When the good folks at MadKing reached out to me about their new production of Carrie: The Musical they were quite surprised when I enthusiastically agreed to review the show. They warned me it is scary with a lot of blood but that actually only added to my interest. I have loved this horror movement in theatre. One of my favorite musicals of recent memory was Evil Dead: The Musical. I also absolutely love Heathers. Misery is a phenomenal play. The list goes on. I was also very curious to see Carrie because it is one of the most infamous flops on Broadway running for only 5 performances in 1988. Could it be that bad? I had to check it out myself!

Now I have seen it and evidently there was all kinds of production drama that led to it being such a flop in 1988 because I was thoroughly entertained by this musical! It had an Off-Broadway revival in 2012 which revised the book and score so that has undoubtedly made a bit difference but the musical as it now stands is a brooding, tragic coming of age story.

The production at MadKing is directed by Chad Henwood and it uses the black box space well, keeping things simple and focusing on the characters over spectacle. I like in Act 2 the bucket of blood looms over everything, adding to the tension because we all know what is coming at the prom (I think even if you haven’t seen a Carrie film or read the book you know about Carrie being soaked in blood and are waiting for that to happen.)

Carrie is played by Jordan Soper and she is just awkward enough that we can understand why her fellow students struggle to talk with her. We feel for her but she’s also mousy and weird and that makes her compelling. Soper’s voice is so good, really selling every note like it might be her last.

Sofia Paredes-Kenrick is also effective as bully Sue Snell and Dylan Panter plays Tommy Ross who asks Carrie to the prom after being pushed to do so by Sue. Both teens know they should be kinder to Carrie but they give in to the pressure to elevate themselves by downgrading Carrie.

There is also a lot of pressure on Carrie from her mother Margaret who forces her Puritan brand of Christianity on her daughter as some kind of an attempt to protect her. Instead it just makes Carrie more awkward and uncomfortable; thereby, making her also more depressed. Janzell Tutor plays Margaret with a cold aloofness that is especially hard to take as she’s trying to get some joy out of this prom date (Carrie knows she’s only being asked as a prank but wants to make the best of it anyways.)

While it is true the songs in Carrie: The Musical are not as memorable as something like Heathers they are pleasant to listen to and like I said the tension leading up the prom is palpable and effective. I wouldn’t say it is scary but it is terribly sad. Particularly if you have teens it’s got a ton to say about the way we treat each other and how we should try harder to lead with kindness. It is playing at MadKing Fellowship Theater until October 25th and the perfect show to watch this Halloween season.

Carrie: The Musical has music by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Ptichford and a book by Lawrence D Cohen based on the novel by Stephen King. It opened in the West End in 1988 and that year in New York for just 5 days. It had a revival in Off-Broadway in 2012

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