[ot-caption title=”Program of Slow Burn Theatre’s production of Carrie. (via Jordanna Brody, Senior)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Carrie1.jpg”]

This past weekend marked the end of Slow Burn Theatre’s Carrie The Musical, based off of Stephen King’s 1974 high school horror novel of the same name.  Although the show originally played only five performances on Broadway in 1988, Slow Burn’s rendition of this cult classic showed everyone in the audience that even though a show may have been a flop at one time, it can come back and be better than ever!

Carrie tells the story of the lives of the outcast, Carrie White, her classmates, Sue Snell, Tommy Ross, Chris Hargensen, and her mother Margaret White.  Carrie is on the outskirts of high school society, and longs to fit in, but her very religious mother refuses to let her change.  Although Sue and Chris berate Carrie for being weird, Sue finds it in her heart to apologize to Carrie by having her boyfriend, Tommy, ask her to prom.  Although Sue has the best of intentions when sending Carrie to the prom, Chris has other ideas.  She and her boyfriend plan to spill pig’s blood on Carrie to embarrass her.  After this chaos ensues, Carrie reveals her telekinetic powers and ruins the prom for everyone.

Playing the titular character, Anne Chamberlain had a tough role to take on.  She embraced the outsider nature of Carrie White, while projecting a strong vocal presence which made her performance quite compelling.  The way she interacted with her mother, played by Shelley Keelor, was both realistic and believable to the audience.  Keelor also had a very strong presence vocally and had a chilling way of communicating her character’s crazed methods of helping her daughter.

Other standouts were Jessica Brooke Sanford and Alexander Zenoz, playing Sue Snell and Tommy Ross, respectively, the perfect couple.  Both had great voices that helped carry them through the difficult score; Sanford and Zenoz’s strong acting brought their characters to life emotionally and physically.   Their rendition of “Do Me A Favor” was an audience favorite.

Another knockout performance came from Ann Marie Olson, playing Carrie’s mentor, Miss Gardner.  She had an amazing voice that was only helped by her phenomenal acting abilities, as clearly seen in her song, “Unsuspecting Hearts.”  Olson successfully portrayed the strong bond between Miss Gardner and Carrie.

Scenic designer Sean McClelland pulled off a multipurpose set that managed to beautifully transition from a high school classroom in one scene to Carrie’s house in the next. Led by Caryl Fantel, the powerful, live orchestra dazzled everyone with its strong exhibition of musical talent and added a heightened sense of drama to this intensely dramatic show.

Overall, the entire production was yet another improvement seen at Slow Burn Theatre.  The entire show was very well put together.  Next up at bat for Slow Burn is the South Florida regional premier of Bonnie and Clyde starting in January.  For more info, visit www.slowburntheatre.org