Local Review: Carrie the Musical @ UTEP Dinner Theatre

        Last night on January 29 2015, I attended the final dress rehearsal of "Carrie the Musical" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre.  Overall, it was a fantastic production. It was my first time seeing "Carrie" ever and I wasn't really familiar with the story or music. While the show itself had some problems, the production quality was amazing and the show was cast almost flawlessly.

        Lauren Pena played the role of Carrie. She is an excellent actress and  has an excellent voice. She portrayed the role very well and has a strong stage prescence. In, the role of Margaret White, Carrie's crazy religious mother was played by Selena Stair. The one problem I had with Stair is that I feel like she could have been old enough to be Pena's grandmother. Other than that, she did fine. 

      Jordyn Catanach played the role of Chris, the true "mean girl" of the show. She was wonderful and I found her to be very convincing in the role. Rebecca Escobedo and Salvador Perez did well jobs in the roles of Tommy Ross and Sue Snell. However, Escobedo's voice lacked power and all of her numbers sounded quite screechy.
 
   Onto the show itself, the music was really good. The opening number reminded me of "Beautiful" from "Heathers: the Musical" and I loved all the songs with fierce belting (as always). The orchestra was really great but, most of the songs in the first act they were overpowering some of the soloists. but the book of the show was very weak, with rather undeveloped characters.

    The set and projections were spectacular and the special effects were phenomenal. The famous prom scene was absolutely the best part of the entire show.

     This is an excellent show and I loved it very much. I advise you too go see it. You will not be disappointed. I give it 4 stars.

"Carrie the Musical" at the UTEP Dinner Theatre
January 30- February 15 2015
For more information visit http://www.academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=www.academics.utep.edu/udt



                                                                                                                      



                                                   
Next Review: "In the Heights" at Eastwood High School

    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Phantom of the Opera" Restaged National Tour Review

Image
    As I am sure you already know, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a world wide phenomenon. It is the longest running show in Broadway history, it has been translated into 13 different languages, played in 30 different countries,  has been seen by over 140 million people, and is probably one of the world's most successful musicals. It continues to run on Broadway, in the West End, on tour, and more. So it was only a matter of time before I saw it live, right?    While on a trip to Cleveland, I was able to catch the production that is currently on tour across North America and it was my first time seeing the show live and in person. This touring production is not the original Hal Prince staging, but the re-envisioned production by Laurence Connor. Meaning, that this is not the production that is currently running on Broadway or in the West End, although the original written material remains in tact. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this production, as I had hear
Read more

7 Days of "Les Miserables", Day 4: The 10th Anniversary Concert (1995)

Image
                                                Day 4: The 10th Anniversary Concert!   Okay, I am not going to lie...but I thought I would have way more to say about this concert than I do. There were just so many cast members reprising their roles and I don't have anything else to say about those people. So, this review will just be touching on the cast members I have not already reviewed.    I have already reviewed, Colm Wilkinson (Jean Valjean), Phillip Quast (Javert), Alun Armstrong (Thenardier), Michael Ball (Marius), Michael Maguire (Enjorlas), and Judy Kuhn (Cosette).    The first cast member I have not already reviewed is Ruthie Henshall in the role of Fantine. As Fantine, Ruthie Henshall is my absolute favorite in the role. She has such a gorgeous voice and her face just has so much emotion to it. She doesn't need to cry or do anything to convey the emotion on her face. It is just so natural and believable. Ruthie Henshall as Fantine    Next on my list, is
Read more

Carol Channing in "Hello, Dolly!" (1996)

Image
   Although Hello, Dolly! might not have been the very last musical of the golden age of Broadway, in a way it was. This is because the creator of the title role, Carol Channing, played the role on and off from 1964 to 1997, totaling in over 5,000 performances for Channing in the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi. Every time Carol Channing returned to the role, she was able to restore a small piece of the golden age of Broadway. Towards the end of Channing's final run as Dolly Levi, her final touring production of the show was professionally filmed in Melbourne, Florida. Although this filmed version of the show was never commercially released, it can be viewed on YouTube for ages to come.    Hello, Dolly! is a musical comedy that is based on Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker and tells the story of a widow named Dolly Gallagher Levi who intends on marrying the well known half a billionaire, Horace Vandergelder. Also in the mix are Vandergelder's employees, Cornelius Hackl and
Read more