On stage Cont’d from Page 41 Tickets: $5-$17. Information: (575) 646-4515. The conservative Wyeth household’s family Christmas erupts when their liberal daughter Brooke arrives bearing a soon-to-be published memoir full of family secrets. ‘An Iliad’ — The highly acclaimed touring production of “An Iliad” with Algernon D’Ammassa and Randy Granger returns to the Black Box Theatre, 430 N. Downtown Mall in Las Cruces, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1. Tickets: $12 gener- Dinner Theatre takes on unlikely musical, ‘Carrie’ al admission;$10 students and seniors over 65. Reservations: (575) 523-1223. Mark Medoff Project — Las Cruces Community Theatre presents Medoff’s directorial debut of new work March 6-22. Performances are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets: $9-$12. Information: (575) 523-1200 or lcctnm.org. ‘Far Appomattox’ — Frontera Repertory Theatre Company presents the reader’s theatre production of the Frank Levering play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8, in the Philanthropy Theatre of the Plaza Annex, as part of El Paso Community Foundation’s Jewel Box series. Tickets: $16 (Ticketmaster). A Stephen King novel as a movie. That seems to be a pretty sane idea. Indeed, many of his books have been made into movies. But a musical? That seems to be an idea well outside the box. But then along came “Carrie.” “If you look at this plot line you may wonder, ‘Why a musical?’,” UTEP Dinner Theater Director Greg Taylor said. “But look at the plots of some of the greatest operas, and Carrie fits in well. The music is not operatic, but the plot points are very dramatic. Taylor saw the original production on Broadway in 1988 when he was in town for the opening Night of Tim Rice’s “Chess.” “While the production had many problems, I loved most of the music in the show,” he said. “So when I heard that the authors had decided to revisit Carrie in 2012 in a new version, I immediately bought the CD and read the script.” Taylor did not get a chance to see that much-better received revival, but did fall in love with the script and score. He decided that he wanted to stage the show someday. That someday is this month at UTEP Dinner Theater. “It is a universal story about being an outsider in high school, and it is told with really great songs,” Taylor said. “Of course it also has the twisted plot points that only Stephen King could come up with, which makes it that much more of challenge to stage.” The musical has the same basic plot line as the book and movie (the 1976 film starred Sissy Spacek in the title role; a 2013 remake did not receive the same critical acclaim). “The story is about Carrie White, a shy outcast who is bullied in school and almost terrorized at home by her deeply religious, fanatic mother,” Taylor said. “She finds she has a special power of telekinesis, and when pushed too far, uses this power to seek revenge on those who have wronged her.” The biggest challenge, Taylor said, is the staging – especially the climactic prom scene. “The original film is so popular that the images of what happens in that scene are ingrained in a lot of people’s minds,” Taylor said. “I can tell you that Page 42 El Paso Scene between good old-fashioned stage technique along with projections and sound effects, we plan on giving the audience an exciting scene.” What could have been a challenge – the number of young people needed for a show set in high school – has actually been a joy, Taylor said. “Most of the cast playing the high school students are either new to the UDT or have only been in one or two shows. They have a lot of energy and have really bought into the story and are excited to tell it.” UTEP sophomore Lauren Peña has the title role of Carrie in her third show at the dinner theater. But regular theatergoers will also recognize veteran Selena Stair as Carrie’s mother, Mrs. White (played by Piper Laurie in the 1976 film) and Arezelia Perez as the gym teacher, Mrs. Gardner (played by Betty Buckley in the 1976 film). The end result, Taylor promised, will be an evening of theater the audience won’t soon forget. “People may know the plot of Carrie from the novel or the film, but I feel the authors of the musical have brought out a whole new layer of emotion through the addition of a musical score,” Taylor said. “The score has pop/rock elements for the high school characters, beautiful ballads for the young couple, soaring melodies for Carrie, and three exciting powerful songs for the mother. And then there is that climactic prom scene. “Yes they should also come see it for the big prom scene. There will be blood!” Carol Viescas is a veteran of community theater and teaches journalism at Bel Air High School. ‘Carrie’ runs Jan. 30-Feb. 15 at the UTEP Dinner Theatre. Information: 747-6060 or utep.edu/udt. February 2015