRIE-The Musical: Ugly Duckling to Swan

Carrie: the musical: Drab to Fab

The musical adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie is famously known as one of the most disastrously expensive flops in Broadway history. Despite its legendary failure, the show gained a mythic, cult status, eventually achieving an off-Broadway revival that re-evaluated the score and solidified its reputation as a modern theatrical oddity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

The 1988 Flop

• The Production: Co-produced with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the musical began with an expensive, highly publicized run in Stratford-upon-Avon. [1, 2]
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  Creative Disasters: The musical heavily confused genre lines, bizarrely blending psychic horror with rock-infused power ballads, and featured unusual staging choices like an elaborate descent from the heavens and teenagers in studded leather. Technical chaos plagued the production; the creative team struggled to douse the lead actress in fake blood without destroying her microphone, and legendary Broadway star Barbara Cook quit during previews after nearly being decapitated by an elaborate set piece. [1, 2, 3, 4]
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• The Broadway Run: Capitalized at over $7 million, it transferred to the Virginia Theatre in New York, officially opening on May 12, 1988. Critics lambasted the show, with former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich comparing its spectacular failure to the explosion of the Hindenburg. It closed after just 16 previews and 5 official performances. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The Phenomenon and Mythos

• Not Since Carrie: The show's jaw-dropping budget and catastrophically short run earned it a legendary status in the theater community. This mythic reputation was cemented in 1991 when Ken Mandelbaum published Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops, a highly celebrated and entertaining survey book that used the infamous Stephen King adaptation as the anchor to examine almost 200 failed musicals. [1, 2, 3]
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  The Cast Recording: Because of the show's incredible rarity, camp value, and soaring musical numbers written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford, its original cast recording became a sought-after Cult Oddities staple among musical theater enthusiasts and collectors. [1, 2, 3]

The 2012 Re-Evaluation

• The MCC Theater Revival: In early 2012, the creators (Gore, Pitchford, and book writer Lawrence D. Cohen) reunited with Stafford Arima to thoroughly rework the material, replacing seven songs and shifting the focus towards modern-day bullying. [1, 2]

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  Lucille Lortel

• Critical Reassessment: MCC Theater mounted the revamped Carrie: The Musical Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Starring Marin Mazzie as Margaret White and Molly Ranson as Carrie, this darker, more visceral take was praised by critics, giving the show a new life, a proper Ghostlight Records cast album, and allowing licensing rights to be released for theaters and schools worldwide. [1, 2,]

I'm sorry folks:

I've never seen it live as a musical so I'm not going to be able to review it. But please, if you have seen it, good or bad, please drop me a line so I can include it in this post.(I do not have to use your name) I just want honest reviews.

Tina

My quote for you(the actor):

"You should feel a flow of joy because you are alive. Your body will feel full of life. That is what you must give from the stage. Your life. No less." — Anton Chekhov