Carrie: The Musical

CREATIVE TEAM

DIRECTOR | Chris Adams
MUSICAL DIRECTOR | Rob Archibald
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR | Paul Brookland Williams
ASSISTANT MOVEMENT DIRECTOR | Polly Hayes
PRODUCER | Lizzie Levett
LIGHTING DESIGNER | Ruth Luckins
SOUND DESIGNER | Adam Lockett
SET DESIGNER | Adam Coppard
COSTUME DESIGNER | Nicki Massos
STAGE MANAGER | Jessie Berman
COMMITTEE LIAISON | Stephen Beeny

CAST

CARRIE WHITE | Sadie Kempner
MARGARET WHITE | Nina Zendejas
SUE SNELL | Ellie McWilliam
MISS GARDNER | Louise Roberts
CHRIS HARGENSEN | Heather Daniel
TOMMY ROSS | Adam Richardson
BILLY NOLAN | Toby Chapman
MR STEPHENS | Sam Sugarman
NORMA | Tasha Msanide
FRIEDA | Amy Foden
HELEN | Katie Porter
GEORGE | Chris Peters
STOKES | Jake Comeau
FREDDY | Nick Dore
THE POWER | Polly Hayes

The displays of telekinesis in action are worth seeing, as are the prom costumes. This is amateur dramatics at its finest: forget backing tracks – Rob Archibald leads a seven-piece band – and it’s difficult to pick a stand-out performance in a cast so finely balanced. The shock horror factor may not be prevalent, but the portrayal of bullying, intimidation and a sense of not fitting in is more than sufficiently disconcerting. Not one for the fainthearted.

There are clearly many technical elements needed for a show like Carrie in order to display her telekinesis and whilst I do not want to give any spoilers away Sedos interpretation of this was exceptional. It meant that Carrie’s moments where her telekinesis flared up were some of my highlights of the show. I must commend Chris Adams and Paul Brookland Williams (director and movement director) for the courage to take this route as well as Polly Hayes for her vital part in it. Other elements such as flashing lights and windows slamming shut were all well thought out and timed well to add to the suspense of the show. Once again Sedos have presented a rarely performed musical to a wider audience and judging from the sell out audiences I was not the only one excited by this. With a talented cast and a strong direction for the piece Sedos have once again presented a show that I would urge people to see….. if it wasn’t sold out already!

Just as you think you’ve seen the very best Sedos has to offer they give us something even better. It’s a good musical but Sedos has turned it into something extraordinary. Brilliant! The audience were gripped from the opening moment to the final curtain calls.

As ever, Sedos bring their customary skill and ability to the performance, the ensemble songs in particular being tightly controlled, crisply delivered and well sung, with excellent work from Movement Director Paul Brookland Williams.