8. The Beginning: Publishing
“I didn't expect much of Carrie. I thought, 'Who'd want to read a book about a
poor little girl with menstrual problems?' I couldn't believe I was writing it.”
—Stephen King
“CARRIE OFFICIALLY A DOUBLEDAY BOOK. $2,500 ADVANCE AGAINST
ROYALTIES. CONGRATS KID—THE FUTURE LIES AHEAD. BILL.”
—Telegram to Stephen King from William Thompson, Doubleday Editor
11. Adaptations: 1976 film
"Although the film "Carrie" is dated now,
[King] said he thought it was a good movie.
'I was fortunate to have that happen to my
first book.' (He was 26 years old and was
paid $2,500, he said.)"
13,000 or 30,000 hardback copies
1 million paperback copies
13,000 or 30,000 hardback copies
1 million paperback copies
“I read the book. It was suggested to me by a writer friend of mine. A writer friend of his, Stephen King, had written it. I guess this was almost two years ago [circa 1975]. I liked it a lot and proceeded to call my agent to find out who owned it. I found out that nobody had bought it yet. A lot of studios were considering it, so I called around to some of the people I knew and said it was a terrific book and I'm very interested in doing it. Then nothing happened for, I guess, six months”
Not a lot of other credits
Worked on other Stephen King Adaptations later — IT miniseries, Tommyknockers, etc
Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, William Katt, Nancy Allen, John Travolta, Betty Buckley (remember her)
“Determined to land the leading role, Spacek backed out of a television commercial she was scheduled to film, rubbed Vaseline into her hair, didn't bother to wash her face, and arrived for her screen test clad in a sailor dress which her mother had made her in the seventh grade, with the hem cut off, and was given the part.”
According to VULTURE, CARRIE (1976) is ranked as the second best Stephen King film, after THE SHINING (1980). This adaptation was released when horror was reaching pinnacle success, since the industry was releasing scary movies that would later become popular classics. CARRIE arrived on the heels of ROSEMARY'S BABY, which became a commercial favorite in 1968, as well as THE EXORCIST, which changed the perception of horror forever. Thanks to these films, Hollywood knew that they had something special when they read CARRIE for the first time,
Directed by Brian De Palma, this adaptation captured Carrie's struggle to accept her own sexuality, while conveying the disquieting mood of the novel. Although the book followed a series of narratives, De Palma concentrated on Carrie's experience throughout the movie. He managed to humanize the antagonist of this story, illustrating the complexities of these characters in a compelling way.
De Palma also highlights Margaret's corrupt relationship with her religion as well. She decorates her family's house with images of death, rather than displaying her "benevolent faith" in Christianity.
$33.8 million against its $1.8 million budget. It received two nominations at the 49th Academy Awards: Best Actress (for Spacek) and Best Supporting Actress (for Laurie).
One of few horror movies to receive Academy Award nominations
Best adaptation of the novel
One of the best horror movies of all time
Lawrence D. Cohen — Book
Previously worked on 1976 film, friends with Gore
Michael Gore — Composer
Fame
^ They saw a production of Lulu by Alban Berg (who died before he finished writing it), virgin/whore dichotomy, protagonist is a victim, gets killed by Jack the Ripper
Dean Pitchford — Lyrics
Footloose
Fame
Previously been in Godspell, Pippin (as Pippin)
Terry Hands — Director
Joint Artistic Director of RSC with Cats Director Trevor Nunn
Then sole AD in 1986
Had never directed a musical and didn’t direct another after this
Terry Hands — Director
Joint Artistic Director of RSC with Cats Director Trevor Nunn
Then sole AD in 1986
Had never directed a musical and didn’t direct another after this
Debbie Allen — Choreographer
Part of Fame
Performer: Sweet Charity, Purlie, Ragtime (Movie)
Ralph Koltai — Designer
German-born designer
Part of RSC
Influenced by Brecht
ALW
Mega Musicals
Experimentation moves off-Broadway
Cameron Mackintosh
Evita, Cats, Phantom, Les Mis
42nd Street, Nine
Coming off of a decade with shows like Pippin, Company (most of Sondheim’s hits), Godspell, JCS
Still finding the contemporary voice
Still figuring out what Broadway is
On top of that: the AIDS epidemic
Ralph Koltai designed the set
The writers wanted to work on it because they knew it was a mess
Some unauthorized productions (Emerson, Stagedoor Manor)
2009: MCC Theatre, founded by NYU students in the 70s (inc. Patti LuPone’s brother)
Reading involving Marin Mazzie, Molly Ranson, and Sutton Foster
Developmental Lab in 2010
Part of MCC’s season in 2012
“The MCC directors said: "MCC, the authors, and the director achieved what we all set out to do – to rescue Carrie from oblivion and to give her new life. Plans are under way to preserve this production for Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, so it may live on in the memories of the thousands of theatergoers who saw and loved it."