Carrie
“It’s gonna be a night we’ll never forget!”
Carrie
Book by Lawrence D. Cohen
Lyrics by Dean Pitchford
Music by Michael Gore
Adapted from Stephen King’s 1974 Novel, Carrie
Directed by Matthew Greenberg
Choreographed by Cat Kamrath Monson
Musical Direction by Zachary McCulley
Scenic Design: Scott Tedmon-Jones
Lighting Design: Jason Banks
Costume Design: Lee Hodgson
Hair and Makeup Design: Kate Backman
Props Design: Megan Wilson
Sound Design: Don Turner
Assistant Director: Blake Waston
Production Stage Manager: Alexandria Soto
Intimacy Directing: Landee Lockhart
Fight Choreography: Matthew Greenberg and Blake Watson
Photos: Don Turner and Sydney Edwards
If we ignore a problem does it get better or worse? When should we ignore something and when should we be more proactive in stopping it?
Carrie…The Musical. Enter high camp, high kicks, high notes, and a lot of red.
I was interested in approaching Carrie by not making any of the characters “The bad guy.” Rather, the villain of the musical being Chamberlain High School itself: An institution which upholds systemic bullying.
This allowed for the actors to create more humanity and empathy within the characters of Margaret White, Chris, and Billy, who might otherwise simply be ruled out as the ‘evil’ ones.
There is good and bad in everyone, which plays into and against the religious piety showcased throughout the story. It allowed me to unpack the dichotomy of who is ‘selfish’ and who is ‘selfless.’ This allowed really specific relationships to be developed across all characters on stage in how they pursued their goals while maintaining status quo in high school to fit “In.”
I wanted the show to start and end the same way, highlighting the cyclical nature of bullying throughout time and space. The audience enterers in a destroyed prom decor, with a janitor ‘sweeping up’ the mess in preparations for the top of the show. Subsequently, the janitor comes back at the end of musical once the students have been at the hands of Carrie’s destruction: Inviting the audience to make proactive change to not face a similar situation.
Pedagogically, Carrie brought students focused in both Theatre and Dance performance disciplines together and allowed each to strengthen skills in areas they were less familiar with resulting in becoming a true ‘triple threat’ performer.
Moreover, Students also got to work with high levels of technology with LED lights around the stage, automation, traps, and the magical elements used to create the world of Carrie’s powers.
Carrie won the maximum seven Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region 7 awards that it was eligible for. Meritorious Achievement Awards were given for Scenic Design, Sound Design, Ensemble Cast (all 21 actors), Prop Design, Choreography, Irene Ryan Acting Nomination (Anna Johnston as Carrie) and Irene Ryan Acting Nomination (Emma Sorensen as Miss Gardner).
