“Carrie The Musical” by Regis Theatre Company
Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton

Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother. When she is humiliated by her classmates at the high school prom, she unleashes chaos on everyone and everything in her path.

It's a brave choice for a local theatre group to perform as, in the musical’s past, it’s not had the best history, first premiering in 1988 with the Royal Shakespeare Company where it then transferred to Broadway where it failed miserably and closed after just five shows, so it was with great interest that I took my place at the Duchess to witness what I expected to be an interesting evening.

Anna McAuley (Carrie White) I have seen several times in various productions, but tonight, being the main character, I really got to appreciate what a beautiful, pure and controlled voice she has. She had the hairs on my neck standing up form the start.

Kathryn McAuley (Margaret White) complemented her daughter's vocals wonderfully in the several scenes this pair had together as mother and daughter in the play, and the chemistry was there as well, especially in the final scenes.

Lucy Castle ( Chris Hargensen) plays the ring leader of the bullies and wonderfully bratty, bordering on pure evil she was, especially when she got Kheenan Jones (Billy) in on the final nasty deed at the prom

Ruth Kniveton (Sue Snell) also acts as the narrator as well as one of Carrie’s school friends, and it's the narrative throughout the play that gets the creepiness going, because we all know what is in store but this builds the tension. Ruth is another with a lovely voice, highlighted well in this musical.

Andrew Bould (Tommy) really scrubs up well in his prom tux and shows a tender, gentlemanly side to Tommy's character as he agrees to escort Carrie and in looking after her. And the boy can carry a tune as well.

Emma Collins (Ms Gardner) also gets to show some lovely vocals off; another singer who blends well with Anna's voice.

Adam Guest (Mr Stephens) looks the part of a teacher down to the ground and adds gravitas to the musical's teaching staff.

A large cast who worked well as a team and were totally believable as an American class - the accents were well observed as well, which I noticed. With the large ensemble, this meant that the group vocals sounded strong and blended well.

Evie Burke (Norma), Sky Marsden (Frieda), Emily Rebecca Owen (Helen), all three I bet quite enjoyed their nasty, bullying roles, Jack Readyhoof (George) plays to his strengths in this comedic character role, Matt McAuley (Stokes) whose vocal talents obviously have been passed on from his Mum and sister, Robert McAuley (Freddy), Rob Charles (Chase), Joe Loverock (Alex) great surname and only his second show,and Joe Morley (Bud). All managed to show the various characters within the group, and as I said, all created a tight vocal ensemble.

Charlotte Daniel is the Musical Director for the show, and the one responsible for coaxing these brilliant vocals from the cast.The soundtrack is full of beautifully written songs like "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance", "Unsuspecting Hearts" and "Dreamer In Disguise". Unfortunately though completely forgettable once you leave the theatre.

The soundtrack is wonderful. If you listen closely it's almost very typical American classic musical soundtrack, and written by the writers responsible for the film soundtrack for "Fame". There are reflections of Sondheim as well as Jason Robert Brown in the construction of the music, and being a fan of both, I was bound to love the music side of the show. I'd had the soundtrack for a while but seeing the words come to life on stage is something quite special.

Ollie Turner is the Artistic Director and Producer. A man who knows what he is doing around musical theatre, and the man brave enough to take on this musical, knowing that it's not an often performed piece, and that its' history of success was, well let's just say it's not Les Miserables. A brave choice and one that I feel paid off for him.

Of course though when you surround yourself with local theatre geniii, or is that geniuses? You can't go far wrong. Matt Powell was drafted in for the Movement Director, and you can see what a difference someone like Matt can make in the prom scene when everything is performed in slo-mo. Very effective.

I loved the music, I loved the story and I loved the production and lighting effects (Maureen Tierney) and the creepy sound production (Sean Renshaw).

There were a few things that I feel could have made more of an impact, especially in the gore department. In the shower scene where Carrie discovers her first period, Carrie draws attention to the blood on her hands, but her hands were clean.

I would have loved to have seen more blood in the prom scene but there was only a small amount. I'd have loved to have seen about half a bucket of the red stuff poured over Carrie (sorry Anna) to make an impact. And I'm sure that I missed the knife that Margaret used in the scene when Carrie came back from the prom. (sorry again Anna), or did I blink at the wrong time. I do like my gore!

There was also one comedy moment that was not planned, which, anyone after tonight probably won't get to see, but when Tommy called on Carrie to ask her to the prom, there was a delay on the door bell, and on the second time, I'm sure that I saw Andrew let slip a crafty smile. Aaah the joys of live theatre!

It probably won't ever make the Top 20 Musical Theatre favourites but it's worth viewing this production, because who knows when you may get the chance to see it ever again.

“Carrie The Musical” is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 7 September 2019