Carrie the Musical
Music by Michael Gore
Lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Book by Lawrence D. Cohen
Based on the novel by Stephen King
The Band that makes Carrie musical.
Keys 1/Conductor Vonda K. Bowling
Guitar Dennis Langevin
Cello Molly Wang
Bass Sal Bollinger
Drums Kami Lujan
My thoughts on Carrie the Musical or …broken “Prom”ises and let there be blood.
Carrie is getting the royal treatment at Theatre Three and DFW theater royalty is at the helm. Director Christie Vela, Music Director Vonda K. Bowling and Choreographer Joel Ferrell have fashioned the Stephen King classic about the social misfit with telekinetic powers into an immersive, creepily compelling experience.
Carrie the Musical is a legendary 1988 Broadway flop, closing after 16 previews and 5 performances and losing millions of dollars. Even the 2012 Off-Broadway revival starring the late Marin Mazzie closed after just a couple of months. I saw the revival and, despite all the talent on stage, it was unmemorable.
Unlike its predecessors, Theatre Three’s production is successful and much of the credit goes to Director Vela’s staging in the Norma Young Arena. Although the performance area is spacious, a feeling of intimacy is established. The audience surrounds the players and often in this almost constantly moving show, the players surround us, drawing us into the story.
Jeffrey Schmidt’s scenic design includes a terrifically rendered run down house where Carrie White and her mother reside. It has a detachable staircase which is sometimes rolled to the center of the stage with an actor on the steps and turned 360 degrees creating a marvelous dramatic effect. There’s excellent lighting and sound from Amanda West and Brian McDonald respectively and their work on the climactic prom scene is especially powerful. Costume Designer Jessie Wallace has the high school students looking authentic in both casual and formal wear and her oversized muted color clothing on Carrie emphasizes her awkwardness.
Music Director Vonda K. Bowling leads the band of master musicians who rock Theatre Three with Michael Gore’s score that combines pop, rock, and ballads. A special shout out to Kami Lujan on drums who made this percussion heavy score’s beat go on.
This production of Carrie the Musical is a collaboration between Theatre Three and SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and young actors are performing alongside Actor’s Equity members. Choreographer Joel Ferrell takes full advantage of the youthful performers whose exuberant dancing is a thrill to watch. Ferrell has them on benches, on the floor, and flailing their hands in the air in that carefree way that only the young can make look natural.
The actors from SMU are also quite adept singers. When I mentioned to Music Director Bowling after the show how polished all the vocals were, she said they came in needing very little coaching from her. That’s a high compliment indeed.
All of the SMU cast is sensational, but I must mention some stand outs. Camila Escobar as super bitch/bully Chris Hargensen whose vindictive antics lead to tragedy is quite the singer as she proves in “The World According to Chris.” However, it’s her acting that fascinated me. She is so convincing as the hateful, ruthless Chris that I wanted to jump out of my seat give her a Joan Crawford style bitch slap or two. Also, very strong playing Chris’s toxically masculine boyfriend Billy Nolan is Janson Hanes. They are one helluva a couple and that’s where they wind up before the night is over.
Honey voiced John Broda is Tommy Ross the jock with a heart who sacrifices taking his girlfriend Sue to the prom when she asks him to take Carrie instead. There is something about Broda’s demeanor on stage that makes his character feel genuine and when he sings “Dreamer in Disguise” hearts melt.
Kally Duncan, who plays Ms. Gardner the gym teacher, is in her final year of studies for her Masters in Acting at SMU, and already has several performing credits in DFW. Duncan, who is also an excellent vocalist, embodies the role of Ms., Gardner perfectly, whether barking out orders to her PE students or trying to build the confidence of Carrie White.
Stage vet Brian Gonzales appears as English teacher Mr. Stephens. Gonzales takes this supporting character part and runs with it. He is gruffly funny as he deals with his disruptive students and never has his class quite under control. One can imagine Gonzales’s Mr. Stephens consuming several beers after coming home from school each day.
There are three lead roles in Carrie the Musical. The first is Sue Snell, a former mean girl who realizes how her actions have hurt Carrie and completely changes her outlook on life and begins to question the actions of those she once considered friends. Presley Duyck lends her gorgeous voice and impeccable acting skills to the role of Sue. It is the interrogation of Sue by the authorities that provides the continuity of the storyline. Duyck is so totally vulnerable in the harsh spotlight that Sue wins our sympathy from the beginning. Singing the short but lovely song “Once You See,” Duyck brings poignancy to the character of Sue. Of Carrie White she says, “once you see, you can’t unsee,” and Sue’s life is forever changed. Duyck and Borda also have a wonderful duet with “You Shine.”
Cara Statham Serber is Carrie’s hell bent on going to heaven mother Margaret. That voice. That voice. That voice. Serber’s stunning vocals especially singing “Eve Was Weak" and “When There’s No One” are chill inducing. In a wig that makes her look like a fundamentalist Julianne Moore, Serber takes Margaret’s mood from 0 to 60 in a bipolar minute. Margaret is fiercely protective of Carrie, yet fiercely unforgiving. And this is one remarkably fierce and exciting performance. Wow.
Imagine being 18 years old and playing the title role in a musical at one of the most respected regional theaters in the country. That’s just what’s happening to SMU sophomore Jordan Lage who plays the title role of Carrie White, the telekinetic ugly duckling who becomes a swan…for a while. Lage captures all of Carrie’s shyness and self-consciousness and social discomfort as well as her budding self-confidence and brief moments of joy. Lage seems to have been blessed with an innate sense for acting., and that coupled with her beautiful soprano voice make her Carrie White both pitiful and scary. An amazing performance from an emerging star.
Director Vela knows her way around horror, even musical horror, and along with the fantastic singing and dancing, there are plenty of shudders. Theatre Three’s Carrie the Musical is wicked good entertainment ushering us into the Halloween season. Your prom ticket is valid until November 3rd.
