Off Broadway - Tumblr Posts
the beginning of 2012 by will wood has the same energy as a tgwdlm song
Underappreciated Musical: "Carrie"
"Carrie" is that special kind of bad. It's a bad that causes it to be remembered throughout time as one of the worst things that ever happened to popular culture. What made it that special kind of bad, and why do I think that maybe it got less credit than it deserved?
Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, "Carrie" tells the story of Carrie White, an outcast who is bullied by both her peers and her psychotic, insanely religious mother. When she gets her first period in the locker room showers and thinks that she's dying, all of the other girls make fun of her. This one event snowballs into a climax involving the prom, telekinetic powers, and the death of almost every character in the show.
"Carrie" originally opened in 1988 to some of the worst reviews Broadway has ever seen. It closed after only 5 performances, causing it to be considered one of the biggest bombs in Broadway history. Many critics pointed to the odd directorial and choreographing choices. One of the interesting things about "Carrie" was how it took supernatural things and put them into a realistic setting. The original production didn't seem to realize this, putting all of the actors in weird space age bodysuits and being extremely literal with some of the "Greek Tragedy" aspects of the plot. All of these decisions, however, led to "Carrie" earning a spot in Broadway history as a benchmark for bad musical theater.
Over time and thanks to recordings taken of the original performances, people have begun to think that "Carrie" may have gotten more than its fair share of ridicule and shame. I am one of those people. Lately, I've found myself watching clips from the original musical repeatedly, and, while I do find the directorial and choreographing choices extremely out of place at times, I find myself oddly entertained and enthralled. I haven't seen the entirety of the original production, but the bits that I have seen have been fun and interesting to watch. The performances are good, particularly those given by Carrie (Linzi Hateley) and her mother (Betty Buckley), and the songs are surprisingly well-written and tuneful. Of particular note are the songs given to Carrie's mother, Margaret White, which include "And Eve Was Weak" and "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance," two of my favorite songs in the entire show.
Recently, a completely revamped revival was put on Off-Broadway. Being incredibly interested in the original production, I refused to allow the chance to see it live pass me up. I went to see it and was very surprised. It was great. The performances were strong and the new choices made by the new director really helped tone down the camp value of the original. I did have a few problems, however. I didn't like some of the cuts they made to certain songs. For example, during "The Destruction," the scene in which Carrie kills everyone at the prom with her telekinetic powers, Carrie sings reprises of several songs from earlier in the show. In the original production, Carrie sang a bit from the chorus of "And Eve Was Weak" as she began her murderous rampage, giving the audience and the other characters the impression that this was their comeuppance for all of the stuff that they put poor Carrie through and that the judgmental hand of God was coming down upon them. In addition, it showed that Carrie had snapped to such an extent that she was agreeing with her insane mother. In the revival, she stops after reprising a bit from the song "Carrie." While the whole scene still works, it doesn't have the same intensity or bravura that the original did.
Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the revival, and the cast deserved the standing ovation that they got at the end. However, I do get this certain feeling when I think about it.The original was memorable because some of the more out there decisions during production created an oddly attractive monster to be born. It was bad enough to be remembered for as long as it has been remembered, but good enough to have fans and supporters. The revival, on the other hand, was great, but it didn't really have anything that made it stand out. It was better in some ways and worse in others, but the sum of its parts didn't equal the horrible greatness of the original. It attempted to modernize everything while firmly grounding it in reality. It was obviously looking to rid itself of all of the camp that made the original a cult classic.
The revised "Carrie" didn't last that long either. Maybe "Carrie" just isn't meant to appeal to a broader theater-going audience. I, however, will always appreciate "Carrie," both for its legitimately bad and legitimately good qualities. There's never been a musical like her.
Can anyone name the source of the quotation? (Hint: Off Broadway)
No one? (after 5 years; more a comment on my crickets than on any level of recognition or intelligence)
OK, the song "Much More" from the smash Obie champion hit of 1960 (is it still the champion? IDK), The F**********.
“Please, God, Please, Don’t Let Me Be Normal!”
