Finding the music in Carrie

I grew up aware that operas were mostly tragic. La Boheme, death by hunger, Aida, buried alive, La Traviata, death by TB. I also always had the impression that musical comedies were always happy shows. Somebody might die, West Side Story, or might be in deep trouble, Camelot, but the story ends on an uplifting note with lots of joyous songs, The Sound of Music.

Then, some years later, this changed. Although I mightily resisted liking it, despite the music by Stephen Sondheim and songs like Not While I’m Around, I would be forced to accept the fact that Sweeney Todd, had brought bloodied mayhem and horror to the musical in a most unprecedented manner.Who would have thought that there would one day be a musical about a throat-slitting barber.

Now, if you like bloodied mayhem and horror, nobody does it better than Stephen King. I still get the shivers when I hear somebody saying “Here’s Johnny” even if it was Johnny Carson on tape and not Jack Nicholson in The Shining. I still remember the taste of the soil I got in my mouth while reading Pet Sematery. How about the murderous instincts generated against the deranged fan of Misery?

Of course, there was his breakthrough novel Carrie from the ‘70s, the first book written by King. It was about a shy, high school girl with telekinetic powers who was subjected to abuse by her religious fanatic mother and to bullying by her classmates. She exacts revenge by killing all of them on the night of the senior prom. It became one of the most controversial books of the time with parents and teachers concerned about kids getting the idea of having massacres at the prom.

Carrie was adapted for the big screen by Brian de Palma in 1976.  I still recall the poster blurb: “If you’ve got a taste for terror, take Carrie to the prom.” Starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie and Piper Laurie as her mother, the movie became a huge box-office hit that still boasts of a huge cult following. It also introduced two young movie idols, John Travolta as the boy whose girlfriend bullied Carrie, and William Katt, who later became, The Greatest American Hero, as Carrie’s ill-fated date to the prom.

Although it had a beautiful hit theme song, I Never Dreamed Someone Like You Could Love Someone Like Me by Katie Irving, I never thought that Carrie would one day become a stage musical. That would be sort of like watching Jason or Freddy sing. But this adaptation did happen in 1988. It proved to be quite historic. The show written by original Carrie screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen with music by Michael Gore who composed songs for Fame and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, tanked big time.

But just like we all remember very well in that scream-inducing scene towards the end of the movie, that was not to be the end of Carrie White. She is back, bloodier, scarier and great to know, is singing better. A retooled version of the musical was mounted last year, and it did very much better than the original. This is the show from Atlantis Productions that is now playing at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.

Carrie in Manila is directed by Bobby Garcia, who is great with word for word, note for note Disney productions but also has a flair for edgier stage stuff like Carnage or Piaf. His Carrie belongs to the latter. Feedback from the first weekend is excellent and it is great to find out that audiences are buying the kind of vision he has of this musical. Carrie opened last Sept. 20 and will run until Oct. 6.

As always there is Garcia’s line-up of competent co-workers behind Carrie. I like mentioning their names because I cannot help but notice the good job they do in every show. Choreography by Cecile Martinez; musical direction by Ceejay Javier; set design by Otto Hernandez; Lighting design by Martin Esteva; costume design by Raven Ong; hair and make-up design by Johann dela Fuente; projection design by Ga Fallarme; and vocal coaching by ManMan Angsico.

Then there is the cast. Atlantis has a reputation for successful, out of the box casting choices and Carrie has a goodly share of surprises. Choosing Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, one of the country’s finest actresses to play the abusive mother Margaret, was not one of them. You can be sure she will be great in this role. She is also the one who gets to sing the moving When There’s No One, one of the most beautiful songs in the show.

Carrie though is played by Mikkie Bradshaw. She is a pretty, bright-eyed newcomer in her first lead role. She formerly appeared in Nine, Disney’s Aladdin and Rock of Ages. Rest assured that she would not be up on that stage if Garcia does not think she can do the job. Also in the cast are Markki Stroem, Yannah Laurel, Sheila Valderrama- Martinez, Jill Pena, Mako Alonzo and Jamie Wilson.