“Carrie” Edition
Editor’s Note
Jago Cahill-Patten - Editor and Creator of The Green Room Magazine
Welcome to the second edition of The Green Room! This edition is about all things Carrie. Carrie is performing the 9th-10th of March in the Jeremy Bentham Room; with an amazing prod team and cast, it’s something you don’t want to miss. I had the pleasure of sitting in on one of the team’s stagger-throughs a few weeks ago. It’s made me even more excited to see the show they’ve put together!
In this edition, we have an article on why Carrie translates well to a musical and 3 interviews. Our interviews are with the director (Fran), the assistant director (Vicky) and two cast members (Izzy and Bruno). I found it super interesting chatting with these creatives, so I hope you enjoy.
I have many thanks to make for this edition. I’d like to say a massive thank you to Aaron for writing an article and to Fran, Vicky, Izzy, and Bruno for taking the time to chat with me. I hope you all enjoyed the experience! Thank you to Fran for the photo wall at the end. A huge, huge thank you goes to Zelda who’s made the front cover and nearly all the sketches within. I’m in awe of her talent. And to James for the sketches he did! Thank you so much.
Why does Carrie translate well to a musical?
By Aaron Reyes-Bordado
I think one of the reasons why Carrie works so well as a musical is because the story does the rare thing of treating teenage angst and problems relating to young adults with as much seriousness as possible. Of course, the show includes moments of levity and comedy, but these are all underscored by the predominantly dark and serious tone that exists throughout. An amazing example of this can be shown via the song “The World According to Chris.” This showcases the over-the-top relationship between Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan but at the same time, the audience is constantly reminded of Chris’ twisted philosophy of putting down those she views as weak. This approach of treating the subject matter as seriously as possible contrasts with a lot of contemporary musicals that tend to take more of a comedic approach when dealing with teenage problems e.g. The Prom.
Moreover, this level of seriousness, taken with a story that reaches such a fantastical conclusion, perfectly matches the art form of musical theatre. In my opinion, musical theatre is an art form that operates in extremes, i.e. every aspect of a musical is heightened to the point of exaggeration, and it is through these extremes that we are able to fully explore the full spectrum of human emotions. Carrie as a story makes its themes about social isolation, vengeance, feminism, sexuality, religion, and many others, very explicit from the very beginning of the narrative. This can be shown by the story opening with Carrie being bullied by her peers for being terrified of her first ever period, having never been taught what menstruation is due to her mother finding sexuality sinful. In addition, the story ends with most of the characters murdered by Carrie White and her telekinetic powers triggered by a bucket of blood being poured onto her. This demonstrates that these bold and decisive themes, along with the supernatural element of the narrative, make Carrie perfect for an art form such as musical theatre that constantly deals with heightened stakes and emotions.
Finally, by making Carrie into a musical, it is possible to further understand the characters and explore the world that they live in. The original story written by Stephen King is only 199 pages and while not an insubstantial length it has been noted by some critics as “remarkably short but compelling.” I personally believe that the nature of a musical means that characters are able to say so much more in a song than they would have been able to otherwise in normal speech. This is because through music and singing, musicals are able to tap into core emotions that exist across a wide range of people. They convey themes and ideas that cannot be easily expressed by words alone. Therefore, the concept of adapting Carrie into a musical is honestly an inspired idea.
I hope I’ve done some justice in explaining what makes this iconic story so fantastic as a musical and I hope you’re able to catch the show at the Jeremy Bentham Room!
The Interviews
I sat down with the director of ‘Carrie’ to get her insights on the show!
Jago: I’m with Fran, the director of Carrie. So first question, what made you want to direct Carrie?
Fran: Firstly, I think I wanted to do a very female-centred musical. I also wanted to do something quite challenging - yeah blood and telekinesis and things like that are quite difficult to stage. It’s been really fun. Also, the songs are bangers.
Jago: Yeah, I’ve heard them today for the first time and I'm excited to hear more. Talking about blood and telekinesis, is there anything you can say about that or is that under wraps at the moment?
Fran: ‘The destruction’, which is the blood scene where she [spoiler alert] gets blood thrown on her and proceeds to kill all of her classmates, is my favourite bit of staging I’ve done. That’s really cool, we’ve got some really cool deaths planned and we just ordered the blood.
Jago: Where does one order blood from?
Fran: Fake blood, fake blood. To prefix. Fake blood!! We've tried out various formulations, but we've found one that we think is quite good. It's also 100% edible, so it means that if you get blood in any crevices, you can just taste it.
