Plays/Musicals

GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY PRESENTED BY STEPHEN KING, JOHN MELLENCAMP, AND T BONE BURNETT

MAJOR CAST ANNOUNCEMENT:
BILLY BURKE AND GINA GERSHON LEAD TOURING CAST

(September 30, 2014) – The full cast for the southern gothic, supernatural musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, was announced today, with actor/writer/producer Billy Burke (The Twilight Saga) and actress/writer/singer Gina Gershon (Killer Joe, House of Versace, Boeing, Boeing) playing the lead roles of Joe McCandless and Monique McCandless respectively. Touring across North America this Fall, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County was written by best-selling author Stephen King, with music by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp, and musical direction by Grammy Award-winning T Bone Burnett. The tour kicks off right outside Bangor, ME at the Collins Center For The Arts in Orono, ME, on November 8, before travelling through cities such as Toronto, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Due to overwhelming demand a second show has been added in San Francisco on December 6th which is now the final date of the tour.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County is a collaboration 16 years in the making, and blend of unique musical and staging styles. Throughout the production, the eerie blues ‘n’ roots music reveals the inner workings of the characters as opposed to just propelling the play’s narrative, with only a few songs directly advancing the plot. The haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge, begins with Joe McCandless reflecting on a past tragedy involving his two older brothers battling over a girl which ended in the unfortunate deaths of all three. Now with Joe as an adult and two boys of his own, he’s watching an all too familiar scenario play out before his eyes. With his sons at each other’s throats, Joe’s story will either save or destroy the McCandless family.

GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY CAST:

Joe McCandless - Billy Burke

Monique McCandless - Gina Gershon

The Shape - Jake La Botz

Zydeco Cowboy - Jesse Lenant

Drake McCandless - Joe Tippett

Frank McCandless - Lucas Kavner

Anna Wicklow - Kylie Brown

Dan Coker - Eric Moore

Andy McCandless - Travis Smith

Jack McCandless - Peter Albrink

Jenna Farrell - Kate Ferber

Young Joe - Zac Ballard

MUSIC:

Featured Background Vocalist - Carlene Carter

Newt Hoggenbeck / Ensemble - Joe Jung

Ensemble - Gwen Hughes

Ensemble - Rob Lawhon

BAND:

Music Supervision & Arrangements,

Band Leader, Guitarist - Andy York

Percussion - Dane Clark

Keyboards & Harmonica - Troye Kinnett

Upright Bass - Jon E. Gee

Anna Wicklow - Kylie Brown

Dan Coker - Eric Moore

Andy McCandless - Travis Smith

Jack McCandless - Peter Albrink

Jenna Farrell - Kate Ferber

Young Joe - Zac Ballard

Featured Background Vocalist - Carlene Carter

Newt Hoggenbeck / Ensemble - Joe Jung

Ensemble - Gwen Hughes

Ensemble - Rob Lawhon

CO-CONSPIRATORS - STEPHEN KING, JOHN MELLENCAMP, AND T BONE BURNETT PRESENT:
GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY 2014 NORTH AMERICAN FALL TOUR

“A pretty awesome spectacle.” – Bert Osbourne, Atlanta Journal –Constitution

AEG Live announced today the southern gothic, supernatural musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will tour across North America this Fall. Written by best-selling author Stephen King, with music by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Mellencamp, and musical direction by Grammy Award-winning T Bone Burnett, the tour kicks off right outside Bangor, ME at the Collins Center For The Arts in Orono, ME, on November 8, travelling through cities such as Toronto, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles before wrapping in San Francisco on December 5. Tickets for the performances go on sale June 20 atwww.axs.com unless otherwise noted.

This extraordinary collaboration 16 years in the making is a haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge, performed by an ensemble cast of 15 actors and a four-piece live band, comprised of members of John Mellencamp’s band. The staging of Ghost Brothers is an amalgam of different styles – both old fashioned, resembling an old-style radio show, and yet, modern and unique in its interactive use of storytelling, music and singing to move the macabre Ghost Brothers story forward.

The story goes that Joe McCandless saw his two older brothers battle over a girl which ended in the unfortunate deaths of all three. Now with Joe as an adult and two boys of his own, he’s watching an all too familiar scenario play out before his eyes. As the story continues, a malevolent Shape circles the stage, singing about heaven and hell. Joe McCandless lingers in the dream-land café, remembering the events of his life, and is urged to action by the friendly bartender. In 2007, he goes to his family cabin in Darkland County, Mississippi, where his brothers died in 1967, to tell his own sons Frank and Drake his tale of brotherly love gone sour. With his sons at each other’s throats, Joe’s story will either save or destroy the McCandless family. Will Joe bring himself to tell the truth in time to save his own sons? Find out whether the ghosts left behind will help him—or tear the McCandless family apart forever.

