For many reasons, “Carrie: The Musical” is a challenge to stage. Even the title startles you. How do you turn Stephen King’s bloody gothic-horror novel into a musical? And yet, director Josh Tull guides a large cast in bringing the show to life at the Old Academy Playhouse.

Most already know the story from the novel and film. Carrie White is caught in the pincers of a dual victimization. At home, her religio-fanatic mother demands misogynistic piety, while at Chamberlain High School, she is the scapegoated misfit. None of her tormentors grasps the lurking danger of Carrie’s emerging telekinetic powers until they push her over the edge.

As Carrie, Katie Poliero holds your attention. She has some of the strawberry blond winsomeness and vulnerability of Sissy Spacek in the movie version. At the same time, Poliero radiates joy when Carrie sees a path to acceptance, and a singing voice that is affecting in its frailty.

Stage manager Hannah Leifheit has her hands full in marshaling some 15 actors on and offstage, along with expediting the many costume and prop changes. Most of the key characters in “Carrie” are women, and standout performances in the nemesis roles give the show special energy.

Annie Hnatko plays Carrie’s mother, Margaret White, a woman locked into obsessional beliefs. But in Hnatko’s hands she is not contemptible; Carrie truly is the love of Margaret’s life. Hnatko brings operatic power to her songs, and in the duet “Evening Prayers,” mother and daughter share a moment of reconciliation that is both musically beautiful and deeply moving.

The other key nemesis is Chris, the bitchy queen bee of Chamberlain High, played by Alyssia Sims with nasty flounce. In the long song, “The World According to Chris,” the teenager shares her worldview: “Guess what, ever since the world began/Same plot, everyone’s been dumping on their fellow man/ pounding people they feel better than/...”

Other performers help give the show a spine. Christie Fischer stars as Miss Gardner, the gym teacher who continually ties herself up in knots. Kristina Vesta plays Sue, the only high schooler with an empathetic streak. Tommy (Michael Eddy Harvey) and Billy (Zac Bernauer) are effective boyfriend figures.

Director Tull and his company invest vast energy into this production. Carson Long and Katie Sillitti choreograph multiple high school ensemble scenes that enliven the stage, and Steve Hnatko’s light design underscores dramatic beats in the storyline. The Gore/Pitchford score is heavily declarative, but there are moments of musical intensity.

“Carrie: The Musical” has a troubled history. Premiering in 1988, it was a notorious Broadway bust, running for only five performances. With music by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Pitchford and a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, the same team re-wrote the show, modifying the story focus and changing many songs. Old Academy uses the revised version, a modest Off-Broadway hit in 2012.

Is “Carrie” a narrative about bullying? Is the story a commentary on conflicting values in Christianity — the religiously engendered misogyny of Carrie’s mother as opposed to Sue’s need for atonement? While there is depth in King’s writing, the main idea in “Carrie” is to scare the pants off you.

As to that, a musical format cannot compete with the dramatic scariness of the novel and film media. The Old Academy “Carrie: The Musical” is exuberant, but a weak production of this same material could easily take you in a campy, so-bad-it’s-good direction.

Old Academy Players is located at 3544 Indian Queen Lane. “Carrie: The Musical” will run through May 10. Tickets available at 215-843-1109 or online.