HISTORY
Carrie The Musical is known as one of or THE biggest Broadway Musical Flop in History. Based on the Novel by Stephen King, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Carrie The Musical first began its journey after creators saw a Opera called 'Lulu' inspiring them to begin work on 'Carrie'. Dean Pitchford, was brought in to work on the project, which underwent numerous rewrites. In August 1984, a workshop of the first act was staged at 890 Broadway (New York City) with Annie Golden as Carrie, Maureen McGovern as Mrs. White, Laurie Beechman as Mrs. Gardner, and Liz Callaway as Chris. The Second Act was written but still was being rewrote and re-worked. It was soon announced that 'CARRIE THE MUSICAL' would be making its way to Broadway in 1986....The Funding for the show to make its way wasn't raised until late 1987.
Before Broadway, 'Carrie' had its first four week run in Stratford-upon-Avon, England at The Royal Shakespeare Company. Now being produced by Friedrich Kurz the show made its debut and got it's first Audience Reactions. The Show starred Barbara Cook (Margaret White), Linzi Hateley (Carrie), and 'Fame' star Gene Anthony Ray as Billy (See the 'CAST' page for full cast). The show had many extreme errors and got mixed to negative reviews. Many songs were re-written and some were scraped and replaced with new ones during the run Including Sue' s melody 'White Star' which became 'It Hurts To Be Strong' and the famous 'Crackerjack' became 'Out For Blood'. Barbara Cook (Margaret) had many issues with show including supposedly almost getting decapitated by a set piece on Opening Night. Regarding all the errors, she wanted out of the show, but agreed to stay on until a replacement was ready. The Replacement would soon be Betty Buckley.
By the time Betty was chosen to come in and take over the role of Margaret, the Stratford run was already complete. Now, the creators had a chance to change and re-work errors in the show. Some things were changed, but nothing Big. When It Started previews on Broadway at The Virginia Theatre on April 28, 1988, it looked almost identical to the Stratford Production besides the fact that Betty Buckley had became Margaret. Although, there was one difference. The Style of the music was turned into a more sort of 'Rock' feel & much faster, and in the end that was a good change in some places. According to numerous reports, when the show's curtain closed after the finale, the audience was heard boo-ing yet cheering. The Crowd was divided but when Betty and Linzi came to take there bows, the audience roared. The show officially opened on May 12, 1988. The show was hit with mostly negative reviews, but still some that were 'okay'. Despite the fact that the show was selling out every single night, the financial backers pulled their money out of the show, and it closed on May 15, 1988 after only 16 previews and 5 performances.
Today, productions are opening everywhere - regionally and prefessionally.
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make sure to follow the blog for constant updates here (x)
Before Broadway, 'Carrie' had its first four week run in Stratford-upon-Avon, England at The Royal Shakespeare Company. Now being produced by Friedrich Kurz the show made its debut and got it's first Audience Reactions. The Show starred Barbara Cook (Margaret White), Linzi Hateley (Carrie), and 'Fame' star Gene Anthony Ray as Billy (See the 'CAST' page for full cast). The show had many extreme errors and got mixed to negative reviews. Many songs were re-written and some were scraped and replaced with new ones during the run Including Sue' s melody 'White Star' which became 'It Hurts To Be Strong' and the famous 'Crackerjack' became 'Out For Blood'. Barbara Cook (Margaret) had many issues with show including supposedly almost getting decapitated by a set piece on Opening Night. Regarding all the errors, she wanted out of the show, but agreed to stay on until a replacement was ready. The Replacement would soon be Betty Buckley.
By the time Betty was chosen to come in and take over the role of Margaret, the Stratford run was already complete. Now, the creators had a chance to change and re-work errors in the show. Some things were changed, but nothing Big. When It Started previews on Broadway at The Virginia Theatre on April 28, 1988, it looked almost identical to the Stratford Production besides the fact that Betty Buckley had became Margaret. Although, there was one difference. The Style of the music was turned into a more sort of 'Rock' feel & much faster, and in the end that was a good change in some places. According to numerous reports, when the show's curtain closed after the finale, the audience was heard boo-ing yet cheering. The Crowd was divided but when Betty and Linzi came to take there bows, the audience roared. The show officially opened on May 12, 1988. The show was hit with mostly negative reviews, but still some that were 'okay'. Despite the fact that the show was selling out every single night, the financial backers pulled their money out of the show, and it closed on May 15, 1988 after only 16 previews and 5 performances.
Today, productions are opening everywhere - regionally and prefessionally.
-
make sure to follow the blog for constant updates here (x)
