“Covenant / Binding, undying, a gift and a curse / Won’t get what you desire / You’ll get what you deserve.”

Such is the theme at the heart of Blood/Love, the seductive and spine-tingling new pop opera currently spooking audiences at Theater 555 through May 10th.

Its story chronicles Valerie Bloodlove (Carey Renee Sharpe), a would-be Queen of the Underworld doomed to marry the devil, who rejects her destiny, and heads up to the world’s surface, thereby becoming the world’s first vampire. When she meets mortal Anzick, a mysterious musician who may be hiding his own secret, their lives become entangled and intertwined in ways these two bargainers wouldn’t even have believed themselves…. all to answer the question: How far would you go for the one you love?

Given that this sexy and sensual story came from the brain of Sharpe herself, we sat down with the cunning creator to discuss the origin of the piece, where she sees it headed next, the importance of immersive theater, and how life “beyond the pale” compares to portraying a Hell-bound vampire.

Have a look at her answers below... but beware the devil: he keeps his word.

Can you talk about your background? What was the impetus to pursue writing and performing in the first place? What inspired the switch from your pediatric nursing career?

I grew up in Wisconsin and was immersed in music from a very young age. I started classical violin when I was three, so music was always part of how I understood the world. But because I was born with congenital heart disease, I also grew up very close to medicine. That experience shaped me deeply and eventually led me into pediatric critical care.

I became an acute care nurse practitioner specifically working in pediatric and neonatal ICUs. I also earned a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins [Bloomberg School of Public Health]. That work was meaningful and intense. You are with families on some of the hardest days of their lives. It changes you, for sure.

After more than a decade in healthcare, I reached a point where I knew I needed to make space for the creative part of myself again. I had spent so many years caring for others that I needed to find my way back to myself. Blood/Love became that doorway.

Can you talk about what it’s like acting in the show? Was it critical for you to perform in the piece as well? What was behind that decision? And how has your writing informed you as a performer, if at all? 

Valerie is extremely personal to me and the songs are semi-biographical. The more we developed the piece, the more I realized she was a heightened version of questions I was asking in my own life: “What do you do when you’ve accomplished things, cared for people, built a life, and still feel something calling you?”

Performing as Valerie gives me permission to access a part of myself that I’m not, or wasn’t, always comfortable showing as Carey. I always say she’s my Lady Gaga (Laughs). She lets me sing my own songs from the comfort and power of a character.

And then, because I wrote her, I know where the emotional pressure points are. I can feel which moments are invented and which come from something real... and that makes the role both vulnerable and strangely freeing to perform.

Can you speak a bit about the history of the piece? What was the inspiration behind pursuing this topic? How has the piece changed or shifted in its development throughout the last six years? 

The impetus for the show began with a vampire ball I threw in 2019. It was part party, part fashion show, part music concert, part fantasy... and, essentially, what started as a glamorous, gothic, and sexy night out slowly became a full story about immortality, longing, reinvention, and the cost of desire. It opened me up this world that I just couldn’t stop thinking about... and haven’t!

Over six years, the piece has changed enormously. It has become less about vampires as a gimmick and more about what the vampire archetype allows us to explore: time, loneliness, power, love, mortality, regret, and the reality of getting what you wish for. Valerie is a thousand years old, but her ache is unmistakably human. She’s outlived empires and experienced so much of what the world has to offer… yet still feels a quiet void beneath it all. That became the heart of the story.

And why present it as a musical, and perhaps especially, in this pop/rock style? What does the element of music allow that would be lost if this were presented in a different medium, and how does music play into how we as an audience digest these topics? 

Music lets you go straight to the heart. With a story this heightened – with love, blood, lust, immortality, the Devil, heartbreak, and loneliness – it almost demands music. The pop-rock style felt natural because The Crimson is a vibrant, sexy nightclub asking for synths, guitars, big female vocals.... and songs that could feel like confessionals and arena anthems at the same time.

Also, Dru [DeCaro, my co-writer] and I came to this as musicians and artists, and not as traditional musical theater writers... which gave us permission to make something that sounds different. We wanted it to feel contemporary, emotional, and a little dangerous.

In your opinion, how is this production different from other works out there? Why should someone come to see it?

I never wanted this to feel like a traditional night at the theater. I wanted it to feel like an event, like you were going somewhere to experience something deep and different. I love design, fashion, architecture, old buildings, the ritual of getting dressed up, and the psychology of walking into a space and feeling transformed.