Sigourney Weaver’s High School Yearbook Picture.1967
PHOTOS OF ‘THREE HOUSES’ BY DAVE MALLOY
Wouldnt be a list wo annleigh from we are the tigers - girl said “i love god sm but damn my bf looks HOT breaking into the annual cheerleading sleepover!”
Musicals where the female love interest (?) wants to get nasty more than the male lead: A Collection™️
1) Jesus Christ Superstar: You all saw this coming. Judas also wants to fuck, but that’s beside the point
2) Death Note: Light had himself a big titty goth girl, and he didn’t even want her 🥺😢
3) Hamilton: Okay well he did come around eventually 💀
4) Sweeney Todd: I missed the rumpled bedsheets line at first, but now it haunts me every time 😱
5) Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat: She was beautiful but eeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil 😈
6) Heathers: She wanted it so bad she tore the mattress.. 😬
7) Rent: I don’t know much about this musical, but just from looking at them I can tell Mimi really wants Roger Jr. 😏 wow I really hate that I just said that 🤦🏻♀️
anyone got a heathers off broadway bootleg that they can send me with Barrett Wilbert Weed as Veronica and Dan Domenech as JD??
heathers x danganronpa ( imma be for real it's just the protags and antags in either the outfits of heather chandler, duke and mcnamara or veronica. )
the antags as the heathers and poor makoto and shuichi as veronica.
This was inspired by this video : https://youtu.be/Q2zwnEO7q7o?si=4tm7ipHQbwdvyvkK (Heathers but it's Danganronpa).
I took some creative liberties and switched Kokichi and Byakuya around because while I think that Byakuya's main traits being that his dad is rich sounds not-at-all out of character, he would definetly not be as nice as Heather. M. So, into the role of Heather Chandler, mythic bitch he goes.
While my reasons for switching Kokichi were just I thought he would be (a bit) nicer, fitting the traits of Heather. M. I also just wanted to see what he'd look like in yellow checkers.
protags as the heathers for a change (no veronica though)
not sure how accurate the outfits are, but I tried to be as faithful to the off-broadway musical as I could. I still ended up messing up Kokichi's shirt though. :(
this is what happens when two hyperfixations try to fight for dominace and end up mashing together into one mess.
soz for the bad quality :(
Just wanted to say, I’m open to musical suggestions! Just go to my ask box, suggest something, and I’ll get back to you!
I’m a bit late, but top 5 saddest musical theatre songs?
You’re not late at all! Don’t worry!
Doubt Comes In (Hadestown)
I was bawling my eyes out at the end of this song. I honestly had so much hope even though I knew what would happen in the end.
“It’s you.”
“It’s me.”
Gets me every time.
2. It’s Not A Game/It’s Just A Ride (Ride the Cyclone)
For this song, it’s the beginning that hits me the hardest. Especially when watching the boot. Just to see how much everyone (*cough* Ocean *cough*) has changed and to see how accepting they’ve all become is just so, gosh I can’t think of a word for it. But it’s just great. The montage of Penny Lamb’s life along with them singing had me crying so much. The last bit of the song makes me ugly cry. Seeing their acceptance and how they’re all going to stick together is so lovely (I can’t think of any other word for it lol).
3. Winter Blooms (Alice By Heart)
Such a beautiful song. But man, did it have me crying. Alice’s acceptance? The metaphors? Oh gosh, it’s so good.
4. Afternoon (Alice By Heart)
Once again, a beautiful song, but it makes me so sad at the same time. After all that Alice and Alfred had been through, it was time for him to go. The don’t/won’t you remember, gets me. Because, to me, he’s kind of saying, “Won’t you remember everything we’ve done?”, because they won’t be able to go on any more adventures. When I think about that, it makes the song even sadder.
5. Before the Breakdown (We Are The Tigers)
It doesn’t make me cry, but it definitely is kind of sad. All of these girls have struggles. The lines,
“But you could never ever be better than you.”
”Someday you'll grow up just like you should.”
Hit me like a truck. But, I guess that’s what makes the song sad right? It is called Before the Breakdown after all.
There’s just something so comforting about Those Long Eyes (from Alice By Heart). I can’t put my finger on it, it’s just so comforting.
