Chapter 5: Act One: Cardboard cars and unitards

Out for Blood: The Story of Carrie the Musical

In the first of two special episodes, we take a close look at the original 1988 staging of Carrie, examining it song by song and scene by scene to try and work out exactly where things go wrong and why this show became so infamous in Broadway history. We’re re-assessing Carrie from all angles!

First up, Act One - and the audience is perplexed to be discover Carrie's high school is represented by an enormous shiny white box. The dancers share some intimate details about 80s microphone technology, we hear the reaction to Linzi Hateley’s big opening number, and we debate what an ‘active gland’ might be. We would go bowling if you REALLY cared!

As well as our gang of original cast members and a handful of superfans, we’re joined by writer and composer Stephen Dolginoff (‘Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story’), online performance pioneer Peter Michael Marino (‘Desperately Seeking Susan’) and general legend/future Margaret White Kim Criswell who all saw the show in 1988 and lived to tell the tale.

Join us on our social channels and share your feedback!

• Instagram
• Facebook
• Twitter

Out for Blood is hosted by Holly Morgan and Chris Adams, edited by Tom Moores, with original music by Odinn Orn Hilmarson and artwork by Rebecca Pitt.

Out for Blood is a proud member of the Broadway Podcast Network.

NEW! Chris's book Out for Blood: a Cultural History of Carrie the Musical is out now - order from the publisher or all good book stores. You can now also order OFB t-shirts, hoodies, totes, stickers, pins and more here!

Thanks this week to Dean Pitchford, Linzi Hateley, Sally Ann Triplett, Charlotte D’Amboise, Georgia Otterson, Michelle DuVernay, Shelley Hodgson, Suzanne Thomas, Joey McKneeley, Kenny Linden, Eric Gilliom, Michelle Nelson Manne, Audrey Lavine, Jeremy Sturt, Peter Michael Marino, Stephen Dolginoff, Kim Criswell, Mark Silver, Scott Briefer, Robbie Rozelle, Peter Mckintosh and Todd Graff.

THIS WEEK’S LINKS:

• The unofficial Carrie Archive Channel on YouTube has plenty of bootleg videos of Carrie so you can check out all the madness yourself
• Check out the sites of Stephen Dolginoff and Peter Michael Marino
• Please note that we don’t own any of the content above and we’re not responsible for the content of third-party links – enjoy!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices