by Michael Gore (music), Dean Pitchford (lyrics) and Lawrence D. Cohen (book). Based on the novel by Stephen King
Directed by – Joe Logan
Dormston Theatre, Sedgley – Saturday 22nd August 2026
The story of “Carrie” begins with the 1974 debut novel by the man who would later become almost certainly the world’s best known horror author, Stephen King. A lot of people would likely be most familiar with the 1976 film version starring Cissy Spacek in the title role. It is the story of a 17-year old girl who is suffering both from school bullying and her upbringing at the hands of her zealously religious single mother. Somewhere along the line, and for reasons never explained (nor do they need to be), she develops telekinetic ability which allows her to enact revenge.
On the face of it, not an obvious choice for a musical adaptation but this version dates all the way back to 1988 and apparently received its world premiere at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s not something I was even aware of before now, let alone seen a production, so is clearly something that a lot of companies seem to shy away from.
That said, a lot of the themes explored in the show are still very much relevant nearly 40 years later and in some cases possibly more so.
Not, however, Smile Musical Youth Theatre who not only took on the challenge but they also decided to stage this as their “Summer Intensive” meaning that they essentially had just 10 days rehearsal before opening night. Let it never be said they don’t relish a challenge!
We had a largely static set with a scaffolding at the back of the stage with a raised platform which was used to good effect, especially in the prom scene denouement. Furniture was moved on and off as required to depict other scenes. This approach meant that all scene changes were handled quickly and efficiently and did not impact on the pace of the production.
Costumes very much had a hint of the 1980s but were largely timeless, as what kids are wearing these days isn’t that different from what we were wearing back then.
A lot of the time with musicals, the volume is pitched at a level so that sometimes you can’t hear the actors but here, apart from a couple of lines near the start everything was fine.
Bearing in mind we had quite a large cast, it’s no mean feat to get them moving around the stage effectively but that is what was achieved here – everyone seemed to be in the right place at the right time – most notable during the panic at the Prom towards the end – so much kudos to director/choreographer Joe Logan and his team.
Again, this was all achieved with just 10 days’ rehearsal. Granted, I saw this on the last night so you’d expect it to be as polished as possible, but this is still a great achievement.
Whilst they had only 2 weeks rehearsal I was advised that they had had their scripts well before so they weren’t expected to learn a full length play PLUS songs and choreography in that short of time! Even so, I do need to mention that there wasn’t a single noticeable prompt all night.
Every time I do one of these reviews, I keep remarking about how much quality youth talent we have in this area and this is no exception as a cast of just under 30 worked together well and kept the audience enthralled. (I hesitate to use the word “entertained” simply because of the subject matter).
It’s also not easy to keep an accent going for nearly 2 hours but I wasn’t aware of any wavering.
The cast was led by a superb performance from Molly Bastable in the title role. This is not an easy role to pull off but Molly managed with some aplomb. She fully maintained the characters anger, rage and frustration throughout the show. She also has a superb singing voice, most notably on the opening number, also called “Carrie” and her duet with Margaret on “And Eve Was Weak”.
Charisma Louise gave us a subtle performance in the role of Sue Snell, the one person in the class that seemed to have any sympathy towards Carrie and her situation. She worked very well with Sam Broomhall-Tighe in the role of Sue’s boyfriend Tommy Ross, another strong performance.
Nancy Minaker was playing the evil Chris Hargensen with obvious relish and was an excellent villain for the production, suitably aided by Thomas Bastable as her “henchman” Billy Nolan.
Thea Lowe gave us a nuanced performance in the role of Carrie’s mother Margaret, giving us a range of emotions but ultimately making the character appropriately unlikeable as someone who puts her religious beliefs ahead of her daughter’s wellbeing.
Casey Michaela and Taylor Simner gave us solid depictions of the teachers caught up in all the “madness” of what was going on, coming across as very believable and relatable.
Unfortunately, the cast is too large to mention everyone individually but all members of the team fully played their part and gave us what can only be described as an excellent piece of theatre.
In conclusion, had you told me that the cast and crew had been working on this for 2-3 months, I would have believed you. The fact that they brought this together in considerably less than half this time is truly remarkable. This was a thoroughly slick and polished production which clearly enthralled the audience.
I don’t know if Smile has any plans to repeat the exercise next year but if they do I expect it to be similarly magnificent. They have set a high bar. Well done to everyone involved.
Reviewed by – David G.
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