Joe Barros to Direct CARRIE THE MUSICAL at Michigan State, 10/10-19

Michigan State University's Department of Theatre welcomes Joe Barros as the guest director of the thrilling October production, Carrie the Musical, which will play at the Pasant Theatre at Wharton Center from Oct 10 - Oct 19, 2014.

"I am thrilled and honored to be the recipient of the SDCF's Guest Artist Initiative, and am so grateful for the incredible opportunity to work at MSU," said Joe Barros. "Our Carrie is less about gore and super powers, and rather focuses on the power of bullying and how technology affects and heightens bullying. Since technology is a vivid theme in contemporary bullying, we are exploring technology in the production, both literally and metaphorically, with the presence of cell phones and state-of-the-art multimedia technology."

According to Barros, technology will further immerse the audience into the world of the storytelling in some very innovative ways: audience members will have a chance to publically Tweet negative or positive things about Carrie before the curtain, audience members can elect to receive texts to their phones with photographs and hashtags during the performance, and a select group of audience members will join the actors on stage for the prom and Carrie's iconic destruction. It is Barros' hope that the audience will feel the effects of Carrie's cautionary journey beyond Stephen King's core story - frighteningly aware that the story of Carrie and others like it (Columbine, Virginia Tech, and even more recent events) have already happened.

Barros, who will direct and choreograph Carrie, concluded, "My ultimate message to the students and the community is this: If everyone is being bullied, where are all the bullies? It is my hope to ignite a change in philosophy from 'What is the world doing to me?' to 'What am I offering the world?' In Carrie, that message is summed up beautifully: 'What does it cost to be kind?'"

Performances held in the Pasant Theatre at Wharton Center from October 10-19. * Pre-Show Director Discussion Sunday, October 12, 2014 at 1:15 PM. ** Post-Show Discussion on Thursday, October 16, 2014 (Following the Performance). Tickets are available from the Wharton Center Box Office; 1.800.WHARTON; www.whartoncenter.com. Box office at the Pasant Theatre opens 1 hour prior to each performance with house doors opening 30 minutes prior. General Admission $20. Faculty & Seniors $18. Students $15. Pasant Theatre at Wharton Center for Performing Arts is located at Michigan State University, 750 E. West Shaw Lane, East Lansing, 48824. For more information and the entire 2014-15 season of "Power Plays" visit theatre.msu.edu.

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