So, with Blood/Love, the lobby, the cocktail, the after-party, the nightclub world... it all matters. The story starts before the first line. You’re not just watching the Crimson, you’re walking into it. It isn’t just asking you to sit politely and watch. It invites you into a world, and hopefully, you feel like you’re part of it. It’s gothic and sexy and edgy and fun... but again, underneath that, it’s about something very real: the moment in life when you ask, “Is this enough? Am I still allowed to want more?”

Why do you think now is the perfect time for this show?

I think people are craving live experiences that feel communal, transportive, and a little cathartic. We’re all so isolated and tied to our screens. This show gives people permission to dress up, feel something fun that’s also, of course, deep and relatable, and be part of a wild ride for 83 minutes.

What draws you to these types of immersive theatre pieces? Why do you find them appealing? And why is it important for audiences to explore this form and other different types of theater like this?

I think audiences are hungry for an experience. They want something they can’t get at home. Immersive theater reminds us that live performance is alive because we are in the room together. Society is so isolated nowadays, and I find it important and refreshing to come together to experience art in person. That’s what it’s all about.

Can you talk about your collaboration with Hunter, and to that end, your co-writer Dru DeCaro as well. As a writer, how does that additional third-person perspective affect you, if at all?

As a writer, it can be hard to let other people into something so personal, but it’s also necessary. The right collaborators don’t take the dream away from you, they help you to see it from a different perspective.

Dru has been my brilliant partner and creative soulmate in writing the music of the show from the beginning. He brings this incredible pop, rock, production, and guitar-driven grit that helped define the sound of the show. He’s also a very deep and poetic thinker and loves the abstract, which I think pairs beautifully with the grounded emotion I bring to the table – he is truly the yin to my yang.

Hunter, on the other hand, came in with an extraordinary big picture vision and this genius theatrical mind. He understood, like I’ve been saying, that this could be more than a concert… more than a traditional musical. He saw the world of The Crimson almost immediately, and helped sharpen the storytelling…. the visuals… the technical creative elements such as lighting and illusions… you name it. And, in doing that, [sharpened] the audience experience. We built this collaboratively... and we’re not done yet.

Speaking of, what are your hopes for the next iteration of this piece? Where would you like to see it go next? 

I want the next iteration to keep deepening. Bigger doesn’t just mean more spectacle – it means higher stakes, more precision, more emotional clarity, more intimacy, more world-building.

I’d love to see Blood/Love continue to evolve into the fullest version of itself: a night out, a pop-rock theatrical event, and an emotional story about love, mortality, and reclaiming your power. Specifically, we have our sights set on London, and I think that’d be the perfect place for our next chapter.

To quote from the show, are humans boring? Would you rather be a vampire? 

Oh, I love this question. (Laughs). Humans are absolutely not boring. Humans are messy and fragile and ridiculous and emotional, which is what makes them so interesting.

Would I rather be a vampire? Maybe for a weekend. I would certainly enjoy the sexy wardrobe, the confidence, the nightlife, and eternal cheekbones. But forever is a long time. I think the fact that we don’t have forever is what makes life meaningful.

In the same vein, for whom or for what would you make a deal with the devil and why? 

Let me first say that I think the show is partly about realizing that the thing you think is worth selling your soul for might not be the thing that actually saves you. But if I were making a deal with the devil, it would probably be for the people I love. My children, my family… the people closest to me. Career dreams are powerful, but love is always the most meaningful... as this show explores as well.

Finally, what do you hope to instill in audiences as they come away from this piece? 

I hope people leave feeling entertained, of course. I want them to have fun and feel like they went somewhere sexy and strange and alive. But underneath all that, I hope they leave empowered, with the feeling that it’s never too late to want something else and go after your dreams. Valerie is immortal, but she is still searching. I think a lot of us are.

Blood/Love is a show for anyone who has ever felt like they were supposed to stay in one version of themselves, and then realized there might be another life waiting. For me, this has been a story about coming back to music, back to performance, and back to a dream I had put away for a long time. And if audiences leave feeling even a little more permission to chase their own [dream], that means everything to me.

Thumbnail Photo Credit: Justin Patterson

Blood/Love continues at Theater 555 (555 W. 42nd Street) through May 10th. For tickets and/or more information, click here.