Interview: Carey Sharpe Goes Dark in her BLOOD/LOVE

A new popera, Carey Sharpe and Dru DeCaro's Blood/Love opens October 2, 2024 ( with previews beginning September 26th) at The Crimson. Daniel LeClaire directs the cast which includes: Dru, Carey, and doing double duty as choreographers Jonathan Platero and Oksano Platero.

 Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Carey!

What initially inspired you and Dru to create Blood/Love? Watching a late-night horror movie?

Ha, no, not at all. What inspired it was my love of Halloween and hosting over the top Halloween parties. Back in October 201,9 we decided to throw a really elaborate vampire party for Halloween, complete with some original music (written by a totally different group of musicians in my hometown, I wasn’t involved with the music at that point) and a full fashion show. Attendees were asked to come dressed in “vampire black tie” and it was basically a swanky party with a plotline - at the end of the evening someone was selected to be “turned” into a vampire as part of the end of the show. It was very well-received, and I decided I wanted to build it out into more of an actual show. Unfortunately, soon after COVID struck, and the group I was working with decided to pivot to working in film, but I still wanted to develop a live show, so I started looking for a new group to collaborate with.  

What cosmic forces brought you, Dru, Erin Boehme and Adam “Snake” Kobylarz together for this project? 

This is what brought me to seek out Erin, who had recently moved back to our hometown in Wisconsin.  We were all stuck and trying to figure out what to do during the shutdowns - so I asked her if she’d be interested in collaborating on some music with me, not necessarily for the show but just to test the waters on working together. She had a few producers in mind to help us on that end, as both of us are singers/songwriters not music producers, and she had worked with Dru in Los Angeles when she had lived there about a decade prior. So we flew out to L.A. and met Dru and one of his producing partners, Snake, and instantly hit it off and wrote a song that first night that eventually became kind of the theme song of the show, Prey.  

What is your three-line pitch for Blood/Love?

Blood/Love is a sexy night out where you are immersed in the seductive underworld of the modern-day vampire. You are surrounded by incredible music, dancing, and cocktails. The show moves all around the club, so the audience really becomes a part of the world we have created.  

Which character in Blood/Love do you most relate to? Anzick?

Valerie is basically my alter ego - she is a manifestation of a part of my personality and story that I get to process by bringing her to life on stage. A lot of the songs were written directly about things happening in my personal life and that was a really cathartic process and one of the main reasons why I continue to play that role - Valerie really IS me, finding myself again as a middle-aged woman. We’ve all faced heartbreak in many forms and struggle to find our purpose in life, so I think Valerie’s plight is really relatable to a lot of people. And don’t we all wish we were vampires and live forever? I would certainly freeze myself at this age if I could, I love being 41 and feeling like I’m finally really fully coming into my own.   

You know the saying ‘careful what you wish for.’ Have you ever made a wish that you regretted making?

Honestly, no. Everything is meant to be in this life, and we grow from each misstep even more than when we make the “right” decisions.  

Do you like horror movies?

No, they give me terrible nightmares!  I can’t even watch the previews! 

You played two sold-out concerts of Blood/Love at Joe’s Pub at the beginning of this year. Did any audience reaction take you by surprise? 

Since that was really just a concert version of the show on a small stage that limited our production capabilities, it was exciting seeing the audience so impacted by JUST the music. It’s obviously so integral to the show, there is very little dialogue and it really is intended to be more of a modern style opera (hence why we call it a rock popera). People were dancing in their seats one minute and crying the next, which is probably my wildest dream come true for the show - that we really move people with the emotion and meaning that we put into these songs.  

Was anything you learned from those concerts repurposed into the current production of Blood/Love?

To just keep leaning into the music - it’s where the magic is!  

Do you have plans for Blood/Love to be performed in a Broadway theatre? Or do you want to keep your production more in the interactive nightclub atmosphere?

I would love to do both, find a way to bring our immersive experience to a Broadway stage. I absolutely love musical theater - I saw my first show, CATS, in London’s West End in the early 90’s and I’ve been hooked ever since. But I think we all know musical theater needs some fresh perspective and I really believe we can create that with Blood/Love.  

Any plans for bookings after your Los Angeles run?

Nothing set in stone yet, but we have a few tentative options that I can’t divulge quite yet!

Is there another show percolating in your creative brain?

I love all things Disney and would love to write a family friendly Disney musical someday, but right now I wear a lot of hats with Blood/Love, plus I’m a mom with two young children so that’s my focus for the moment.

What’s in the near future for Carey Sharpe? 

Heading to L.A. in just a few days to start rehearsals for the show. We are thrilled to bring Blood/Love to Hollywood!

Thank you again, Carey! I look forward to meeting your family of vampires.

For Blood/Love tickets through November 2, 2024: click on the button below:

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