Stephen King & John Mellencamp's GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY - HOLY CRAP! AMAZING CAST!

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 4:51pm

Stephen King and John Mellencamp's new musical GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY has announced preliminary casting and it may be the most A-list, star-studded cast ever. King himself is narrating the show live with the cast featuring Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Kris Kristofferson, Roseanne Cash and (boxer) Joe Frazier.

As a huge King fan, I've been hearing about this for years and years, but I could not be happier that it has finally come to fruition with this amazing ensemble. I hope it's fantastic! WOW!

P



GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY Updated On: 1/3/10 at 04:51 PM

[myshikobit]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:27pm

Holy ****.... I read about this when researching "Carrie".... sounds very "hit or miss", but I'm a huge King fan, and the project has interested me....

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:35pm

I have also been following this project for nearly a decade... it is apparently a radio play of sorts, sort of a drawing room musical that also works as a narrative concert presentation. Something like a mix of THE DROWSEY CHAPERONE and PASSING STRANGE.

There will also be a 3 CD recording of the performance in September with a 2 disc recording of the complete show and a 3rd disc of all the songs done as studio tracks, produced by T Bone Burnett.

VERY interesting.

SUPER stoked about this.

P

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:51pm

You WOULD be "stoked" about this, Pee Genie.

What an odd cast...sounds like a hot mess to me.

[timote316]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 5:56pm

Hot mess? Why? Sounds like it'd be a staged reading, if not a concert presentation, given the roster of people not known for acting.

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 6:01pm

Oops! I thought this was a full-out production... No wonder. That explains my confusion.

Carry on, then.

P.S. Love John Mellencamp!!! xoxo

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 6:42pm

MusicSnot, PLEASE take your foot out of your mouth if only for a fleeting moment. Thank you.

Anyway, here's a whole lot more about this show, sounds truly fascinating.


Country, rock, rap, bluegrass, Broadway

[MusicSnob1]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 6:48pm

I love how righteous and attractive you get when we're discussing something YOU like. It's cute, babe.

Watch out - You might have to eat your words again. Must we bring up Rob Marshall's "Nine" and your ridiculous posts/threads gushing & ejaculating over its potential? Ugh.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/3/10 at 9:44pm

Rap? In a musical? Eh.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 1/4/10 at 5:21am

I'm stoked.

I had heard about this a while back when researching Carrie as well, my shikobit, and even if it doesn't turn out fabulously, the fact that Mr. King is trying again is more than enough for me.

[romgitsean]

Posted: 1/4/10 at 5:24am

And Stephen King is IN IT?! Wow, this just gets better and better xD

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/4/10 at 8:06am

Sounds like a trip to Atlanta might be in store.

[Dantes]

Posted: 1/4/10 at 9:31am

Very excited for this

[RyanB83]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 9:18am

I think its totally odd that he's collaborating with Mellencamp based on Mellencamp's body of work.
But as you'll see in my blog post about it I try to keep an open mind.

http://www.crazytownblog.com/crazytown/2011/04/stephen-kingand-john-fing-mellencamp.html


Updated On: 4/7/11 at 09:18 AM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/7/11 at 9:33am

Did this ever get the reading that was due to happen last September?

I know at this stage they are looking at the Alliance theatre in 2012

[theaterdrew]

Posted: 11/9/11 at 1:49pm

Looks like it's on at the Alliance, with a new cast.

T-Bone Burnett is the most exciting part to me.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County at the Alliance

[californiasnow]

Posted: 11/9/11 at 2:22pm

Sounds like an interesting show. I have tickets to see it at the end of April and will report back on it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/9/11 at 5:50pm

I still get the feeling it'll need a lot of work to become a satisfying stage experience--but I admit I'm intrigued and would see this if it were closer.

[shomeika]

Posted: 4/9/12 at 5:20pm

this is the cast for the "recorded cd version" not the stage play.

[shomeika]

Posted: 4/9/12 at 5:22pm

the STAGE version is playing now in Atlanta, and opens tomorrow (I believe). Currently in previews:

http://alliancetheatre.org/Alliance/Our-Plays/Now-Playing/Ghost-Brothers-of-Darkland-County.aspx

[actorgaedu]

Posted: 4/10/12 at 1:35pm

I had the extreme pleasure of seeing this show last Thursday evening and I have nothing but amazing things to say! Let me begin by saying this set design by Todd Rosenthal (Broadway's August: Osage County) is so good and the cast makes great use of it throughout the show. It just looks so cool to me. The book by Stephen King is thrilling and a true story of humanity. It was the best part of the show for me. The score is very good and VERY blues/rock oriented. I think some of the songs could be fleshed out a bit more to link the story, but overall it fits. The show is staged beautifully and moves along at a wonderful pace. I saw the 2nd performance and you would think they had been running for months. Now, the cast. Emily Skinner runs away with this show. Her performance is moving, annoying, passionate and thrilling all at once. She has a couple of numbers to herself and she just sings the crap out of them! Shuler Hensley is great in his role although I had some trouble understanding all his dialogue and singing because he uses a very deep treble. Justin Guarini was good. His accent was a little forced, but he should ease into it as the run progresses. He sounded wonderful. The remainder of the cast are either up and coming NYC actors or Atlanta actors whom all make the show work. The character of "The Shape" (played by Jake La Botz) is a cool idea, but I wasn't sure if it worked for me 100%. I am a HUGE Stephen King fan so I am thrilled that he has finally crossed over into live theater. His book of this show is like reading one of his novels. A new story by the master of the macabre. If you are in the Atlanta area between now and May 11th, RUN to the alliance theater and enjoy this new American musical that was a thrilling night at the theater for me.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/10/12 at 1:48pm

Thanks for the review, sounds great

[shomeika]

Posted: 4/10/12 at 3:54pm

Am seeing the show a second time on Thursday...Emily Skinner was amazing!

[Playbilly]

Posted: 4/10/12 at 4:00pm

Saw the show last week in Atlanta at the Alliance Theater. Still needs work as a stage production, for sure. The big "mystery" totally fails to pay off, and the whole thing is sluggish. As a concert of CD, you'd need a narrator to understand what's going on (and that may not help...). If you're a Mellencamp fan, you'll probably like the score...if not, you probably won't make it through the whole CD

[shomeika]

Posted: 4/10/12 at 4:38pm

All of the Broadway or touring productions that started development at Alliance theatre "needed work" and left ATL with two or three years of development (Aida, Color Purple, Sister Act, Bring It On, etc). It's true that the show is very much a work in progress.

The concept CD isn't released yet; who knows if it will make sense?