CARRIE  at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

(Seen March 10, 2012)


Alienation and bullying in high school is certainly a hot topic in today's headlines, so why not take another look at the classic Broadway musical flop of 1988, based on Stephen King's best-selling novel?

Well, a revised book and a smaller scale presentation only make its shortcomings more apparent --- this campy, preposterous show still does not hold up in its intimate new environment.

Certainly it's not the fault of the singers:  Marin Mazzie's and Molly Rawson's impressive voices ring clear and loud, but it's hard to really care about their plight or plot.  And under Stafford Arima's feeble direction, the zombie-like cast of teenagers and teachers fail to bring the tedious proceedings to any satisfactory excitement or pleasure.