Carrie: The Musical, Chapel Off Chapel, Wednesday October 1st 2014

Carrie: The Musical, Chapel Off Chapel, Wednesday October 1st 2014

Finally a company, Ghost Light Productions have had the courage to present "Carrie: The Musical." Presented at Chapel Off Chapel added to the atmosphere due to its satanic themes.

For those new to my blog, I pay for my own seats and I do not retell the story. If you want the story click on one of the links to the title.  I write from a holistic experience of attending the theatre. I also provide lots of links for you to follow if you want further information. Some of the links may appear to be same but there could be a different link for example "Carrie" may direct you to the Broadway site or to another site.

"Carrie: The Musical" is based upon the Steven King novel and the subsequent 1976 movie.  This version is based on the 2012 Off Broadway production. There is the fact sheet of the ill-fated 1988 production on many sites.  There are two other filmed versions from 2013 and a telemovie from 2002. I must be one of the few people to never see any of these versions of the story and it is good to come in fresh, even though I was aware of the basic story.

"Carrie: The Musical" is directed by Terence O'Connell and choreographed by Lisa Minett.  The designs are by Jacob Battista and lighting design is by Jason Bovaird.  Musical supervision is by David Piper and musical direction by Andrew Leach, and sound effects design is by Nicholas J. Reich.

Chapel Off Chapel had multiple shows running on Wednesday October 1st and had three distinct areas roped off that allowed easy access to our show "Carrie: The Musical." This was better than Chapel Off Chapel's usual General Admission system and I hope that they continue this much fairer system of entry for future shows.  It reminds me of many Broadway shows where you queue in an orderly manner on the street until the doors of the theatre open.

There were signs outside the theatre to turn off phones and signify no photography.  Sadly no reinforcing pre-show announcement was made.  This is even more relevant considering that someone had breached an earlier show by trying to film a performance.  "Off" means "Off"!! Not silent or vibration but off as the lights flash up and disturb other audience members as the light catches your peripheral vision.  In Act Two sadly a phone lit up the theatre and destroys the moment on stage.

Act One:

 

Emily Milledge was Carrie White.  She glowed with her holistic presence that oozed a sincerity of the outcast.  She did not flinch in her commitment to being Carrie White.  She allowed us into her roller coaster of emotions.  Emily's performance was beautifully sustained and restrained in any histrionics.  Emily refused to demean herself and ham up this role. She honoured and respected that this is an iconic role to be applauded or derided.  I can only applaud her sincere dedication to her craft to bring levels of depth to Carries' emotional qualities.  Emily's restraint was one of her greatest strengths and this shone though in her singing and her relationship with every other character, particularly her mother, Miss Gardiner, Sue and Tommy.  She created emotional atmospheres and connections to most characters and most scenes.

 

There was electricity created by Carrie and her relationship to Tommy during the "Tommy's Poem" scene due to the lighting and the staging.  More importantly the sincere approach of Emily Milledge as Carrie White allowed us to reach into her heart and soul.

 

Chelsea Gibb as the mother of Carrie, Margaret White provided another level of tension to Carrie's journey.  Chelsea's characterisation was superb in her acting and singing.  Her connection with Carrie created some of the most memorable moments ranging from pure love to desperation.  We were treated to many duets that explored so many emotional levels between the two characters.  Their harmonies and voices creating mother/daughter vocal fireworks.

 

Miss Gardiner played by Kathleen Amarant created a young teacher's altruistic perchance to an ideal world.  Her duet with Carrie, "Unsuspecting Hearts" allowed us to see the support of a teacher.  Were Miss Gardiner's intentions career defining, sincere or manufactured?  Kathleen Amarant gave us a strong character in Act One with beautiful singing.  My concern was that she looked too young and more athletic compared to her students.

 

The ensemble played a variety of characters, mainly students and the choir.  In Act One they sang beautifully and created characters with some individual definition.  At times the ensemble acted like a Greek chorus of observers to the main action.

Chernae Howlett as Chris Hargensen created the spoiled rich girl that wanted revenge on Carrie. She worked well with her equally emotional and intellectually feral Billy Nolan played by Ross Chisari. These two fine actors created tension to the story, and, tension between each other with their motivations.
 

 

Act Two:

A moth made an entrance in the theatre and caught the audience's attention.  It hovered above the orchestra and the stage as if an ominous sign of what was to come.

 

The ensemble singing in Act Two was off-pitch sadly and not up to the standard of Act One.  The duets and solos thankfully were better.

Leaving for the Prom, the connection between Tommy (Jack O'Riley) and Carrie was a bit too familiar to ring true.  There should have been more hesitation with Carrie accepting Tommy's hand. This would have created more tension, texture and drama to the story.  He sang and acted with conviction and needed to brace himself for taking Carrie to the Prom.

