Carrie.

Yes, that Stephen King novel with pig’s blood, periods and piety was made into a musical. In 1988, Stratford-Upon-Avon saw the arrival of ‘Carrie the Musical’, it then briefly travelled to Broadway. However, the US run was so abysmal, it closed three days later. This has been labelled one of the biggest ‘flops’ within Musical Theatre History.

Stereotypically, musical theatre speaks colour, vibrancy and lively action, thus immediately proposing a challenging combination, when married to the darkness of horror. Of course, over the past few decades, productions such as ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘Heathers: The Musical’ have been on stage and screen, still retaining this fear factor…

What makes Carrie so distinct is that it tackles severe psychological torment, situations of isolation and religious indoctrination – and it is debatable whether the musical is a suitable mode of interpretation.

In Theatrical Works, it suggests that ‘theatre deals in conflict, sometimes using subject matter that can make some feel uncomfortable’ and possibly, the musical format aids a communal understanding of privatised, taboo-like themes – such as King’s exploration of menstruation, which leaves both the characters and audience feeling uncomfortable. Musicals can showcase realism and femininity, as well as the shocking distinctiveness of Carrie’s life and worldly understanding.

Significantly, the ‘acting, dance and songs’ can create a comfortable, more relaxed viewing – although possibly through adaptation can lessen the severity and fear of watching – although, without a doubt, these elements can illuminate the emotion within individual characters. Aspects such as solo vocal performances and soliloquies, can capture the immediacy of emotions – and, illustrate the mentality of the characters convincingly. 

For an audience or reader, I think grasping a visual understanding is essential. Carrie is flooded with effective and identifiable horror tropes which can easily be transferred on stage – tropes such as the use of blood or the darkness of her environment. However, I believe what let down the first productions of ‘Carrie the Musical’ was the ignoring of the complex plots and psychologies, the visual effects and the overly animated essence. 

In a review of the original 1988 production, it stated that the iconic blood, dumped over the main character, resembled ‘strawberry ice cream’ and was unrealistic. The fact the production didn’t make predominant use of the key horror tropes identified within the novel, lessens the intensity of the plot and the gore is removed entirely by the theatricality of song and dance. 

If you compare the image of the musical (first image), with the classic novel cover (second image), you can clearly see that the overacting and dessert-like blood shows a heavily dramatised reaction – possibly, not a reaction of something that will cause destruction. Whereas the cover is intense – the eyes staring at you – and is definitely not something you want to see before bed.

‘Carrie the Musical’ definitely had the potential. In recent years, theatre really allows the presentation of anything and everything – and it’s a huge shame, the production didn’t delve into the psychological understanding of the novel and use theatre to capture human psyche – instead it focused on Carrie White’s classmates and belittled one of the most shocking scenes in horror fiction, by making Carrie resemble a dessert.

The full ‘cast-recording’ faux pas, of the musical, can be found here. Discretion is definitely advised.