REVIEW: Carrie Brings a Teen Revenge Story to Albany
Through 5/11 @ Steamer No. 10, Albany
Photos provided by Steamer No. 10
“Kudos to the Eclectic Performance Series for Adult Audiences for pushing the envelope and creating ‘must see’ shows in this venerable yet limited stage space.”
Carrie, the quintessential teen revenge horror story, is burning down the house at Steamer 10, and seeing as the theatre is built in one of Albany’s historic fire stations, the payback is all the sweeter.
Carrie White (no relation) is persecuted and traumatized from the opening scene when she is ridiculed by her gym class for not knowing what her period is when it starts bleeding down her legs in the shower. From that shocking and cruel opening which has the gym class of girls hurling tampons at her, yelling for her to “Plug it up!”, all justifiable mayhem will follow. There should be a trigger warning on this production for all who survived gym class and enforced showers.
Carrie is played by Madison Gaiser with an aching vulnerability and a powerful voice—she is by turns pitiable and dangerous. Most of the time she is begging not to engage with the world, sensing it is not a welcoming place…and she’s right.
Beyond the high school, she returns home to an evangelical loo loo of a mother, Margaret, played by Taylor Hoffman in a transcendent performance. Her arias are a distinct highlight of the evening, melding Taylor’s exquisite craft with this character’s religious mania. They could well convert you, all praise.
Sue Snell, the one girl from gym who regrets her actions (and hence has the greatest change in the story) is touchingly played by Gabrielle Smachetti who loans her boyfriend, Tommy (always solid and sweet Zach Kaiser) as a date for the prom to Carrie. She also gets to painfully testify on the mayhem at the prom as she is interviewed in a framing device that bookends the play.
The cast is amped up and some of the bully’s enthusiasm was hard to take but I greatly enjoyed the adults at the high school—Phil Bruns and especially Saadia Santos as the kind gym teacher Miss Gardner in my favorite acting performance of the night. Avanti Roberts makes a strong impression as a whip smart flirt, inserting a questioning tease into the jockey atmosphere.
The theatre was teeming with activity: the cast of 14 frequently ran up and down the aisles, with Gregory Theodore Marsh’s fun, frenzied choreography using every inch allotted and even including three cartwheels. The opening news video projections are so large they’re played on two walls, a scene was played in the old concession booth on the back house left wall which was impossible to see from many seats, and the band of five were placed in the back of the house. They had taped off the front row which the cast used in a scene but the entire theatre was full, not a single seat available.
The whole production felt a bit much. A little overwhelming and I wish the very creative director, Brian McBride Land, was given a bigger theatre and some scenic help to pursue his ideas. The musical had a fantastic range of volumes (unfortunately, I couldn’t make out half the lyrics to the too-softly-sung “The World According to Chris” sung by Haley Kastler, although she made a fine mean girl in her scenes) but the high energy numbers in the tight space jangled my nerves somewhat.
This whole review makes me feel somewhat old – like the musical was not meant for me which could be the case but there's no doubt that the production would have been better served in a larger house. Kudos to the Eclectic Performance Series for Adult Audiences for pushing the envelope and creating ‘must see’ shows in this venerable yet limited stage space. There were a great number of people on stage and in the audience whom I had not seen in a theatre before so I’m awfully glad about that and I can offer no higher recommendation! This loud, energetically executed, high school horror story is played full out and a sold out house ate it up!
Carrie plays at Steamer No. 10 Theatre (500 Western Ave, Albany 12203) through Sunday, 5/11. Tickets: www.steamer10theatre.org
