broadway birthday CARRIE opened on Broadway 25 years ago today on May 12, 1988

Twenty five years ago today one of the biggest flop shows in Broadway history opened.  Carrie, based on the successful novel by Stephen King, became a musical with music by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Pitchford and a book by Lawrence D. Cohen.  It would open on May 12, 1988 and close after 5 performances and 16 previews on May 15th, 1988 losing over $7 million dollars, an unheard of amount at that time.


Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley as Mrs. White and Carrie


 While the show had some unsanctioned productions over the years including one at the Stage Door Manor Summer theatre camp and another at a high school in Europe, the creators of the show feared allowing anything official due to the mostly negative reviews the original production received.  They didn't want to re-live the experience they went through in 1988. 



Charlotte d'Amboise as bad girl "Chris" and the ensemble -
all clad in leather and spandex

 Fortunately some people close to the three men got them to re-think their views and a revised production of the show was mounted Off Broadway in February of last year.  This version was closer to what the three men had wanted the original production to be before the Royal Shakespeare Company, Director Terry Hands and Producer Friedrich Kurz got involved. 

The revised 2012 production not only received an official cast recording but the show itself got picked up by the prestigious Rodgers and Hammerstein Theatrical organization and is now available to be licensed for high school, amateur and regional theatre productions.  If you go to the R&H site you can find a production of this musical playing in a city close by.  There are currently over 20 productions of the show scheduled through the end of the year across the U.S.


Paul Gyngell and Sally Ann Triplett as good kids
"Tommy" and "Sue" - did high school kids in 1988
actually wear skin tight clothes like this?


I've written several posts about the show, including an analysis of the original Broadway production, a post about the upcoming Off Broadway revival where the creators spoke about the show, as well as reviews of the two performances we saw of the 2012 revival, so I won't add a lot more in this post since I've pretty much said everything I need to say about it.  Instead I will include some new pictures and video that I've found for your viewing enjoyment.





The Destruction scene from the 2012 production- awesome special effects, lighting and projection design.

Complete UK/Straford Upon Avon production - pre- Broadway 1988:

"And Eve Was Weak" - Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley- audio appears to be from a different performance, but you still get a sense at how intense Buckley was in the role and how effective the scenes with Carrie and her mom were, even in the original production:

    
"In" from the regional premiere production of the show: