By Elizabeth Shepherd for The Beachcomber
This weekend, a troupe of more than 40 youth thespians, ages 11 to 23, will take the stage to perform “Carrie: The Musical” — a show that offers a powerful message wrapped in a spooky story and show-stopping song and dance.
The show is a production of a new organization, Vashon Youth Theatre, whose artistic director is Elizabeth Ripley. Ripley is a well-known island theater artist and singer who has previously directed many local shows, including well-received youth productions for Drama Dock such as “Grease,” “Into the Woods,” “Cats” and “Godspell.”
“Carrie: The Musical” is an adaptation of Stephen King’s well-known horror novel about a girl who is bullied by the popular crowd at school and abused by her mentally ill mother at home. But Carrie soon discovers she has a supernatural skill: she can move objects with her mind — a trick that spells disaster during her high school prom.
Ripley said she selected the musical not for its sensationalism, but for other reasons.
“The music is really excellent and eminently singable for young voices,” Ripley explained. “But I really chose ‘Carrie’ because it is a musical that faces real, hard issues, including bullying and child abuse. It makes me cry, but it also gives me hope for a better world. We can have a better and safer world for our children, but not if we ignore the real world our children live in.”
Victoria Trujillo, 16, plays the starring role of Carrie, a part she said has challenged her, but also made her more aware.
“Doing this show has made me really know what it feels like to be an outsider,” Trujillo said. “It has emphasized to me that I should always be watching out for that other person who might feel like that.”
Another cast member, Maijah Sanson-Frey, 15, said she has also learned important lessons about empathy, but from a different perspective. Sanson-Frey plays the role of Carrie’s chief tormenter, a girl named Chris.
“No one is born mean,” Sanson-Frey said. “If Chris had help, she wouldn’t have caused such destruction. She inflicts pain so that she doesn’t feel it herself. We need to ask, ‘What happened to that person to make her act like that?’”
Ripley said she has enjoyed guiding the young cast members as they have delved into a show that often touches the dark heart of the teenage experience.
“I’ve watched them discover the layers and depth of the piece,” she said. “Most of them have not done a show that is so personal.”
The musical has an interesting place in theater history. When it opened on Broadway in 1988, it closed after only four performances. But beginning in the late 1990s, scattered revivals of the show started to take place. An off-Broadway version of the show resulted in a cast album finally being recorded in 2012. And in March, a new “Carrie,” featuring strobe lights, smoke and haze, loud music and special effects opened to ecstatic reviews in Los Angeles.
The youth theater production on Vashon will give theater lovers their own chance to re-evaluate the musical, or see it for the first time.
Other leading cast members, in addition to Trujillo and Sanson-Frey, are Ellie Hughes as Carrie’s hapless friend Sue, Jeffrey Parrish as her well-meaning date Tommy, and Miles Wingett as Billy, another bully who helps set off a catastrophic chain of events at the prom. Elizabeth Schoen will play Carrie’s mother and she is also the choreographer for the show. Molly Dillon will play the role of a teacher who tries to help Carrie.
Other key creatives involved in the production are Lillian Ripley, who is designing set, lights and costumes for the show, and band director Kevin Nortness.
Ripley said she has loved working with the cast and crew.
“We laugh together, and we cry together,” she said. They are fearless, and a director’s dream.”
— Elizabeth Shepherd is the Youth Programs Director at Northwest Film Forum, The Beachcomber’s former arts editor and the mother of a cast member.