After Mellencamp brought the story idea to King and the musical developed, it became clear to the collaborators that Ghost Brothers had taken them into unfamiliar territory — and they liked it that way. "John can make rock & roll records and I can write books for the rest of our lives," says King, "but that’s the safe way to do it, and that’s no way to live if you want to stay creative. We were willing to be educated, and at our age, that’s an accomplishment." Eventually they enlisted T Bone Burnett, who has produced Mellencamp’s last two albums, as well as Grammy-winning albums like “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and the Robert Plant-Alison Krauss collaboration “Raising Sand”, to bring his signature shadowy ambience to the music.

Throughout the production, the eerie blues ‘n’ roots music reveals the inner workings of the characters as opposed to just propelling the play’s narrative, with the only a few songs directly advancing the plot. Acclaimed director Susan Booth, the Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, who calls the musical a “a kind of new age travelling medicine show” explains, “I want the emphasis to be on this fantastic score and our great singers and how the story advances us from song to song. In most musicals, the songs advance the narrative. With Ghost Brothers, the story will advance the songs.”

Please note: Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett are not part of the stage performance

STEPHEN KING, JOHN MELLENCAMP & T BONE BURNETT'S SUPERNATURAL MUSICAL GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY SET FOR RELEASE JUNE 4, 2013

After putting the finishing touches on their long-awaited southern gothic, supernatural musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, co-conspirators Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett have set June 4th, 2013 as the project's new release date (revised from the previously announced date of March 19th.) The musical's superb blues ‘n roots songs, performed by a stellar collection of guest artists, drives this haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge, 13 years in the making.

Hear Music/Concord Music Group is proud to release the all-star recording of Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a southern gothic supernatural musical from co-conspirators Stephen King, John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett. This extraordinary collaboration features original music and lyrics plus key dialog excerpts performed by a stellar cast of guest artists including Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Neko Case, Taj Mahal, Ryan Bingham and Kris Kristofferson, along with actors Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis and Meg Ryan. This special release also includes the musical's complete libretto, penned by Stephen King. A haunting tale of fraternal love, lust, jealousy and revenge 13 years in the making, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will be released June 4, 2013.

The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County saga began when Mellencamp told King about a cabin on his land in Indiana where two brothers had gotten in a fight over a girl; one brother accidentally killing the other, only to die along with the girl in a car crash a short time later. King came up with an outline for a play in a matter of days. And then off and on, back and forth, they began to develop it into a full-length musical.

The superb blues ‘n' roots music of Ghost Brothers reflects the wide range of styles and influences needed for a work that jumps back and forth across decades. Rather than use the songs to propel the play's narrative, as in a conventional musical, Mellencamp chose to make them a way to reveal the emotions and inner workings of the characters—like Neko Case's exquisite, unapologetic delivery of "That's Who I Am;" the intense passion of Kristofferson's "How Many Days;" or Costello's cunning "That's Me," which establishes the persona of "The Shape," the Puck-like devil figure at the heart of Ghost Brothers who floats between the worlds of the living and the spirits. Numerous other highlights include the thunderous, dramatic ensemble piece "Tear This Cabin Down" and "Jukin,'" a grease-laden delta-rocker performed by Sheryl Crow. Mellencamp himself delivers the closing "Truth," a sublime meditation on the moral issues underpinning the action.

Set in the tiny town of Lake Belle Reve, Mississippi, the Ghost Brothers' story centers on two sets of brothers: the ghosts of Jack and Andy, dead in an apparent murder/suicide, and their nephews, the living Frank and Drake, who seem to be headed toward the same downward spiral as their uncles. Joe, younger brother of Jack and Andy, father of Frank and Drake, has decided it's time to reveal his own terrible secret at the site of the tragedy, before it's too late. Though some of the songs were written without knowing where they would fit in the script, most were the result of specific assignments. "Steve would call me up and go, ‘We need a song like this to fill this place,'" Mellencamp says. "To be able to go, ‘OK, now you're a 10-year-old boy, what would he say? Now you're a 19-year-old girl trying to attract the attention of a barroom of fellas'…that was just fun to do."

Once a working show had been assembled, producer Burnett—acclaimed for his work on such albums as Raising Sand by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack—was brought in to help unify the flow and feel of the music on stage. Burnett would also prove crucial when it came time to cast and record the Ghost Brothers album.

He started with the voice of "The Shape"—"immediately, Elvis Costello came up," says Burnett, "who could be better playing the devil?" Rosanne Cash struck the producer as a match for Monique, Joe's troubled wife, as did Kris Kristofferson's unmistakable scratchy baritone to play the patriarch himself.

As the story emerged, it became clear to the collaborators that Ghost Brothers had taken them into unfamiliar territory—and they liked it that way. "John can make rock & roll records and I can write books for the rest of our lives," says King, "but that's the safe way to do it, and that's no way to live if you want to stay creative. We were willing to be educated, and at our age, that's an accomplishment."