'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County"

Pretty self-explanatory
FAVEHOUR
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'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County"

Post by FAVEHOUR »

This from an article on John Mellencamp in the current Rolling Stone:



" The two (Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett, "his producer") were already deep into another album in progess-"Ghost Brothers of Darkwood Country", a "radio play" (Burnett's term) written by the singer with author Stephen King and featuring guest vocalists such as Elvis Costello and Neko Case-...."


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And No Coffee Table
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by And No Coffee Table »

This has apparently been in the works for a long time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Brot ... and_County
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/bo ... r-the-dome

(...)
Also on King's plate: writing the origin story for a DC Vertigo comic called American Vampire ("It's set in the West. It's a strange medium ... almost more like music than it is a novel or visual arts") and The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a long-simmering musical with John Mellencamp. What's its status?
"It's there ... it's in the editing studio right now. We've got a lot of people from the music world who agreed to do parts – Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Roseanne Cash ... it should be like an old-time radio show and then it's scheduled to go on stage in Atlanta next fall."
(...)
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

My wife was a 'dancing girl' in one of his first videos. (Mellencamp that is)
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by bronxapostle »

let's see it SHEEP!!!!!!!!!
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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johnfoyle
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.startribune.com/entertainmen ... nchO7DiUss

Q & A: Stephen King

November 18, 2009

(extract)

Q You wrote a musical?

A John Mellencamp brought me the idea. It's one of those local legends from a town where he lived. Two brothers had a falling-out in a cabin, one had murdered the other and killed himself. People claimed, as they always do, that the cabin was haunted. I did a story about the ghosts and a later generation of brothers who dislike each other, and the father who wanted to tell them the consequences. It'll open in Atlanta, and there will be an audio version with Kris Kristofferson and Rosanne Cash. Elvis Costello plays the devil, which is typecasting.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

bambooneedle wrote:Not this one is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqJMbbfJ ... re=related

I should be so lucky
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by bronxapostle »

sheeptotheslaughter wrote:
bambooneedle wrote:Not this one is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqJMbbfJ ... re=related

I should be so lucky
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2009/12/ ... nd-county/

Image


December 15th, 2009

by larryfire

Update on Stephen King’s Musical: Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

John Mellencamp has virtually completed recording and “assembling” the “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” musical theater collaboration with Stephen King.

John and King have edited the initial three-hour program down to two hours and 10 minutes—with a bit more editing still to come before producer T-Bone Burnett completes the tracks. When finished, the recording will be available in a novel book package containing the full text, two discs featuring the entire production of the spoken word script and songs performed by the cast, and a third CD of the songs only.

The story involves domestic turmoil, and is played by a stellar cast led by Kris Kristofferson, in the role of Joe, the father, and Elvis Costello, as the satanic character The Shape. Rosanne Cash plays Monique, the mother, with the sons enacted by Will Daily (Frank), Dave Alvin (Jack), Alvin’s real-life brother Phil Alvin (Andy) and John (Drake).

Sheryl Crow stars as Jenna and Neko Case is Anna, with boxing legend Joe Frazier playing caretaker Dan Coker and Stephen King himself in the role of Uncle Steve. The narrator is “24” star Glenn Morshower.

John stressed that the three-disc package is not a traditional audio book, but offers an experience more akin to listening to an old radio show with music; he further emphasized the challenge inherent in making such a project work.

John characterized the music as “down-home,” with the earthiness and feeling of the acoustic folk-country blues of the 1930s. He hopes to have the book/CD set out before the musical opens next September at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

Hot damn, that sounds cool.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

Fron a interview with Rosanne Cash-

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-01-05/ ... n-a-minor/

January 5th 2010

Will we ever see you acting?

I just did a part in a Stephen King radio play, The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. I played the mother, Elvis Costello played Satan, and Kris Kristofferson played my husband.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.seemagazine.com/article/musi ... lvis-0121/

SEE, Jan. 10

(extract)


SEE: What is “The Shape”?


