Review: CARRIE THE MUSICAL at The Carnegie

Musicals and horror are generally considered polar-opposite genres. Sometimes, it’s hard to imagine the dark or scary elements of a horror story being sung and danced, and you’d be correct. Over the years, very few musicals have been able to crack the code. The original example would arguably be Sweeney Todd, and just this year, The Lost Boys has proven to be a spooky success. However, in 1988, the Royal Shakespeare Company decided to try its hand at a mega-musical horror tragedy by adapting Stephen King’s Carrie. The show flopped on Broadway in May 1988 (16 previews and 5 official performances), but over the years, it became an underground cult sensation. In 2012, the original writers overhauled the piece, and the revised (albeit vastly different) version is now the one that takes community and regional theaters by storm every fall.

The story, if you somehow don’t know it, is about a bullied high school girl with a religious and abusive mother who discovers that she has telekinetic powers. A prank at that year’s prom proves to be a fatal mistake as Carrie’s wrath rains down on the town of Chamberlain, Maine.

Full disclosure: Carrie is one of my favorite musicals. As a show, it’s flawed, but there’s a lot of good here, mainly in the score by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford. The Carnegie has done nothing but amazing work, so my hopes for this production were very high, and I’d say it met most of my lofty expectations.

The show is led by Erin Kebede as Carrie White, and if there’s one reason to see this production, she’s it! It’s truly a star-making performance. Her stage presence is remarkable as she embodies Carrie’s meek nature, but in her moments to shine, she commands the stage with a voice that is nothing short of phenomenal. She’s truly the perfect Carrie and does so much with the role.

Opposite Kebede for a majority of the show is Amy Luce as Margaret White. It’s clear that Luce is a talented performer, and she navigates the role vocally with confidence. However, I felt that some of Margaret’s more unsettling qualities didn’t fully come through in this portrayal. Margaret needs to feel like a force to be reckoned with, and while Luce delivers a solid performance, I just never felt any danger in the portrayal.

Victoria Okafor does a wonderful job as Miss Gardener. Her ballad, “Unsuspecting Hearts,” is beautifully sung, and her tough as nails gym teacher makes a big impression during her confrontation with Arden Allmon’s Chris Hargensen. Allmon’s Chris is fantastically bitchy, and you love to hate her. She fully understands who Chris is and plays it up in an amazing way.

Rounding out the supporting cast are Ayla Schwartz as Sue Snell and Griffin Simmons as Tommy Ross. Schwartz does an amazing job functioning as our narrator and is equally present in every scene she’s in. Simmons’s Tommy is the quintessential nice boy next door. He’s very endearing in the role, portraying the golden boy perfectly. Their chemistry together is fantastic, and their voices blend beautifully.

As for the production itself, there’s a lot to like here. There’s a framing device within the show that centers on Sue being questioned about everything after it’s happened. In a first for me, this production makes the bold decision to use the interrogation room as the main set for the show, with everything coming to life within that space as Sue watches events unfold for much of the performance. I really like the boldness of this concept, and it worked for me most of the time. There were a few points where Sue’s presence as a voyeur was a little distracting (through no fault of Schwartz’s), and there were times when the playing space felt a bit small. I want to reiterate how much I respect this production for doing something so different.

The special effects are sparse, but when they do appear, they make a big impression, namely through a few instances of well-placed pyrotechnics. One physical element of the show that slightly let me down was “The Destruction.” This is the moment when everything should be thrown at the wall in terms of effects and staging, but unfortunately, it was the one moment in the show that felt underbaked to me from a purely staging standpoint.

Ultimately, this is a great production of Carrie: The Musical. It’s one of my personal favorites, so I was always going to be nitpicky, but on the whole, this production has far more successes than shortcomings. Phenomenal performances, an interesting and unique framing of the story, and some great effects make this a night you won’t want to miss. This show doesn’t come around with a production this good very often, so I urge you to see it while you can.

CARRIE THE MUSICAL

Running Now - November 1st

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Covington, KY 41011

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