Stephen King is easily the most prolific horror author of our time. He has written many horror books that range from genre to genre. And there a plethora of adaptions of his works mostly in the film and television departments.
His first book and admittedly only book of his I’ve read, Carrie has perhaps been adapted more than any other work of his. There was the 70’s movie by de Palma, a tv movie for NBC which was meant to launch a show, a movie produced by MTV starring Chloe Grace Mortez. However, knowing what this series is about, you’ll see that we are looking at a musical adaption of Carrie.
Stephen King and musicals are a combo that sounds odd on paper and when this musical debuted Broadway agreed. Carrie was one of the biggest Broadway flop of its time. There’s a reason that when a book about Broadway flops in the eighties was released, it was titled Not Since Carrie.
Carrie was an infamous flop during its original run. Something we wouldn’t see again until at best, the likes of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Yet, this musical eventually developed a cult following who loved the musical for its cheesiness and there would eventually be a reworked revival that removed some of the wilder aspects and streamlined the story. This is what we will be looking at today to close my look at musicals focused on the horrors of high school. I don’t know if this true for most of my generation but I was first introduced to the musical of Carrie when season one of Riverdale did a tribute episode to the show.
From reading the book and watching the de Palma movie, I think the reason that this story struck me so much is King presented a horror take on Cinderella. Consider how we have all these cheaply made horror movies starring children’s characters. King didn’t need to go the obvious route but the parallels are there with Carrie being our Cinderella. Her mother being the evil stepmother, Sue Snell stepping as the Fairy Godmother. Chris and Billy being the ugly stepsisters. And the dance being the ball.
While I have given the plot synopsis for the other musicals I’ve looked at throughout this month, I do not know if that is necessary for Carrie. Carrie is one of the most well-known horror stories of all time. A bullied girl who is an outcast develops telekinetic powers and uses those to get revenge on those that have wronged her while also having an abusive mother who says she is doing what she is doing in the name of Jesus. For all intents and purposes, Carrie could be best described as school shooting story but instead of the shooter using a gun, they have powers which we don’t know where they came from but it doesn’t matter in this instance.
Now the 2012 production of Carrie which is the one we are looking at today hues closer to King’s original text using the framing of the police interrogation opening with Sue Snell. This is something that is not often seen in adaptions of Carrie. If I remember right, the NBC tv movie is the only other adaption that used this but it itself made a big change by having Carrie survive as it was meant to launch into a tv show that never came to be. With this introduction out of the way, let’s begin
In
Again, first time I heard this song was on the Riverdale episode (I might cover that next year). This song hits on so many beats and it’s perhaps the biggest and most realistic portrayal of anything high school related we’ve looked at all month. Kids worrying about whether or not they fit in. Looking back at all the years since I’ve been out of high school, this is a true concern and worry when you’re a high school student but it almost seems minuscule you get older. Being In is the most important thing to these kids and as we are introduced to Carrie, you can’t help but to feel for her as she is always treated as the outcast.
Carrie
Ah the titular song. Part of me wishes this song was named “That’s Not My Name” which is the opening lyric to this song. It’s such a strong narrative message of how just how effin’ fed up Carrie is with the bullying she experiences on the bullying. Carrie is a meek girl who is experiencing changes for the first time and well considering who her mother is, she doesn’t know how to handle them. This song also breaks my heart in the sense that Carrie just wants to be happy but we know that is something she’ll never have.
If I could for a moment, I wanna go back to “That’s Not My Name”, horror and the LGBTQIA+ community have always had a strong relationship and while Carrie has never stated to be part of the community, the text is there for the audience to read between the lines. Where am I getting at with this? Sure, Carrie here is saying that line because she is fed up with kids calling her Scary White but it is also a mantra for trans or genderfluid people who are tired of hearing their deadname. Carie saying that and singing of hope and the sound of distant thunder in a way is a reclamation of her identity. If we take the queer subtext further which I will, we know not all but it is a common story for queer kids to come from abusive households and this is something we see with Margaret White.
Open You Heart
This song and the next are a dichotomy in who Margaret White is. Here we see Margaret signing along with a Christian radio show putting on the veneer of god loving Christian which anyone who has read the book or seen any of the movies knows this is a false look. Sure, Margaret may believe herself to be a good Christian woman but usually the ones that say that are the most dangerous and we will see that with the next number.