Elvis
: “The Shape” is the name of a character that I’m portraying in a piece which is being constructed. It’s an unusual form. It’s a sort of a radio play, as it were, except it’ll be on record. It’s a collaboration between John Mellencamp and Stephen King, produced by my friend T-Bone Burnett, and a number of singers, some of whom are friends like Roseanne Cash and people that I’ve recently met through Spectacle like Neko Case, Cheryl Crow, likewise, and Kris Kristofferson. There are actually a number of people that have been on Spectacle but that’s purely, completely coincidental. But we happen to be all characters in this story, and “The Shape” is this sort of demonic, satanic I suppose, demonic rather than satanic, the provocateur character that nobody sees but whispers in everybody’s ear. Typecast again. But it’s interesting to do. I think some people got hold of the wrong end of the stick and imagined it was going to be a Broadway musical, but I think it would be pretty tough to imagine all those people showing up for Broadway.

SEE: A little, yeah.


Elvis:
But this is another way to do it, I think it’s an interesting way to do it, get people into the studio and record. It’s kind of like a collage almost of dramatic performances, and a lot of the songs are written in character voices. I’ve written a number of songs where I’m not that person that’s singing, there’s even reprehensible characters in songs where I wouldn’t want to be that person. But here I’ve got a little more licence to go a bit further with that, because it’s somebody else’s character that’s been created and I have to sort of try and bring it to life in some way that made sense to me and I hoped that they liked it. People are trying different things. The record company relationship with artists is less dominant than it used to be. People are able to sort of try some different forms without being worried about losing radio play in Idaho. Nobody cares about that anymore. If there’s a good station in Idaho, then they can have a direct conversation with you. If there isn’t, then you’re not losing anything by doing something that’s interesting to you. It’s probably a good idea to give it a try, see what happens.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.freep.com/article/20100128/E ... er-Rosanne

Jan. 28, 2010

Rosanne Cash

(extract)

Q: What can you tell us about your involvement in the multimedia musical "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," which features John Mellencamp, T-Bone Burnett and Stephen King?


A: I think they asked me to play the part of the mother because John Mellencamp and I had just been guests together on Elvis Costello's show "Spectacle." ... Maybe John liked what I did on the show and thought of me for the play? I've known T-Bone for a hundred years -- maybe he had something to do with it. In any case, it was a lot of fun. I love working with T-Bone, and I got to lay on a thick Southern accent and say curse words I've never used. I love the story -- it's really scary and rich and real.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

The plot thickens -

http://www.stephenking.com/news.html

Clearing Up the Ghost Brothers Confusion

January 12th, 2010 11:53:27 am


John Mellencamp’s recent characterization of his hugely ambitious “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” musical theater collaboration with Stephen King as “very complicated” has been borne out by media confusion over the nature of the project.

In an effort to clarify, John, King and producer T Bone Burnett are finishing up the recording process for the deluxe three-CD set featuring the full text of the libretto and a recording of the music and script. The CD components involve the entire production—music and dialog—on two discs, with a single disc containing just the songs.

The set is still on track for release prior to the musical’s scheduled opening next September at Atlanta’s Alliance Theater. As has been reported, the production team has assembled a stellar cast to record the songs, including Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Dave and Phil Alvin. The casting of the Atlanta stage presentation is also underway.

Meanwhile, Burnett continues to record the actors who voice the speaking parts for the “Ghost Brothers” recordings.

As John said last month, “It’s hard enough to make a play with music work—even when you can see the actors singing. But here we have something that’s become way out of fashion: An audio program that allows the listener the opportunity to use his or her imagination!”


http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta-ev ... 29966.html

Cleage, ‘Bring It On' premieres at Alliance Theatre in ‘10-'11

February 26, 2010


By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Six world premieres, including Atlanta playwright Pearl Cleage's romantic comedy "The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years" and "Bring It On: The Musical," are highlights of the Alliance Theatre's 2010-11 season.


The just-announced lineup also includes the Tony-winning "August: Osage County" and "Sammy & Me," a biography-musical about Sammy Davis Jr.

