Photo of Carrie: The Musical by Brianne Jang

Formerly hailed ‘the worst musical of all time,’ the musical adaptation of a cult film classic has made its way back to the stage.

Broadway theatre is the highest level of musical theatre performance in the world (along with the West End, its British equivalent). The term “Broadway show” refers to a theatrical performance in one of 41 theatres largely clustered in New York’s Theater District. Musicals and plays have been performed here since the 1800s, with 1866’s Charles M. Barras’ five and a half hour long show The Black Crook often being credited as the first ‘Broadway musical.’  Some of the most historically and culturally significant works of performance art have come from Broadway, and those works inform our understanding of art to this day.

For every Wicked, however, there is a Dance of the Vampires. For every Hamilton, there is a Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. For every Moulin Rouge and Lion King, there is a Carrie.

When Carrie: The Musical first opened on Broadway in 1988, it was swiftly and surely declared one of the most significant — and certainly one of the most expensive — theatrical failures of all time. The $8 million production shuttered after just three days, much to the chagrin of absolutely nobody. The Daily News likened it to watching 2.5 hours of gratuitously vulgar MTV videos. The Associated Press found that it bounced between “seriousness and schlock.” Even when a reimagined version opened off-Broadway in 2012, The New Yorker was quick to ask the question:  “Is ‘Carrie’ the Worst Musical of All Time?”

“Carrie was performed by students in front of many of their peers and families, and met with shock, raucous laughter, and intense applause. “

As time has gone on, however, Carrie: The Musical has gone the way of many a middlingly reviewed ’80s film, such as Heathers (1988) or Clue (1985). After a lukewarm reception upon release, the passage of time has reignited the excitement of fans of both the original movie and the newer musical. While Carrie may never be lit up in the marquees of such institutions as the Gershwin or the Palace, it has found a comfortable home elsewhere. It is performed by local theatre groups in churches and community halls, by high school theatre kids with overly enthusiastic directors, and, most recently, by the people who make up the theatre department at MacEwan University. 

Carrie ran for a week at the end of November-early December, and, like The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the show that preceded it on the MacEwan theatre schedule, was a sold-out success. This campy, shlocky show that was full of blood and blowjobs was able to captivate both student and non-student audience members, young and old.University theatre productions are, at least at MacEwan, chosen for the virtues of being challenging to perform and produce, and the typical yearly theatre slate is a diverse arrangement meant to test producers and actors alike. Carrie was performed by students in front of many of their peers and families, and met with shock, raucous laughter, and intense applause. It turns out that a show about being young, scared, in love, and overcoming hate plays better and is better received when performed by people who have lived, or recently lived, through those emotions. If Carrie simply “doesn’t play” with the Manhattan elites who fancy a show after a dinner at La Grande Boucherie, so be it. Carrie took on a second life with those who relate to and have lived through the emotions it portrays, and we are all very much the better for it.