At the Prom when the pig's blood has been poured onto Carrie, the students all laugh at her misfortune.  The teachers laughing at Carrie's misfortune was incongruent with their previous behaviour.  Their reaction was to join in with the student's immediate laughter.  A slight pause or reaction to supress their initial reaction and then join in would make this moment even more realistic. This would heighten our compassion and empathy to the situation.  It also gets us to think about what would our reaction be if we were in their situation.

 

Chelsea Gibb was channelling Marin Mazzie in her portrayal of Carrie's mother, Margaret White. (Marin Mazzie played Margaret White in the 2012 Off Broadway production of "Carrie.")  Having seen Marin Mazzie in "Bullets Over Broadway" recently and also "Next To Normal" Chelsea Gibb was to fit into a huge star's shoes.  She did!  Her portrayal at the religious zealot mother was fervent and obsessive, both in her acting and singing. The only aspect that jarred was the incongruent toe-nail-polish that would have been shunned by her character.  A character oversight as she would not approve of Carrie wearing lipstick or make-up.

Overall, I loved Sue Snell played by Hollie James who gave an honest portrayal of a young woman who had realised that she too can mature and change her behaviour.  From her Act One solo "Once You See" she showed us a leader in the making and reminded me of the character Veronica from "Heathers: The Musical."  Hollie James gave a consistently committed performance that allowed us into her personal journey of change.  As the narrator we saw the changes in both chronological order and those counter-pointed with the flashbacks.  There was a natural balance of emotional angst, guilt and desperation.  Her performance was not forced and had an emotional sincerity in allowing us into her inner feelings.

 

The direction in Act One seemed much more focused than Act Two.  The atmospheres and relationships to the characters had more definition in Act One than the less focused Act Two.  This could be due to the abruptness of writing in Act Two to move the story along in a snappy fashion.

I felt the main emotional connections were between Carrie and her mother, and, the juxtaposed back story narration of Sue Snell.

 

The set design was simple and effective.  Though it did worry me about the continuity implications of the Prom lighting plot that suddenly was lifted out of place at an inappropriate time.  Turning off the lights changed the location but suddenly lifting the Prom lights out of context really jarred the sense of time, location and sequence.  Sometimes the old fashioned tab curtains opening and closing give a definite start and conclusion to a scene.  Were the darkened Prom lights meant to provide an ominous mood?  I doubt it.

The other aspect was Carrie's entrance when she pulled out a chair stage left and then sat at the table.  Why didn't she pull the upstage chair closer to the table as it was nearly in place?  This jolted my focus as the chair hit the table due to the lack of space.

 

The lighting by Jason Bovaird  created spot-lit focus on characters at times, particularly Carrie.   The separation of two locations could have been more marked at times.   I liked the bleeding quality of colours with the lighting.

 

The sound effects by Nicholas J. Reich  were eerie and well timed.  They provided us with the theatrical clues to Carrie's telekinetic powers alongside some levitation of the Jesus Christ picture, movement of a book, and the slamming of the three window shutters. 

 

The set design was simple and effective with the use of lockers, a trolley, a table and chairs.   The design of the back curtain shading the orchestra made sense particularly at the end with the opening of the curtain to reveal the vulnerably sullied Carrie.

 

The costume designs bothered me in one way as they looked too much like costumes.  I did like the juxtaposition of Carrie wearing a traditional Prom gown compared to the modern funky outfits worn by her classmates.  Though, I think it would have been more realistic for a Prom to have formal Prom gowns for the girls and Cassie's gown would still have made an impact compared to her modest black attire.  The other students' Prom outfits looked inappropriate for their final High School celebration.

 

I think that Act Two could do with some re-writing to provide a clearer flow for the sequence of events.  Act Two has been revised to the point of clunk-iness.

 

The final scene with Carrie and her mother reminded me of Zoe Caldwell in "Medea" at the State Theatre.    Carrie has been sacrificed to what end?

 

Sue's entrance to discover the wounded Carrie could have been melodramatic.  Hollie James  as Sue showed us fine acting as she held  Carrie in her arms with sincere concern.  Emily Milledge's portrayal of Carrie's death was subtle and not with the theatrical cliché of dropping her arm or head, but was more like a Michael Chekhov death of releasing her soul. Sue's sincerity showed us the emotional angst of humanity.

The narration by Sue was the thread to the story and Hollie James allowed for various time-shifting emotional and relationship connections.
 

The best parts of "Carrie: The Musical" were the five duets between Carrie and her mother, and the honesty of both Emily Milledge and Chelsea Gibb to their characters. They sang and acted magnificently together.  They created emotional connections and atmospheres to transport us on a journey.