The 11-production season finds the Alliance in a particularly singin', dancin' mood, including five musicals, two of them comprising the Alliance Children's Theatre series.

One musical that didn't make the cut, at least for 2010-'11, was the Stephen King-John Mellencamp collaboration "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County."

Several music, theater and King-related sites have reported in recent weeks that the collaboration, which the Alliance originally announced for its 2008-'09 season and then delayed in April 2008, would be part of the new lineup. In a January post, King's official site reported that the show was to open September, and detailed the recording of an accompanying three-CD set of the entire script, music and songs by artists including Elvis Costello, Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow and Neko Case. "The casting of the Atlanta stage presentation is also underway," the King blog reported.

But High spokesman Robert Saxon dismissed such reports, saying, "The Alliance Theatre has never officially announced ‘Ghost Brothers of Darkland County' as a musical that would be produced in the 2010-11 season."
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

Sverre posts to listserv -

27 Feb. '10



Liv Ullmann reveals in today´s edition of Norwegian newspaper VG that John Mellencamp and Stepehn King have asked her to direct the stage version of "Ghost Brothers" . Apparently, Mellencamp saw her version of "A streetcar named desire" with Cate Blanchett in NY recently, and was totally blown away. Ullmann is returning to the Norwegian theatre as Mary Tyrone in "Long days journey into night" this autumn, so Mellencamp & King have agreed to wait for her until next year. Elvis directed by Ullmann ? Sure, I buy that.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.variety.com/article/VR111801 ... f=bd_legit

Tue., Mar. 16, 2010

Ullmann touts 'Darkland' gig
Actress-director says she'll direct Mellencamp-King musical


By GORDON COX


Liv Ullmann is set to direct "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," the forthcoming tuner by John Mellencamp and Stephen King, according to the actress-helmer.

Ullmann announced her attachment to the project on a radio program in Sweden.

There has been no official confirmation of the gig, and the timeline for the project remains up in the air. The musical was originally announced for the 2008-09 season at Alliance Theater in Atlanta but was later postponed indefinitely.

Although King's website mentions a September bow for "Ghost Brothers" at the Alliance, a rep for the theater said no official plan to stage the musical has been confirmed.

Ullman, who frequently appeared in front of the camera under the direction of Ingmar Bergman, recently helmed the Sydney Theater Company production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." Toplined by Cate Blanchett, that staging had a sellout run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music earlier this season.

In January a starry recording of "Ghost Brothers" was announced for a forthcoming release. Produced by T Bone Burnett, the package -- including three CDs and a book -- will feature Kris Kristofferson, Elvis Costello, Roseanne Cash, Neko Case, Sheryl Crow and Mellencamp, among others.

Plot of "Ghost Brothers" centers on the legend of a 1957 tragedy that has haunted a small Mississippi town.

No release date for the recording has yet been announced.

(Gunnar Rehlin in Stockholm contributed to this report.)
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.billboard.com/news/mellencam ... 3392.story

May 24, 2010

(extract)

Mellencamp is also moving forward on "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," his stage musical collaboration with Stephen King. The two recently hired a new director, award-winning actress Liv Ullman, who plans to start revising the script with King in January and work through 2011 on the production. Meanwhile, Burnett has been recording an album of Mellencamp's songs for the project with Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Ryan Bingham and the Blasters' Phil and Dave Alvin voicing the characters -- but not Mellencamp. "I got fired," he says with a laugh. "I'm spotty at best."

No release dates have been determined for any of the "Ghost Brothers..." projects.
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/201 ... 778893.txt


Mellencamp readies new CD, concert film, musical

Published: Friday, July 09, 2010

(extract)

Meanwhile, Mellencamp and Stephen King continue to work on their stage musical, "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County." The two recently hired a new director, award-winning actress Liv Ullman, who plans to start revising the script with King in January and work through 2011 on the production. Meanwhile, Burnett has been recording an album of Mellencamp's songs for the project with Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Ryan Bingham and the Blasters' Phil and Dave Alvin voicing the characters — but not Mellencamp.