And Eve Was Weak
Ah now, here is the real Margaret. As she blames her daughter for something natural that happens as girls age. This goes back to what I said about how Margaret believes herself to be a good Christian but abuses her daughter in the name of the lord. The ones that usually spout the word of God like she does here are often the most dangerous people to be around. And yes, Carrie is abused by her mother, I know obvious statement but it speaks to how much Margaret is shaped by what happened to her with Carrie’s father that she now relies on God and abuses her daughter in the name of the lord.
The World According to Chris
This song and the character of Chris serves as a parallel to Carrie who comes from nothing we can assume looking at her familial relationship whereas Chris comes from money. A lot has been made over the years of how King depicts bullies as over the top in his works and almost being just as bad as the villains in his text. Chris and her boyfriend, Billy are bullies to Carrie. (Pigs blood anyone?). Yet, there is a difference between male bullying and female bullying. The latter form of bullying almost seems to dig deeper and this is something we will observe as I continue to look at the songs. Going back to the parallel for a moment, Carrie is a meek girl who believes she isn’t worthy of love due to how she has been brought up. Compare that to Chris who comes from money and as we look at the title of the song, Chris believes coming from money entitles her to whatever she wants.
On the same token, we have Sue Snell, my favorite character in this story. As Sue is a good kid who got caught and is just trying to make things right. She realizes what they did to Carrie was going too far and her part in this song is her waking up and pretty much realizing her friends are assholes and she doesn’t want to be like that.
Evening Prayers
Poor Carrie, I just wanna wrap her in a hug as she sings this song. Margaret again as we see here is weaponizing her religion and using prayer against Carrie. Carrie is slowly waking up to how she is alone and that’s how she has always been. The pain of Carrie is that she loves her mother even with all the twisted things her mother has done to her. And in her twisted mind, Margaret believes what she’s doing is coming from a place of love for her daughter. All of the characters in this story are layered in one way or another and your heart can’t help but break for them.
Dreamer in Disguise
This is actually a poem Tommy reads during English class and it gives us a good insight into Tommy. Just look at the title. This song is the equivalent of not judging a book by its cover. Both Tommy and Sue are good people and this song indicates how good a person Tommy is but well if you know, King.. yeah.
Once You See
So this comes after Carrie thinks she is being set up and you can’t really blame her but I love how this continues Sue’s development. Sue truly wants to help Carrie and be a good person. Is part of it out of a sense of guilt? Yes of course it is but the fact that Sue is able to show remorse speaks to how she is able to separate herself from the likes of Chris.
Unsuspecting Hearts
To go back to the Cinderella analogy I used to open this blog, Miss Gardner is kinda like the Fairy Godmother that Carrie needed. Miss Gardner is the only adult support that Carrie has. She gently pushes Carrie to open herself up and be happy with who she is. These moments of happiness that Carrie has are important for the girl but we know all it’ll how come crashing down.
Do Me A Favor
This song shows the dichotomy between Sue and Chris. Sue wants to make up to Carrie for the torment they put her through whereas Chris wants to humiliate her. This is how we see the two diverging paths between Sue and Chris. Again, yes Sue is repenting but at least she has a moral compass that makes her realize they had gone too far whereas Chris is a queen bee type who wants to give Carrie the worst night of her life. It’s a balance of good and evil, Sue while perhaps a bit naive shows there is goodness in this world whereas Chris as we’ve seen represents a type of evil that is scarier than anything Carrie can do, the evil bully who believes she humiliate she wants to get her way. We will see this come to fruition with the pigs blood.
I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance
Margaret is such an interesting character to look at. As we have observed, she in her own twisted way does love and worry about Carrie. But she also weaponizes her religion and also and as disturbing as it is to say, her trauma. Margaret was raped as a young woman and this song hints at that and how men had hurt her. In her view, she is warning Carrie of the dangers of men and considering what she went through, you can’t really blame her. On the same token, just because someone went through a harrowing event, it doesn’t give you a right to be abusive towards those that came after you. Margaret is a sad case of an abuse victim becoming an abuser. You want to feel sympathy for Margaret because no one should be put through what she was put through but it is hard to have to sympathy or her with how she’s treated Carrie.