Jago: That might add to the drama, horror aspect of it. Wow. What do you feel is your directorial style?
Fran: I think I'm quite a collaborative person. I try to be as receptive to the actors as I possibly can because I've got 14 smart, creative people in my cast. I’d be silly if I didn't want to use them. I try to be organised and plan things as much in advance as I can. We’re running it a couple weeks before the show because we've planned out things so specifically. I’m quite collaborative with my assistant director, my choreographer, and things like that. Communication and trust with the other prod team members is kind of the biggest thing. If I don't trust Ronan [the musical director] then we’re never going to go anywhere!
Jago: Especially with musicals, it's also interdependent. You rely on the musical director, you rely on the choreographer, they rely on you. You can’t necessarily do what they’re doing, so you need that trust.
Fran: Exactly, and when I look back at times in the production process where things might not have gone as smoothly, it's just because we lacked trust with each other. It was miscommunication and lack of trust, but it’s something I think we've really built up and now we function really well.
Jago: Is this your first time directing?
[Fran nods head]
Jago: Wow, that’s really impressive. Were you always interested in directing?
Fran: Well, I’ve kind of performed most of my life. I wanted to try organising something and having a passion project and being able to try out what I’ve seen Kingsley [director of Chess] and Leo [director of High School Musical] do.
[Angelic singing proceeds from the rehearsal room next door...]
Ah just listening to the singing! I think I would do it again, probably later on because it's quite a big time commitment. It's really fulfilling and really rewarding, so I'd recommend.
Jago: Yeah I’d like to do some prod team stuff at some point. How have you found direction over acting?
Fran: I think it's really interesting because it recontextualizes how you view being in cast. There would be times when I'd be like, ‘oh why aren't prod doing this, why aren’t they doing that’ but actually, you're doing a million other things that you can't even be worried about this. I remember during Chess I messed up a minor thing, but in my head, it was so big because I was in cast and that was my worry. I remember going to Kingsley and being like, ‘oh my god was it obvious’ and he was like, ‘what’ because he’s thinking about a million other things. He's thinking about lighting, transitions, all this other stuff. Directing, you have to balance so much all at once, while as cast you're more hyper focused on your own performance. Directing, you’re concerned about everybody else, which is quite interesting.
Jago: It’s also an interesting point from a perspective viewpoint. If you mess up a bit on stage, it feels like the end of the world but to someone in the audience or the director, they won’t even notice. If you have a perspective shift you can actually not let it get you down. Obviously with Carrie there are a lot of dark, horror themes. Has it been challenging transitioning those to the stage?
Fran: Yeah, I think so. We deal with abuse; we deal with abusive relationships; obviously ‘the destruction’ where she kills her entire class. It's been hard dealing with sensitive topics, but it comes down to giving actors very specific stage directions. That’s so it can't be sensationalised; it can't be cringe - you know what I mean where you're downplaying how extreme it actually is. Checking in with welfare has been key. People have handled it quite well. It’s been challenging and a lot to think about.
Jago: Also, I heard you’re staging it traverse. How have you found that from a sightline perspective?
Fran: It's hard because I'll block something and then I’ll watch the video and be like, ‘oh my god half the audience can’t see it.’ It’s tricky but it's also a lot more dynamic. So, part of my staging is that there are chairs in the audience. In the front row there's three chairs on each side that the actors will use and sit in, so the actors become part of the audience. From a logistical standpoint, it's an easy place to access the chairs. It feels quite immersive and Carrie is such an immersive show where the audience are almost participants in the bullying, that it’s cool.
Jago: When I was watching the ‘Eve’ song [I had the pleasure of sitting in on Carrie’s stagger through!], I could just see Melina’s face [playing Carrie’s mother, Margaret] and not Carrie’s, and that’s interesting. If it was the opposite and you could just see Carrie’s face, the audience experience could be different. It made me think about how it’s going to be a really interesting show and how you can go multiple times and sit in different places, and your experience can be totally different.
Fran: Yeah 100% - that’s very inciteful.
Jago: One more question. If you could describe Carrie the musical in three words, what would you say?
Fran: I would say vocals – sitz was wonderful. I want to say responsibility because there’s a lot of questions of responsibility. Both as a parent, social responsibility, bullying, and things like that. I feel like blood.
Jago: It had to be said.
Fran: It’s a metaphor. Vocals, responsibility, and blood.
Jago: An eclectic group there.
Fran: Blood is what people come for – it’s the poster and when people think Carrie, they think the blood on her head.
Jago: It has to be prominent.
