"Carrie," infamously known as Broadway’s biggest and bloodiest flop (it ran only five performances in 1988), is in the midst of previews en route to a March 1 launch at the off-Broadway Lucille Lortel Theatre.
Songwriter Dean Pitchford, the Tony-nominated lyricist of "Fame" and Oscar-winning "Footloose," says the new "Carrie" is a "revisal." As in a revised revival. The former Honolulan and his collaborator, Michael Gore, have composed 10 new tunes for the reboot amid nervous anticipation.
"Carrie," based on the Stephen King novel, is about a teenage misfit with telekinetic powers who is bullied and maligned. Thanks to a new director, Stafford Arima, who helmed "Altar Boyz," and the support of the MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel, an off-Broadway destination, "Carrie" is ready for a comeback after nearly 25 years.
The revisal will feature Molly Ranson as Carrie and Marin Mazzie as her mother, re-creating roles originated by Linzi Hateley and Betty Buckley on Broadway, and Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Brian De Palma‘s movie version. Both actresses have legit Broadway creds: Ranson was in "August: Osage County" and "Jerusalem," Mazzie in "Next to Normal," "Spamalot" and "Kiss Me Kate."
The script has been extensively revised, with less blood and more first-person expression. All in the spirit of creating more chills than campiness. …
MUSIC OF THE NIGHT: Speaking of Broadway, Cris Groenendaal, the actor-singer who has donned the mask to play the lead in "Phantom of the Opera" here and in New York, was among an invited list of former Phantoms and Christines at the 10,000th performance of the Tony-winning spectacle, the longest-running Broadway show ever. The chandelier falls eight times a week, a feat dating back 24 years, and also in London, despite the closure of the re-imagined and hailed version that was playing until recently in Las Vegas. …
LAURELS: Damian Brantley, who moves and grooves as Michael Jackson in the Legends in Concert attraction at the Royal Hawaiian Center showroom, was just named best impersonator for 2011 by Broadway World/Las Vegas. …
Which makes me wonder: Betcha Whitney Houston will be reinserted into all of the Legends vehicles in the distant future, re-establishing her superstardom via "I Will Always Love You." It’s one moment in time we’ve all adored, at some point, over the decades. …
"Hawaii Five-0" was one of a cluster of TV series honored by the Guild of Music Supervisors for best music supervision in a tie between supervisors Liza Richardson and Gary Calamar. …
GRAMMYS REVISITED: While no one from Hawaii, including Bruno Mars, picked up a Grammy trophy last Sunday, there are a few oblique links to the islands in some wins since portions of honored projects were recorded here, at the Hawaii Kai Studios (as the former Avex Honolulu Studios at the Hawaii Kai Shopping Center now is tentatively called). Tracks were laid down for Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s "Watch the Throne" (rap performance) and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (best rap album), by West and Justin Vernon (of Grammy-winning folk group Bon Iver), according to Gaylord Holomalia, who oversees studio operations. Nominee Eddie Vedder‘s "Ukulele Songs" also had some work done here. …
Holomalia, a member of Kalapana, scrapped plans to be at the Grammys to play with the band in L.A. and San Diego concerts. …
SIGHT ‘EMS: Actress Scarlett Johansson and boyfriend Nate Naylor have been having some fun in our sun. See her next in "The Avengers." …
At Wolfgang’s Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zwiener for Valentine’s dinner: politicos Ben Cayetano, the mayoral hopeful and ex-gov, with wife Vicky Cayetano; and Mufi Hannemann, the congressional candidate and former mayor, with wife Gail Mukaihata Hannemann. Also there: former Warrior quarterback Colt Brennan and a party of celebrants; his touchdown favorite is the eggs benedict at brunch. …
And that’s "Show Biz." …
