Carrie: The Musical - Southwark Playhouse
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
TWENTY seven years after it first wreaked havoc, Carrie: The Musical will receive its long awaited London premiere at Southwark Playhouse (The Large), where it runs from May 6 (previews from May 1) to May 30, 2015.
Academy Award-winning Dean Pitchford and Michael Gore (Fame), and original screenplay writer Lawrence D. Cohen, have transformed Stephen King’s unlikely Cinderella story into an infectiously modern musical that has gripped audiences from Australia to America with its timeless story and thrilling score.
Carrie White, a taunted and terrified seventeen-year-old misfit, has a burning secret – a secret that will eventually ignite her revenge. Make your date for the Senior Prom to see who will be crowned Queen, and who will have blood on their hands. After one night with Carrie you will always remember her name.
Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Carrie: The Musical first premiered in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1988 before transferring straight to Broadway, but never made it to London.
In 2012, its score and book were revised by original composer Michael Gore, lyricist Dean Pitchford and librettist Lawrence D. Cohen and this newly reworked and fully re-imagined vision will now be presented for the first time on the London stage.
The revised 2012 MCC production won Best Musical Revival by the Off-Broadway Alliance, and had its premiere cast recording released on Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records, which debuted as the No. 1 selling album of the week on Billboard’s Top Broadway chart in its first week of release.
Carrie: The Musical will be directed by Gary Lloyd, director and choreographer of Thriller Live! Lloyd is renowned for his crossover from music to theatre, working as Creative Director on shows including American Idol and The X Factor. His other theatre credits include 20th Century Boy at Coventry Belgrade Theatre and the UK Tour of Aspects Of Love.
Carrie: The Musical is presented by Paul Taylor-Mills Ltd (In The Heights and Bat Boy: The Musical at Southwark Playhouse), by arrangement with Bill Kenwright Ltd. and licensed by arrangement with R&H Theatricals Europe.
Casting is to be announced.
Tickets: £18 – £22; previews £12. To book, call the box office on 020 7407 0234 or visit www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/.
Times: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday at 2.30pm (except May 7), Saturdays at 3pm.
Also at Southwark Playhouse: the world premiere of Gods and Monsters (until March 7) and These Trees Are Made of Blood, a new play about Argentina’s Dirty War (March 18 to April 11, 2015).