Fran: People buy their tickets for the blood, for the cast, and lots of other things.
Jago: I’m there for cast, prod team; now I’m there for staging!
Fran: And blood! Haha.
Jago: Yes most importantly, blood! Thank you so much! And I can’t wait to see the show.
I sat down with two members of the cast of ‘Carrie.’ Let’s hear what they have to say!
Jago: Hello! I’m with Izzy and Bruno.
Izzy: Hi Jago’s phone!
Jago: Haha. So can you please tell me what your roles are in the show?
Bruno: I'm Billy Nolan, who is duel villains with Chris, who is my girlfriend in the show. She is the mastermind behind all of the torturous activities that occur to Carrie and yeah, she hates Carrie’s guts and I do all her dirty work, cause I’m that easy.
Izzy: And I play Helen, she's one of Chris’s posse and she's described as giggly, easily led, and very immature, which is quite a fun character to play.
Jago: So both of your characters are part of Chris’s group. How have you found playing villains?
Izzy: You’ve loved it haven’t you?
Bruno: I love this role so much. It’s nothing like how I am in real life, I promise! I just get to be an absolute prick. I just get to be silly and horrible and just be an idiot basically. And it’s really fun - I get to stand on a table while it’s moving, which is...
Izzy: Wild, it’s absolutely wild.
Bruno: Really wild.
Izzy: You just have to be there guys.
Bruno: You have to be there – 9th and 10th March; come see it.
Jago: If you only come to see it to see Bruno standing on a table, it’ll be worth it. How have you guys found the rehearsal process?
Izzy: It’s been great.
Bruno: It’s been really smooth. Rehearsals were quite intense at the beginning, but that means we’re two weeks out and we’ve done everything.
Izzy: It feels pretty solid.
Bruno: We’ve done our first run-through, more than two weeks before the show.
Jago: That’s impressive.
Bruno: We all know our roles quite well, and I think we know what we’re doing.
Izzy: It’s been a great process for me too. I love everyone on the prod team. I love Fran, Ronan, Aza, Bonnie – everyone’s great! It was fun for me as well, cause in ‘Chess’ I didn’t really get to dance. I got to do some dancing in this – Aza’s been great at choreo; it’s really fun choreo so that's been fun too.
Jago: When I’ve walked in and everyone’s pretty much off book that’s really impressive, cause I was thinking the show isn’t until the end of next week.
Izzy: Some pretty catchy tunes.
Bruno: Yeah, they are pretty catchy tunes, so it’s easy to commit to memory.
Jago: If you could describe Carrie the musical in three words, what would you say?
Izzy: ‘Really quite bloody.’
Bruno: I like that. ‘Do not bully.’
Jago: Aaw we love a good message.
Izzy: From Billy himself.
Bruno: From Billy the bully himself.
Jago: When I was researching Carrie the musical, I saw that it’s had a bit of a rocky history. It closed on Broadway instantly, so what are your thoughts on that?
Bruno: Technically, there are three versions of the show. So, the first version was the one that was on Broadway that closed pretty quickly. I don't know a lot about it, but apparently it was just terrible; terrible reviews. Then they did a revival in 2012, and the initial lyrics for some of the songs were well...
Izzy: Incredibly controversial, like a lot of slurs.
Jago: Oh my goodness!
Bruno: But then they again rejigged it and changed some of the words for some of the characters, changed some of the lyrics, and that's the version we’re doing now.
Izzy: Even though it had such a bad rep on Broadway, I remember it still had an insane cult following afterwards. Even though they got shut down so quick, there's been a persistent cult following. It shows it has potential.
Jago: And you’re ready to bring that cult following to UCL?
Bruno: Oh yeah.
Izzy: They’re all coming.
Jago: Cement it in UCL MT history.
Izzy: The JBR is going to be packed guys.
Jago: Haven’t got your ticket yet? It’s too late now, they’re all sold out. How are you finding your second MT show of the year?
Izzy: I’m loving it! It’s quite a different experience doing a small show and even just the difference between the two musicals, it’s been like a totally different experience, but I love it. I love the sense of community the MT Soc has. Bonds form so quickly, casts become like family.
Bruno: You spend more time with your castmates than you do with your other friends.
Jago: Prod week you don’t see anyone outside of the cast.
Izzy: You get withdrawals afterwards.
Jago: You deal with that by doing more shows, so it’s basically a vicious cycle which you cannot escape once you start. A cycle we love.
Bruno: You keep getting stuck in.
Jago: That’s a nice note to end. Actually, one more thing!