A Night We’ll Never Forget
Oh if only they knew. Yes, you wanna be excited for prom and who wouldn’t but yet knowing the story and what’s to come, it feels like a sense of building tension. This song feels like one of the last moment these kids will get to be kids before shit hits the fan. And then there’s Carrie, oh sweet Carrie. She is so excited, poor girl.
Here we see Chris and Billy collecting the blood for their awful awful prank. You just wish you could stop them as Carrie is genuinely happy for being able to go to the prom.
You Shine
I adore Tommy and Sue as a couple and this small moment warms my heart as Tommy takes her into the gym to give her a makeshift prom as she’s given up her prom so Tommy can take Carrie. This is such as sweet song and shows how much these two love one another. You can’t help but swoon hearing how much these two love each other.
Why Not Me?
I can’t help but feel for Carrie, she has built up so much courage and confidence. She has gone from the meek and timid girl that she was at the start of the story. This newfound confidence is a delight to see but again knowing the story, you know it’s going to come crashing down. Still, I can’t help but feel proud of Carrie for taking this leap as it is not an easy thing to do. Compare the Carrie we hear here to that of her title song and you can feel how much she has grown.
Stay Here Instead
Once again, we see the manipulative side of Margaret. It feels like as though the show goes on, the more unhinged Margaret becomes. She is so burdened by her trauma she dumps it onto her daughter. Alas, she is right about how some of them will betray her but Margaret makes the mistake of lumping people together and believing all people are bad because of what happened to her. It’s understandable but again it speaks to how her abuse has turned her into an abuser.
When There’s No One
Another Margaret song and this one admittedly confuses me, it’s a pretty song and I think it is playing on the emotions of the audience. I believe it is meant to show how much further Margaret has slipped over the course of the show and this is her snapping point.
Prom Arrival
This is pretty much a reprise of A Night We’ll Never Forget. You love hearing how excited the kids are but again knowing how the chips are going to fall, things hurt. It is sweet how nice Tommy is being to Carrie and it’s amazing seeing kids actually be nice to Carrie for once. But how much of it is shallowness built upon seeing Carrie as a swan instead of an ugly duckling that they treated her as.
Unsuspecting Hearts (Reprise)
Oh how I wish Miss Gardener could’ve been Carrie’s Miss Honey and save from the abuse she faces. Miss Gardener is the only adult that is ever kind to Carrie and that is something Carrie needs. The parent and student relationship these two have is so sweet and it is a moment of light in a dark show.
Dreamer In Disguise (Reprise)
Another sweet moment as Tommy leads Carrie in her first dance. It’s long been speculated if Tommy had real feelings for Carrie. I’m not so sure but I do believe he was starting to see her as a friend. And oh Sue, I adore Sue sneaking in and checking on her plan.
Prom Climax
Oof, and here we have the start of things becoming unhinged. As Chris puts her disgusting plan into motion. The fact that they are switching out the ballots with fake ones to humiliate Carrie is sickening. As I’ve made clear throughout, this is a show about bullying and we see that in full with that these jerks are about to do.
Alma Matter
The last moment of happiness before everything goes to shit. This should be a beautiful moment but we know it’s not. Sue is trying to warn the adults before the trick is unleashed.
The Destruction
And the moment we knew was coming as Carrie rapidly goes through moments of other songs leading up to her unleashing her telekinesis on those that have mocked her. Trying to capture this moment in song and onstage is no easy feat from what I understand. Now having never seen this show and only knowing it from this cast recording, I’d say that did a fine job but it usually looks something like this. This is the big moment that everyone expects when seeing an adaption of Carrie and at least on the cast recording, it delivers. My heart can’t help but ache for poor Carrie.
Carrie (Reprise)
This moment is harrowing and also speaks once again to the complexities of Margaret as while she is singing this and I do believe she loves her daughter, she plans on killing her daughter as she believes its her biblical duty. Yet, she is killed by Carrie first as her daughter stops her heart.
Epilogue
Poor Sue, one of the few goo hearted characters finds Carrie and the poor girl dies in her arms. This epilogue speaks to how these kids had so badly misjudged Carrie and not in her death do they see Carrie for ho se truly is. A girl who just needed a friend and was denied that every chance until it was too late.
While I am not a big Stephen King fan as Carrie is the only book of his I’ve read and I’ve only ever watched the de Palma movie, I adore this musical. This is one of my favorite horror musicals and there would be days where I would listen to the cast recording on loop.
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