Chicago Tribune - Recommended
"...Michael Driscoll's modestly scaled but superbly directed production for Bailiwick Chicago works — and, no, I have not taken leave my critical faculties — because it is mined for teenage truth. The production is deadly serious. When the title character gets drenched in prom-night blood — just enough that high-school kids might have been able to rig it up, not so much that Carrie floats in red paint — your heart goes out to the girl. I know it's hard to believe. But then, you haven't seen Callie Johnson's truly superb performance as Carrie White. Johnson, one of the Chicago area's brightest young musical talents, brings a level of emotional engagement to some of the scenes that suggests she had been preparing as if doing Ophelia's suicide scene. She is that intense."
Chicago Sun Times - Recommended
"...The show’s score, by Michael Gore (music) and Dean Pitchford (lyrics), contains some beautiful songs, from the anguished mother-daughter anthem, “And Eve Was Weak,” to the sensitive boy’s self-revelation, “Dreamer in Disguise,” to the conscience-dawning “Once You See,” to Carrie’s break-out number, “Why Not Me?” And the large cast brings honesty to both its songs and scenes."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...Whatever they did, it worked, to judge from Bailiwick Chicago's wonderful revival. Excepting Stephen H. Carmody's inelegant set, the show is impressive—performances are strong across the board, and the production never flags. Michael Driscoll's casting and direction are spot-on, Brigitte Ditmars's evocative choreography gives us Broadway scale without feeling cramped in the smallish performing space, and Callie Johnson is riveting as the poor, bullied high school girl with deadly telekinetic powers."
Windy City Times - Highly Recommended
"...Director Michael Driscoll's expertise at fitting song-and-dance extravaganzas to small spaces makes for a production never exceeding the proportions of its surroundings, but instead emerging a parable as intimate as its microcosmic setting. The cast, led by Callie Johnson and Katherine L. Condit, delivers vocals that redeem in expressiveness what they may lack in volume, as does the six-piece orchestra conducted by Aaron Benham, also no stranger to up-close-and-personal orchestrations. Jaded adults may scoff at the Spring Awakening-meets-Afterschool Special tone of the PowerPoint text, but given what we know now about youths undergoing stress, it's a lesson well-heeded. Bring a kid with you to explain why."
Centerstage - Highly Recommended
"...ate Garassino, another of Chicago’s powerhouse vocalist/actors, is sincerely empathetic as Ms. Gardner, the school gym teacher. As nasty, spoiled Chris and her delinquent boy toy Billy, Samantha Dubina and Sawyer Smith are the villains audiences love to hate. Henry McGinninss is emotionally honest and charming as Carrie’s prom date Tommy; yet Rochelle Therrien’s Sue, while sweetly sympathetic, often seems insincere and needs to project more. However, this musical remains a bloody good production and the one to see this summer."
Time Out Chicago - Recommended
"...But judging by Bailiwick's well-staged, well-sung and finely acted production, Cohen may have gone too far in the other direction in his attempt to fix the show. If anything, there's too little of the supernatural. Carrie White (marvelously embodied by Callie Johnson in a lovely, nuanced performance) is essentially a mutant in the Marvel Comics tradition, with special powers manifesting with the onset of puberty. But Carrie the Musical seems a little embarrassed about that crucial aspect of its story, preferring to dwell in the teen-angst realm up until Carrie's tragic humiliation and power-up at prom."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"...Director Michael Driscoll handles much of this difficult piece well and, with Casting Director Harmony France, has selected several great actors with strong chemistry; Carrie, her mother and Tommy to name a few."
ChicagoCritic - Recommended
"...Bailiwick Chicago’s selection of the often failed musical version of Stephen King’s novel, Carrie was a curious choice. While I am probably the only one in the audience who didn’t see the film or read the novel, I had little expectations for this show. I was immediately turned off by the Broadway pop/rock singling style that rendered the girls sounding alike and the boys singing in high pitch. That and the tendency for most of the players to project so softly that they could hardly be heard, made for a long evening for me. I guess I’m spoiled by legitimate singing?"
Chicago Stage and Screen - Highly Recommended
"...Bailiwick Chicago has done a great job of resurrecting Carrie: The Musical, whether you are interested in an effective homage to a horror masterpiece or a twisted empowerment narrative. Whatever your hook, Bailiwick offers a potent pop music warning about underestimating the cost of kindness in a world where cruelty is the currency."
Huffington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...Where the musical falters most frustratingly is in the narrative. Nobly, book writer Lawrence D. Cohen has worked on making this a very human story, focusing in on the relationship between Carrie and her mother (the powerful and potent Katherine L. Condit) and the angst and turmoil of being a modern teenager. Even resident school bully Chris (the delightfully evil Samantha Dubina) is given moments where we can peek into the cracks of her steely exterior. In doing so, the horror and dread we all expect from this story is packed into the musical's final 10 minutes, which jars the tone and leaves you with an unsatisfying aftertaste. It also doesn't help that Driscoll's otherwise solid staging of this pivotal scene is clunky when it should be chilling."
The Fourth Walsh - Recommended
"...CARRIE: THE MUSICAL is true to Stephen King’s original story. It’ll pull you in to the high school drama. It’ll make you remember your own teenage angst and hopes. And just when you start to believe ‘it does get better,‘ it’ll dump pig’s blood on you."
Splash Magazine - Somewhat Recommended
"... Worse yet, Carrie’s book remains badly written. The original musical must’ve been really atrocious because in this “updated” version there are literally no shortages of bad stereotypes, corny jokes, and awkward dialogue exchanges that will undoubtedly produce many eye-rolls and heavy sighs in the audience. Carrie: the Musical is certainly not high art and it really shouldn’t pretend like it is.”