Izzy: Oh he can’t get enough of us.
Jago: No I can’t! You said there were different vibes between Blooms shows and small shows, what have you noticed?
Izzy: In a sense, they were less different than I expected, because I would say there's still such a passion and drive which shows the depth of the society. There's so many passionate people. But it's just a different experience learning to adjust to not being in Blooms with having to be a lot more creative with our props, our lighting, putting on a show in a different formal. We’re doing it in traverse because we're in the JBR, so it's just like learning to do new techniques – it’s fun.
Jago: It expands your range as an actor.
Izzy: Exactly, well put.
Jago: Okay, thank you so much guys!
Izzy: Thank you Jago!
Bruno: Thank you!
Our last interview is with Vicky, the assistant director!
Vicky: Hello!
Jago: Hey! I heard you’re doing a stagger through today. That’s very exciting!
Vicky: Yes!
Jago: So first question, can you describe the show in three words?
Vicky: Okay. Angsty; that’s the first one. Talented – the cast and everything. Angsty, talented and intense.
Jago: I was reading about the show earlier today, and I can imagine-
Vicky: It’s intense.
Jago: -It’s intense and I think Bruno, who’s a member of the cast, said the ending is under wraps.
Vicky: Yeah, I’m not revealing.
Jago: I’m very excited to see how you do that.
Vicky: It’s really, really good.
Jago: I can imagine there’s ways you could do the ending - spoiler alert everyone’s dying – where it could end up quite cheesy. So, I’m excited to see how you’re gonna make it interesting and cool.
Vicky: I would say it’s more intense than cheesy, definitely. The first time I saw it, I was impressed and shocked.
Jago: That’s amazing. How did you end up getting involved with the show?
Vicky: So we were all in Chess with the prod team of Carrie, and when they said that they were bidding, they asked. This is Francesca’s first time directing I think, and she’s doing an amazing job – I love working with her. I’ve directed musicals before; she asked if I could AD and I said yes!
Jago: That’s great. What shows have you directed?
Vicky: Outside of UCL I have done the ‘Trail to Oregon’, ‘Twisted’, ‘The Lightning Thief’ and ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. Inside UCL I’ve done three Drama Soc festivals - stuff that I’ve written and co-written.
Jago: Do you find it easier to direct stuff you’ve written?
Vicky: Well, I’ve only directed stuff that I’ve written – they’re plays. For me plays are slightly harder to direct than musicals. With musicals, the intensity is built up through the music anyway. Whereas with plays you need to really work on dialogue, timing and the pacing of all of it, more specifically. I prefer directing musicals, but all the ones I’ve done with drama have been comedies. And I really like comedy. And comedic timing and stuff like that is really nice to work on.
Jago: Also, I know the show’s in traverse, was that a choice from the beginning you guys decided?
Vicky: Yeah, that’s what Francesca wanted. And I’ve never directed anything that was in traverse so that’s a good, new challenge. A lot of thought goes into where the cast are looking. If the audience can only see one person’s face, that person needs to be reacting and interesting for the audience to see. So, you need to think about that a lot.
Jago: You have to completely re-think how you block things – it’s all about sight lines.
Vicky: You need to make sure people are reacting at all times and inside their character when they’re on stage and being seen, even if they’re not talking.
Jago: Also, if you have audience on both sides, that’s probably good for building tension. If the whole show is about people bearing down on one person, having people on both sides is a really good tool for that. If I’m not mistaken, you have a production company. Would you mind telling me about that?
Vicky: So, when I was in school, I didn’t do much drama because I wasn’t comfortable performing. But I knew I wanted to try behind the scenes. I knew that I wanted to start directing, but if you’re 18 and you’re just out of high school and you’ve done no drama, no one’s going to hand you a script to direct. That’s never going to happen unless you write it yourself, which I’d never done. So, I looked into licencing a show, directing it myself and putting on a show. I wanted to direct something and that’s how I did my first show. I was like, I’m going to find a venue, I’m going to find a cast, and we’re going to put it on. The people enjoyed the experience so much that they wanted to do it again the next summer. And we’ve done shows for four summers now.
Jago: That’s so cool.
Vicky: We created a company called ‘Independence Productions’, from that. But I didn’t start off thinking I was going to create a company. I made friends from it, and we are a little group of friends.
Jago: So, is it the same people coming back every year?
Vicky: There are new people every year; the cast is never the exact same people. But yeah, people have returned, and people seem to be enjoying it. I’m grateful people have enjoyed working with me and enjoyed the experience. It’s like a summer camp. It’s five-ish weeks where we rehearse Monday to Friday and then put on a show.
