CARRIE: The Musical • Pit & Balcony's Ambitious Regional Premier of a Cult Classic

One sure sign of Spring are the ambitious musical productions blossoming from the stages of  regional theatrical companies each year in the month of May, and this year is no exception as Pit & Balcony busily prepares to explore the awkward and emotionally tumultuous world of High School angst and personal atonement with their regional premier of CARRIE: the Musical, set for a series of performances running the weekends of May 8-10 & 16-18^th.

Based upon Stephen King’s groundbreaking novel, and integrating elements from the 1976 film,  with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore, the story focuses on Carrie White - an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers, whose lonely life is dominated by her oppressive religious fanatic mother, Margaret. When she is humiliated by her classmates at the high school prom, Carrie’s vengeance unleashes chaos upon everyone and everything in her path.

Initially co-produced with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the original production of Carrie premiered on Broadway in April 1988, and ironically began upon an equally chaotic path, receiving mostly negative reviews and closing after 16 previews and five regular performances on Broadway. With a budget of $8 million, it is considered one of the most notable and expensive failures in Broadway theatre history; however, its reputation, the story behind its difficult production, and its limited run created a passionate response from fans, with the show rapidly gaining a cult following.

An Off-Broadway revival premiered in 2012 with the book and score entirely revised by Cohen, Pitchford, and Gore, and rapidly engaged success through these rewrites, touching strong chords with a new generation of audiences.

“I’m a big fan of Cult Musicals,” notes Carrie production director Spencer Beyerlein, “and what drew me to this show is that it possesses that same sense of realism as Heathers, especially when it comes to breaking down the high school experience. Typically, I find lesser known or more ‘niche’ musicals are a little more relatable to young people. The fact this show captures the high school experience so realistically is one of the big reasons I wanted to direct it. It’s been over a decade now that I’ve been out of high school, but I remember it well and am impressed with how this theatrical version deals with high school issues in such a realistic manner.”

In Stephen King’s original Carrie, the desire to atone for one’s sins - whether real or imagined - is a major driver of the novel’s plot, with the most explicit manifestation of this seen in the character of Margaret (Carrie’s mother), which largely revolves around sexuality and womanhood.

Beyerlein feels that’s another strong suit to this production. “It gets you thinking about things, plus there’s lots of great musical numbers and songs to keep the story moving. This show quite literally never stops. We’re working the transitions into the scenes and literally going from one scene to another with no blackouts, which is really cool because it keeps everything moving at a fast pace.”

“One of the big themes in Carrie that people don’t usually think of first is that of Survival Skills, which are actually one of the most important things you can learn in high school,” he reflects. “In many ways the character of Sue is the main protagonist in the sense that she is the sole survivor of this tragedy, and the show opens with her in an interrogation room being asked questions about what happened that fateful night of the senior class graduation.”

“What I love about this script that’s not part of the movie or book, but has been added, is that we get to see how the character of Sue was traumatized, as well as Carrie, and how she copes with it,” continues Beyerlein“. 

"My vision for this show is to emphasize the things we do and say to ourselves to help us deal with developing our survival skills.  As far as we know what we are seeing on stage is all Sue’s recollection, and might not be exactly how everything actually happened; but is what Sue says  happened so she can deal and atone for her own guilt.  She never once says, ‘I caused this to happen.’”

“In talks with Chloe Hudson, the actress performing the role of Carrie, she brought up the fact that all of Carrie’s life she’s been told what to think and now she’s at a point in life where she is questioning everything, and kind of being forced into thinking about things in a different way,” reflects Spencer. “She’s not being listened to and people shut her down, so there’s a lot of self-discovery going on.  The great thing about this show is you don’t have to be a teenager to enjoy it because you’re going to find at least one character throughout this entire cast that you can relate to.”

Spencer says this musical production is very close to both the film and book and that all the main scenes we associate with the film version have been adapted for the stage.  “There’s a lot of things we can’t do, like flip a car on the stage; so in our realm that scene happens a little differently, but you still get the same feelings. One thing I really enjoy about directing this show is that you can make it your own.”

With nineteen cast members, Spencer admits that while this is a very big troupe for the Pit & Balcony stage, he is excited how well everything is falling together. “There’s quite a few solo numbers to move the story long and at the top of Act Two there’s a huge ensemble number showcasing the lives of all the different ensemble players and what their experiences are like, plus  all the songs are wonderful.”

“A lot of revisions were made to this play in 2012 and the latest version in 2020 really stuck,” he continues. “I brought in some elements from the original production such as the big staircase that Carrie ascends to heaven from, and in many ways my main set is the stairs which serves as a platform we can move when needed to incorporate imagery from the movie. What’s not in the script I’ve found certain points to add, and the entire process has been wonderful and very collaborative.”

With principal actors consisting of Chloe Hudson as Carrie White, Stephanie Bale as Margaret White, Sue Snell as Claire Patterson, and Matthew Howe as Tommy Ross, according to Beyerlein each member of this large cast will recognize distinct personalities from their own high school days, and he also applauds the work of musical director Steve Nyquist, whom he says is doing a phenomenal job working with the actors.

“We have four different scenes happening at the same time, so there is always something to watch on stage, and the talent we have in this cast will blow you away,” he continues. “The talent is remarkable and we have many new fresh faces in the cast. It’s always great to have old and new faces, but I honestly feel the newer faces in this cast outweigh the familiar ones, which is always great to see. We had over 30 actors audition for this show, and the fact so many new actors made the final cut is a testament to the strength of their talents.  Plus, I wanted to cast it within the 18-plus age group because that was obviously important, given the themes that are involved.”

“As for the biggest challenge, technical elements are always hard,” concludes Spencer. “I have to make telekinesis happen on a stage in a way that doesn’t show how it is being done, so that is hard. But the fact it’s a cult classic and well known piece of popular literature and film, I want to do it justice by not cutting corners.   Achieving a balance between what people know and love about a piece of work and offering them a fresh take on what they know can be difficult sometimes, but the extra effort is always well worth it.”

The regional premier of CARRIE: he Musical will run Thursday through Saturday, May 8-9-10 & Friday - Sunday, May 16-17-18^th  at Pit & Balcony Community Theatre,  805 N. Hamilton St. in Old Town Saginaw. Showtimes are 7:30 PM with the exception of the May 18^th Sunday matinee at 3:00 PM. Tickets are only $20.00 and available by visiting PitandBalconyTheatre.com or phoning 989-754-6587.