Carrie: The Musical had a live production on Nov.15-17 at the Skyline College theater in Building 1. The musical was based on the horror story by Stephen King, and it was not intended for audiences under 13 as it portrays violent themes. 

The musical is about a teenage outsider, Carrie White, who learns she has telekinetic abilities, and possesses the power to wreak havoc on those who tormented her. In the musical, Carrie is constantly bullied for being weak and unattractive, lowering her self-esteem. To make things worse, her fanatically religious mother wants to make sure no one spoils her child. When senior prom comes around, Carrie is unwilling to go, until Tommy Ross asks Carrie out to prom. Overjoyed, Carrie prepares herself for prom and even stands against her mother, who forbids her from going. During prom, when Carrie finally thought she was fitting in with her peers, pig blood was dumped on her, and in the same moment, students started laughing, making Carrie snap and kill everyone in prom with her telekinetic powers. At home, she was confronted by her mother who tried to kill her, but Carrie kills her first, before destroying the house and perishing with it. Some time later, the only survivor of the school, Sue, has a nightmare of a dead Carrie reaching up from under the dirt to grab her, making her scream as her mother tries comforting her.

Student actor Martin Angelo Ramirez de Gardena, said he enjoyed playing his roles as the interrogator and a background student.

“The interrogator was mostly serious… while the student was… more fun with their movements and expressions,” Ramierez said. “They both have their pros and cons, which is fun to do.”

When asked about the environment of the cast, Ramierez said that they were comfortable as they had experience working with each other, the only change being the new director Nicole Odell.

“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t even have this full musical in the first place,” Ramierez said.

Student actor Beth Cosgrove, said she played the bully’s secondary best friend Norma, and that6 it was a fun process getting to find her own way of acting as Norma that creates the kind of memorable character you love to hate and laugh at. 

“Being an adamant horror lover, I was actually so incredibly excited to be a part of such a historic scene, and it was pretty fun practicing how to fake my fear and death sequence,” Cosgrove said. “The only intense thing about it was how close I was each night to slipping in the puddle of blood.” 

Cosgrove said that her favorite part of every show she’s been in is how she is able to witness each actor create their character, and how her own impacts her fellow actors and the audience members.

“It truly is what makes me want to keep pursuing theater and why all those sleepless nights during tech and the shows itselves are worth it,” Cosgrove said.

She thanks everyone who came to see the show and her castmates.

“I will always cherish the time we’ve spent working on this and what a gorgeous production it turned out to be because of that, much love,” Cosgrove said.