"I got fired," he said with a laugh. "Whenever I talk to T-Bone, I go, 'Remember the time you fired me?' He goes, 'I didn't fire you — you quit.' I say, 'No, you fired me, man. I remember.' I'm spotty at best, I guess."
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.scenenewspaper.com/arts-ente ... r-had.html

David Alvin profile

3 Aug '10

(extract)

Alvin’s earlier band – The Blasters – was often described as having a similar versatility. Formed in 1979 in their hometown of Downey, Calif., The Blasters consisted of Alvin on guitar, his older brother Phil on vocals and guitar, John Bazz on bass and Bill Bateman on drums. Alvin left in 1986 to join X, then the Knitters before going on to a solo career.

The brothers have worked together occasionally since then, but not enough for one fan who supposedly created a high profile project just to bring Dave and Phil Alvin back together again.


“I’d tell you more, but I’m not at liberty,” Alvin said. But he did mention that the fan is horror writer and music fan Stephen King and that the project is a musical play.

“Phil and I are not actors, but I think part of his reason for writing it was to reunite Phil and me, or so I was told,” Alvin said. “It’s showbiz. I don’t believe everything. But I think it’s supposed to out this year.”


(A quick online search revealed that the project is called Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, and ws created by King and John Mellencamp. Along with the Alvin brothers and Mellencamp, the cast includes Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Sheryl Crow, and is produced by T-Bone Burnett.)
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Re: EC to Guest on Mellencamp Album

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http://www.freep.com/article/20101114/E ... his-new-CD

Nov. 14, 2010

John Mellencamp


(extract)

Q: What's the status of this multimedia collaboration between you and author Stephen King, "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County?"


A: We've made a recording of all the songs, including ones sung by Kris Kristofferson, who plays the father; Elvis Costello, who plays the Devil; Rosanne Cash, who's the mother, and Sheryl Crow, who plays a ghost. They sang all the songs and T Bone produced the music.

It's the "Sgt. Pepper's" of Americana music. We did the dialogue and that includes Meg Ryan and Matthew McConaughey. We're putting it all together and are trying to get this staged in Atlanta during the spring or fall of next year. Liv Ullman, who was Ingmar Bergman's muse, will be directing. ...

This is a hell of an undertaking; just getting everybody together to read and sing is like putting kitties in a bag. Steve and I started working on it 10 years ago.
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Re: 'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland Cou

Post by johnfoyle »

http://www.californiachronicle.com/arti ... /152436985

18 November 2010


John Mellencamp


(extract)

T Bone and I and Stephen King are working on a musical. All the music has been recorded. We had Kris Kristofferson, Neko Case, Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, all singing different characters' roles. I wrote all the songs, 17 songs. (T Bone) produced. It sounds like the "Sgt. Pepper" of Americana to me. Forget about the play, just the songs, the way these people sing them. I'm sitting there listening to it and thinking, "Did Rosanne Cash just kill that song or what!" The play is called "Ghost Brothers of Darkling County," about two brothers who hate each other. If you could imagine Tennessee Williams meets Stephen King. They're recording the dialogue now and we're putting out a record of the entire show before it comes out.

Right now, Elvis Costello, Meg Ryan, Kris Kristofferson and Matthew McConaughey are doing table readings like an old radio play. So you'll get all the dialogue, all the sound effects, and all the songs sung by different people so you can follow the story. The CD will come out ahead of time, and then Liv Ullmann will be directing the play. So many people are involved, it's taken a long time. But we don't have to worry about money or record companies _ it's our own money we're putting into it, so we said, let's just make something beautiful. Now we don't have to listen to some guy from a record company tell us I don't hear any hits on this thing. Did I tell you I really hate record companies?
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Re: 'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland Cou

Post by johnfoyle »

Here we go again with this -

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/14 ... in-Atlanta

Stephen King-John Mellencamp Musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County Will Materialize in Atlanta

By Adam Hetrick

31 Mar 2011

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the world-premiere Stephen King-John Mellencamp Southern gothic musical, has been added to the Alliance Theatre's 2011-2012 season.

