It was just a screamfest, a thriller-horror with gore when the Brian de Palma movie “Carrie” was released in 1976. After 37 years, particularly in Philippine theater, the musical “Carrie,” staged by Atlantis Productions, also focuses on bullying.
President Benigno Aquino III who signed Republic Act 10627 or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013 last Sept. 12 to answer the increasing number of bullying incidents in the country, all the more makes the musical “Carrie” relevant to watch. And its female lead, Mikkie Bradshaw, agrees with the more important message of the musical because she herself was a victim of bullying in school.
“I myself went through bullying as a child. I went through a very awkward phase and I was the butt of a lot of jokes,” she recalled. “It started when I was about 9 years old up until I was 14.”
Mikkie described her past self as being fat, with lots of pimples and having bad hair. Her being a “missionary kid” was partly one of the reasons she was bullied.
If her story sounded like fiction or something that people see only in movies like “Carrie” or teleseryes, Mikkie stressed that it happened to her while she and her family were living in Butuan.
“We have boys in school and the boys were usually the problem. In my coed school the girls were always nice to me but the boys were always the problem. They were quite vicious,” shared Mikkie.
She explained further, “And another thing is, naturally, my family, we were curvy people, so I developed sooner than the other girls. So at 10 years old I had big boobs. You know the boys would try to do stuff and would bully me to doing stuffs. They would lock me inside bathrooms with other guys…it was also a stage you’d discover that you like boys and instead of reciprocating anything they were mean to me. They were terrible to me especially one boy whom I have the biggest crush on was the meanest talaga. He called me cave troll, ogre, shrek!”
If there’s a good side to being bullied in her childhood, it’s the musical “Carrie” where she is starring in. According to her, she gets to “bring” her bad experiences to her character.
“It’s difficult because it’s not necessarily something I want to relive,” admitted Mikkie. “The feeling is not something pleasant but I guess it helps me also to kind of have some kind of closure in that chapter of my life. I’ve addressed that and now that I have a better understanding of why it happened and how it happened and how it made me feel. Now I can use it to bring it on the stage and bring it to Carrie’s character because now I’m a very different character.”
Also in the cast of Atlantis Productions’ “Carrie” are award-winning musical theatre actress Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Markki Stroem, Yanah Laurel, Shiela Valderrama-Martinez, Jill Peña, Mako Alonso, Jamie Wilson, Garie Concepcion, Johann Dela Fuente, Nel Gomez, Lilette Lorenzana, Kim Molina and Bibo Reyes.
As for “Carrie’s” message on bullying, Mikkie said, “Now beyond being a thrill and fantastic piece of art it’s now a comment on something very serious, important. So definitely it’s also conveying a message and definitely it helps gives a voice to victims of bullying. The message doesn’t get lost even with the horror.”
“Carrie” is directed by Bobby Garcia, who marks 20 years of directing this year. For him, “Carrie” was a dream come true.
“It is a musical that I have been a fan of for 25 years. I have been working closely with the writers of the musical who have been so generous and supportive of our production. It is a beautifully tragic retelling of the Cinderella story with an amazing Broadway pop score. We have assembled a fantastic cast and I can’t wait for audiences to see Mikkie Bradshaw’s breakout performance,” he expressed.
“Carrie” is ongoing until Oct. 6, 2013 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.
‘Carrie’ lead reveals getting bullied in school
Source: Mb.com.ph (September 21, 2013 at 11:44AM)
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