MCC's "Carrie". Photo by Joan Marcus.
Stephen King’s tale of a prom queen with a nasty temper, one of the most infamous musical flops of all time, returns from the grave with new material by the original writers and a new “less camp/more real” attitude thanks to director Stafford Arima.
“…it’s hard to imagine this defanged “Carrie” ever raising your blood pressure, or even making your flesh crawl.” New York Times
“The MCC Theater’s sincere and dead-serious production — reduced and rethought with strange dignity by director Stafford Arima — has just enough bubblegum pop and heartfelt shock appeal to be a sort of Grease for the post-Columbine generation.” Newsday
“What the show has going for it is the evocative source material, but in stripping the story of its camp value Arima and his team have also robbed it of any sense of fun.” Entertainment Weekly
“In an effort to make the show connect with awkward-age teens, it’s been watered down and robbed of all the distinctive qualities that made it ‘terrifyingly lyrical’ onscreen (in the words of Pauline Kael) and ludicrously lurid on Broadway.” Hollywood Reporter
Mizer’s Two Cents: I saw this early in previews when the show was still being reworked; you can check out my thoughts at the time by clicking on a prior blog entry. I’ll bring you a final take on everyone’s favorite high school hell raiser after I see it again later in the run.