Jago: It’s very inspirational that you took the initiative.
Vicky: I wasn’t going to drama school, I was applying for geography, which is what I do now. So, I didn’t see a way for me to direct anything. I didn't know about the Musical Theatre Society. I thought I was going to go to uni and do geography for three years of my life, so I was like, I have to do it now in my summer break; otherwise I'm never going to be able to do it.
Jago: And we just did a Bloomsbury show together – yay!
Vicky: Yes, Chess!
Jago: So post-uni, are you going to continue with your company or go into the arts?
Vicky: So I'm applying to drama school now for directing and that's what I want to do in the future. My preference is musicals/ comedies/ musical-comedy. But Carrie has been very useful because it's forced me to think more dramatic, think more angsty - it's outside of my normal comfort zone, which is comedy. It’s good to assistant direct because I wouldn't have normally chosen the show because it's darker in theme than what I'm used to. Yeah drama school hopefully next year, and then continuing with my company in the summer during summer shows at least for the next two to three years and then we'll see if people still have time.
Jago: And it's really cool how you' come from feeling like you had no experience to now having a wealth of experience to fall back on when applying to drama school.
Vicky: True! I'm applying for a master’s, so it was basically just all my UCL experience plus my outside of UCL experience. My friends have been very helpful; everyone’s really helpful and nice, so that's good and hopefully I help people too. It’s important to help people because I'm grateful that people helped me, so you have to pay it forward.
Jago: I genuinely think the people involved in Musical Theatre are so kind at UCL. This is why I've done 3 shows - it's why we come back.
Vicky: Yeah exactly and it's often that if you do prod teaming.
Jago: I’d love to get into producing.
Vicky: You would be good at it. I watched the Freshers Musical: Aza, Beth, Molly, Aomi were in it. A bunch of people who ended up being in Carrie, ended up being in Chess, in the Producers. I was like, this is great - MT has a lot of good opportunities. The Freshers musical, the galas, socials, karaoke, small shows, big shows.
Jago: I also find it interesting how the things people do can evolve. When I first met you, we were both in cast together and now you’re AD-ing. How the whole production team of Carrie are people who I was in cast with.
Vicky: Yes, that's really good because I came to UCL thinking that I was only a director and producer but I'm leaving UCL knowing that I've written stuff and been in cast.
Jago: You’ve done it all.
Vicky: And it is good and interesting to branch out, and if you've done cast it makes you a better prod team member and vice versa.
Jago: Yeah, I guess you start seeing things as if you were part of the cast or part of the prod team and it makes you better at everything you do.
Vicky: Exactly, you're definitely a better cast member if you’ve been on prod before because you are sympathetic to the prod struggle.
Jago: I think sometimes with cast and prod team inherently there’s a bit of detachment but if you've done both, you can probably bridge that gap.
Vicky: Yeah, you can bridge the gap, but you can also understand the detachment. As a cast member, I know that if a director or producer is coming into rehearsal and they’re stressed, you just know they're thinking about 100 things at that moment. They have to know every answer to every question anyone asks them, which is stressful.
Jago: So maybe have a bit more sympathy for prod team.
Vicky: Prod-ing is really hard and I've prod-ed in drama and MT and it's different in both.
Jago: One more question - when I was researching Carrie: The Musical, I saw how it’s had a bit of a rocky history. So what do you say about that?
Vicky: Ok, that's interesting. I know that it lost loads of money on Broadway because it closed really early. I’ve watched a lot of clips from the UK Evelyn Hoskins production. She was Carrie and amazing. I think this show definitely has a life outside of its tragic Broadway history. It is such good content; if you like Heathers, you're gonna love it.
Jago: Heathers is one of my favourites, so now I’m even more excited.
Vicky: yeah, it’s that angsty, teen drama with elements of violence; unstable relationships but still with that fun teen energy. I think it was originally performed in the Southwark Playhouse, so I could see it going back there. I can see it going to a place like The Other Palace, where Heathers was. ‘Cruel Intentions’ is there now, which is another teen, angsty show. Francesca has done an amazing job at making this a UCL adaption - it’s in traverse and it's just great. The choreography’s great, the acting’s great.
Jago: People love angsty, teen musicals, so maybe there's a place for Carrie more mainstream in the future.
Vicky: Oh definitely - Riverdale did a freaking episode on Carrie. We've all watched it. It’s very it's very fun.
Jago: So maybe there's hope for Carrie in the future!
Photo wall!