The musical was previously announced as part of the Atlanta theatre company's 2008-2009 season, but was postponed. A spring 2010 report stated that Academy Award nominee Liv Ullmann would helm the production.

The Alliance has now revealed that artistic director Susan V. Booth will direct the musical, which will premiere April 4-May 13, 2012, as the final production of the upcoming season.

Ghost Brothers has a score by Mellencamp and a book by horror novelist King. T Bone Burnett will musical direct.


Here's how the Alliance bills the premiere: "In the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi in 1957, a terrible tragedy took the lives of two brothers and a beautiful young girl. During the next forty years, the events of that night became the stuff of local legend. But legend is often just another word for lie. Joe McCandless knows what really happened; he saw it all. The question is whether or not he can bring himself to tell the truth in time to save his own troubled sons, and whether the ghosts left behind by an act of violence will help him – or tear the McCandless family apart forever."

Burnett was also involved in a three-CD recording of Ghost Brothers. The yet-to-be-released album was reportedly produced like a radio play, with a full book of text, as well as two CDs that include all dialogue and songs and a third CD with only the music. A release date has not been announced.


The cast for the recording included Kris Kristofferson in the role of the father, Joe; with Elvis Costello as the satanic character, The Shape; Roseanne Cash as the mother, Monique; and Will Daily (Frank), Dave Alvin (Jack), Phil Alvin (Andy) and Mellencamp (Drake) as the sons. Sheryl Crow was Jenna, Neko Case was Anna, with boxing legend Joe Frazier as caretaker Dan Coker and novelist King in the role of Uncle Steve. Glenn Morshower served as the narrator.

The Alliance has also announced additions and complete dates to its previously announced season. Newly added are God of Carnage (Jan. 11-Feb. 5, 2012); Meg Miroshnik's The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Feb. 3-26, 2012); and Stephen Jeffreys' I Just Stopped By to See the Man (March 9-April 8, 2012).

The season will also include Into the Woods (Aug. 31-Oct. 2); Tovah Feldshuh in Golda's Balcony (Oct. 12-Nov. 6); Broke (Sept. 23-Oct. 23); Sex and the Second City (Nov. 11-Dec. 18); The Real Tweenagers of Atlanta (Oct. 29-Nov. 13); and The Wizard of Oz (Feb. 25-March 11, 2012).

For tickets phone (404) 733-5000 or visit AllianceTheatre.

http://alliancetheatre.org/
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Re: 'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland Cou

Post by johnfoyle »

http://alliancetheatre.org/Alliance/Our ... eason.aspx

Alliance Theatre
1280 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309


(404) 733-4650 (Main Line)
(404) 733-4625 (Fax)
(404) 733-5000 (Box Office)
(404) 733-4600 (Season Tickets)
(404) 733-4690 (Group Sales)

e-mail - allianceinfo@woodruffcenter.org


Ghost Brothers of Darkland County


April 4 – May 13 2012


Music and Lyrics by John Mellencamp
Book by Stephen King
Directed by Susan V. Booth
Music Direction by T Bone Burnett



In keeping with the Alliance’s tradition of producing new American musicals, the company will produce the world premiere of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a chilling new musical with music and lyrics by John Mellencamp and book by Stephen King, as the closing show of the Alliance Stage Series season set for spring, 2012. One of the world's most popular authors and one of America’s most honored musicians have created a riveting Southern gothic musical fraught with mystery, tragedy, and ghosts of the past, along with a roots and blues-tinged score that is sure to leave audiences asking for more. Alliance Artistic Director Susan V. Booth directs, with musical direction provided by legendary producer T Bone Burnett.

In the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi in 1957, a terrible tragedy took the lives of two brothers and a beautiful young girl. During the next forty years, the events of that night became the stuff of local legend. But legend is often just another word for lie. Joe McCandless knows what really happened; he saw it all. The question is whether or not he can bring himself to tell the truth in time to save his own troubled sons, and whether the ghosts left behind by an act of violence will help him – or tear the McCandless family apart forever.


http://www.accessatlanta.com/AccessAtla ... 57296.html

Q&A with ‘Darkland' writer Stephen King: ‘It's a Gothic thing, so why not make it a Southern Gothic?'


