|
''Ghost Brothers of Darkland County'' is a musical with music and lyrics by John Mellencamp, a libretto by author Stephen King and production by T-Bone Burnett. It debuted at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2012. A touring production began in late 2013 through the United States South and Midwest. A soundtrack album has been released featuring numerous country, folk, and rock acts performing the songs. The story is a Southern Gothic tale of two brothers who hate one another and are forced by their father to spend time in a haunted cabin, where they are visited by the ghosts of dead brothers who also hated one another. ==Production== The project was first reported by ''Billboard'' in 2000. At that time, the title was ''Mississippi Ghost Brothers''. According to King, Mellencamp conceived the plot. In August 2001, the AP reported that the musical would be finished by February 2002. Mellencamp said in 2002 of his idea, "I plan to have every person sing from their generation. This is what I'm thinking right now, but it may not work out this way. When the 18-year-old sings, he'll be rapping at you. When the people in their 70s are singing, they'll be singing in the style of Broadway or the style of Frank Sinatra or country. I intend to cover any type of music that Americans have invented." He did not wind up following this format, as all the songs in the final production are performed in a folk and roots rock style. In 2005, Mellencamp said in an interview, "He's got a hundred pages of dialogue, and I've got 15 songs. We have to figure how to cut it all down. We're having our first run-through in New York with actors and actresses to see what the hell it looks like." Mellencamp provided this update of the musical's progress to the ''Chicago Tribune'' in November 2010: :"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. 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." King and Mellencamp sought a regional theater to stage the show, and decided an Atlanta location offered unique advantages. "We wanted a place that was cosmopolitan but not out of touch with country roots. Atlanta seemed like the middle of the bulls-eye", King said. "You know that song, 'If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere?' That's how I feel about Atlanta and this show." ''Ghost Brothers'' began preview shows at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta on April 4, 2012, opened April 11 and played until May 13, 2012. The musical was directed by Alliance Theatre director Susan V. Booth, with musical direction by T-Bone Burnett. The cast included Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley and nominee Emily Skinner. Other cast members included Justin Guarini, blues musician and actor Jake La Botz, Lucas Kavner, Kate Ferber, Christopher Morgan and country musician Dale Watson. Completing the cast were Peter Albrink, Kylie Brown, Lori Beth Edgeman, Gwen Hughes, Joe Jung, Joe Knezevich, Rob Lawhon, Royce Mann, Travis Smith, Jeremy Aggers, Russell Cook, Stephanie Laubscher, Joseph Signa, and DeWayne Woods. The show featured the blood effects of Joseph Jefferson Award-winning special effects artist Steve Tolin, notable for his international work on Martin McDonagh's, ''The Lieutenant of Inishmore''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Stephen King's Down-Home Nightmare )〕 The show went on a 20-city U.S. tour of the Midwest and Southeast in October–November 2013 and an 18-city tour of the Northeast (including Canada), Mid-Atlantic, Upper Midwest, and West regions is scheduled for late 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ghost Brothers of Darkland County」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|