ETSU students are leading behind-the-scenes production work for “Carrie: The Musical,” running April 15-19 at the Martin Center.
When audiences watch the pivotal prom scene unfold for Carrie White during East Tennessee State University's production of “Carrie: The Musical,” they'll witness the result of months of meticulous planning by students who don’t appear onstage.
Dallas Lindsay, Emily Jarrett and Molly Blackburn are part of the behind-the-scenes team bringing one of musical theater's most visceral stories to the stage April 15-19. As assistant director, assistant stage manager/safety coordinator and acting coach, respectively, they've spent weeks ensuring that spectacle and substance work together.
"Everyone, when you think of ‘Carrie,’ you think of the blood," said Lindsay. "There's a high expectation of what we're going to do with it, and we're doing it in a way that doesn't disappoint."
But technical precision isn't the only challenge. "Carrie" explores adolescence, isolation, cruelty and the consequences of bullying. Such themes require careful handling onstage and off.
Balancing darkness with care
Blackburn, the production's acting coach, developed character worksheets to help students separate themselves from the cruel characters they portray.
"Being able to have a tangible way to separate who my character is on paper from who I am in real life has been really helpful," Blackburn said. "You're still able to step away."
Lindsay emphasized the importance of finding balance during rehearsals.
"It's a really heavy show. Staying in that is just very hard. We find ways to lighten up the mood in very dark situations."
Jarrett, handling safety coordination for a production featuring telekinetic destruction, sees the work as essential to telling the story responsibly.
A message that matters
For all three students, the heart of "Carrie" isn't the horror. For them, there’s a key question: What does it cost to be kind?
"Just because something looks a certain way doesn't mean it is that way," Lindsay said. "You don't know everybody's story. Don't judge a book by its cover."
The production explores how cruelty compounds and how one moment of kindness, or its absence, can change someone's trajectory forever.
"As dark of a show as it is, the main takeaway is kindness," Lindsay said. "Kindness first."
Tickets and show information
"Carrie: The Musical" runs April 15-19 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. The production includes strong language, loud noises and strobe effects. Viewer discretion is advised.
The Bert C. Bach Theatre at the Martin Center offers an intimate setting where audiences experience the power of live performance up close, creating the kind of connection that defines great regional theater.
Tickets are available through the Martin Center. The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, an important center for cultural activity in Appalachia.
Learn more about the ways ETSU enriches the region at etsu.edu/our-region.