By Howard Pousner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The horror master professed that he was a little frightened to be facing a full house at the Alliance Theatre's "Taste of the Season" event on Tuesday night.


"Sometimes people ask what scares me," Stephen King said during the Alliance's 2011-12 season preview. "Um, these situations."

The crowd howled and the famed author, who didn't seem that nervous to start with, loosened up as he recounted the genesis of "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," his musical with John Mellencamp that will receive its delayed world premiere at the Alliance next April. He even did a pitchfork-sharp imitation of Mellencamp's Midwestern rasp as he recalled the singer-songwriter approaching him more than a decade ago to collaborate on the chilling story he'd heard after visiting an Indiana lakeside cabin he was thinking about buying.

"The Shining" author tells it better, of course. But in short, "Darkland" is about two teen brothers who drank too much at a dance, drove to the cabin with a girl and drank some more, then had a gun accident that led to a fatal wreck in a car speeding to the hospital. As in most King tales, the deaths are merely part of the creepy backdrop in a dissection of the flaws of human relations.

We later met up with the strikingly genial, sandpaper-voiced writer.

Q: How long have you known John Mellencamp?

A: I've known him since we started working on this. Basically we shared an agent and we didn't know it because it's from CAA [Creative Artists Agency] and they keep really quiet. They're almost like psychiatrists. John was talking with my agent and said, "I'm really looking for somebody to write the book for this thing, someone who's good with scary like Stephen King." And my agent said, "I agent Stephen."

John came down to Florida and told me the idea and I said I'd like to try. Because it's something different.

Q: Is the story that he told you that led to writing the musical true?


A: John Ford in "Liberty Valance" said, "If they give you truth and legend, print the legend." We printed the legend. I don't know how much of it's true. You know what? There's a story like that about every house, every hotel.

Q: Why did the setting move to Mississippi?

A: Because John loves Tennessee Williams and he really liked the idea of it being some sort of a Southern-feeling thing, like Blanche DuBois and all that. And I love William Faulkner and I love stories about the South and it just seemed natural. It's a Gothic thing, so why not make it a Southern Gothic?

Q: How scary is it?

A: If it's staged the right way, with the right lights and the music, it could be pretty scary. It's not for kids, unless they've got the price of admission and then [King rubs his hands like Scrooge] it's, "Come on in, kids!"

Q: Is it hard to be scary in a musical?

A: John was really adamant that he wanted to use a small group. And I said, "Like blue jeans music?" And he said, "Yeah, yeah, we want to get away from all the strings and the high tenor voices and the sort of melodramatic thing." He wanted to do a kind of country rock sort of crossover, more like "Big River" than the opera.

He really wanted to do this thing about sibling rivalry. At first I saw the ghosts as almost comforting because we see them and the people in the story don't. But it turned out to be pretty scary. I don't have any real feeling like that because it's a musical, that it ought to be this, that or the other thing. It ought to be what it is. And John adapted his music to the story. It's great.

Q: Did he stay with the songs while you concentrated on the script or did you get in each other's wheelhouses?

A: Yeah, we did. John is not shy about telling anybody to change anything. I'm a little bit more shy. I did a 20- or 30-page treatment. And then we tinkered it out a bit. And then I did a script and I would put in, "Here's [where] a song [goes]. It should be about brotherly love or brotherly hate." John wrote the songs. And then my job was to go back after he'd done the demos and kind of build pockets for them, so there'd be transitions in and out. It was an interesting challenge.

Q: Do you feel like you'll be tinkering up to the premiere?


A: It's got to be pretty much done at this stage. Because John's got this other life where he's on tour all the time and I have to try to write a book this summer. I've got an idea for one but I'm going to have to tour [to promote] the book in the fall and I'll get down here for rehearsals. I'd love to be here for some of the casting, but it's really [Alliance artistic director and "Darkland" director] Susan Booth's baby at this point. And if Susan says I need this or I need that, I'll do what I can.

Q: The show was announced for the 2008-09 season. Why was it delayed?

A: Fired the director. He was really New York. John just didn't feel like it was working. John's a great guy. [The director] is a great guy. They just didn't see eye to eye and finally I got tired of being like the mediator.

Q: So you feel good about where you are now?

A: Yeah, real good. I love the Alliance. You know, it's been so long that we've been involved in this that it's easy [for "Darkland"] to get a little bit flat. But the readings are energizing.

Q: Did you have any say in the musicians for the soundtrack album (a two-CD set that's expected to be released this fall)?

A: John and I and [producer] T Bone [Burnett] got together in Nashville. And we talked about everybody from Kris Kristofferson, who's about 70, to Justin Bieber's kid brother. John knew some people I really admired, like Sheryl Crow, and I really pushed for Rosanne Cash. She's a beautiful singer. We both loved the idea of Elvis Costello.

Q: What's the ultimate goal for "Darkland?"


John always wanted to be on Broadway, see his name in lights on the Great White Way. And I'm not adverse to that. But my big thing about it is, like, one step at a time. Let's see if we can have success in Atlanta.

Ultimately what I wanted to do and what John wanted to do is kind of like the anti-"Spider-Man." We wanted to do a musical that had modest aspirations, modest casting, modest staging. Humble, but modest. And if that happens, I thought maybe we'll have some kind of a life, regional theater, community theater, that sort of thing. I'd love to see that happen.

In his own words: Stephen Kind recounts his first meeting with John Mellencamp about "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.
"

"He told me a story. He assured me that this story was true. He lives in Indiana, in Bloomington. His wife decided they were going to buy a cabin on the lake and they looked at a couple of places. They went by a nearby store and the proprietor said, ‘You know, that house is haunted.'

"And John said, ‘No what happened.'

"And the proprietor said that in the '50s there were two brothers, one 18 and 16, who were at a dance with a girl who was in between them. She was 17. They had a few drinks after the dance and decided they were going to go to the boys' parents' cabin by the lake, which was the one John was interested in buying. They went there and had a few more drinks. And the older brother dared the younger brother. There was a rifle in the house and he put an apple on top of his head and dared his younger brother to shoot it off. Well, the kid probably wouldn't have done it if he was sober, but he wasn't sober. So he took the rifle and he shot and instead of getting the apple, he hit his brother in the head. So the brother who had done the shooting and the girl were hysterical with terror, with fear. And they grabbed the older brother and put him in the car and drove out of there. About a half mile down the road, they were doing 80. The younger brother lost control, hit a tree and they were all killed.

"And John thought, I don't know if there are ghosts but there's a story in that. He came to me and said [King laughs] ‘We could do a musical on that!'

"I said, ‘Now John, it sure as hell won't be ‘My Fair Lady.'"
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Man out of Time
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Re: 'Elvis in Stephen King's "Ghost Brothers of Darkland Cou

Post by Man out of Time »

A press conference was held in Atlanta on 15 December 2011, involving Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T-Bone Burnett. Coverage is available to view and read here:

http://www.mellencamp.com/news.html?n_id=1501

The coverage focuses on the Alliance Theatre production (opening in April in Atlanta) and only one mention is made of any soundtrack album.

Amongst the press articles also on the Mellencamp.com website is one from Playbill.com which includes this:

"The musical was previously announced as part of the Atlanta theatre company's 2008-2009 season, but was postponed. Musical director Burnett was also involved in a three-CD recording of Ghost Brothers. The yet-to-be-released album was reportedly produced like a radio play, with a full book of text, as well as two CDs that include all dialogue and songs and a third CD with only the music. A release date has not been announced."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/15 ... in-Guarini

Amazon.com does not list the CD, so it is getting a little late for a release much prior to the theatrical premiere.

MOOT
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