John Mellencamp Community

We Got a Peek at Stephen King and John Mellencamp's New Musical

By David Peisner

John Mellencamp and Stephen King have been talking about their stage collaboration, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, for the better part of a dozen years. During that time, Ingmar Bergman muse and film/stage director Liv Ullmann said "thanks but no thanks" to the project, and one previously scheduled opening date, four years ago, was scuttled because the script needed more work. (Esquire wrote briefly about it in 2007.) So as the audience filed into the Alliance Theatre in midtown Atlanta last night for the musical’s first night of previews, the curiosity factor was high. Would Mellencamp’s rock songs translate to the stage? Would King’s pop-pulp writing? Was this going to be a colossal train wreck? Would Johnny Cougar’s girl Meg Ryan be there?

The Alliance is a midsize theater with a growing reputation. It won a Tony Award in 2007 for Best Regional Theater, and many Broadway-bound shows have premiered here, including Elton John and Tim Rice’s Tony-winning Aida, The Color Purple, and Sister Act. It’s obviously too early to pass judgment on Ghost Brothers, it being night one of an out-of-town preview (and this not being an official review), but with two titanic pop-culture names behind the production, it’s worth describing.

As I walked in fifteen minutes before showtime, doors to the theater cheekily warned the show would contain “Stephen King levels of profanity and graphic violence.” (It didn’t.) The Playbill’s plot summary name-checked Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, and the story of Cain and Abel as reference points.

Literary influences were clearly more important than theater conventions: As the audience streamed in, the set — a multitiered rendition of a rural Mississippi hunting cabin and its environs — was visible and several actors were already onstage. A few sat so still, I initially mistook them for mannequins; one lazily strummed a guitar. The set itself, with dilapidated wooden cabin, corrugated tin roof, and fading water tower, was more True Blood than Wise Blood.

A few minutes before the show began, Mellencamp and Ryan snuck into the back row of the theater, occasioning a lot of murmuring and head-turning among the audience, though everyone kept a respectful distance. Fewer noticed King, under his mop of salt-and-pepper hair, sitting several seats away from them in the same row.

The production opened with actor Jake La Botz, who plays a version of the devil called The Shape, rising from the floor with a guitar strapped across his back, addressing the audience directly. This nod to rock-and-roll clichés felt, at least, like a clever play on expectations, and La Botz, who also has put out six albums as a bluesy singer-songwriter, infused his performance with the appropriate swagger and humor.

The story that followed: Two brothers — one a struggling musician (played by ex–American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini), the other a young author (played by Lucas Kavner) — whose relationship is beset by rivalry meet at a family cabin, where 30 years earlier their father witnessed the deaths of his own battling brothers. The narrative toggled between the past and the present with ghosts of the dead commenting and occasionally trying to influence the modern-day events like an overcaffeinated Greek chorus. Despite treading on what seemed to be typically macabre King terrain, the story itself was pretty low on blood and gore. King seemed far more interested in paying homage to Southern Gothic icons — Faulkner, Williams, and Flannery O’Connor were all mentioned — than delivering his trademark frights.

The music, which Mellencamp wrote and Americana producer extraordinaire and frequent Coen Brothers collaborator T Bone Burnett helped direct for the stage, ranged from swampy blues jags and elegant old-school country bummers to stomping roots-rock and gospel sing-alongs. (A radio-play-type recording of the story, featuring Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Kris Kristofferson, and Sheryl Crow, is due out this spring.) Nothing sounded exactly like something off a Mellencamp album, but nothing was exactly out of his wheelhouse either. Elaborate dance numbers were wisely kept to a minimum.

The crowd was an interesting mix, full of folks who looked like they were on their way to a Mellencamp show and plenty of presumed Alliance season ticket holders who weren’t quite sure why there were so many bearded dudes wearing shorts and drinking Shiner Bocks. On the way out, I heard one older patron complaining that the show was “too loud,” and another saying that she couldn’t hear the actors’ lines. (There were some problems with the sound mix and a few malfunctioning microphones, but as this was just the first night of previews, a few minor glitches are a given.) A parking lot attendant told me that some people left early, but it couldn’t have been too many because as the cast took their final bows, the auditorium was mostly full. Meg Ryan could be spotted dancing in the back row. Some seemed mildly disappointed to find that the show’s famous creators weren’t hanging out in the lobby gabbing with the departing crowd afterwards, but by the time the house lights came up, King and Mellencamp had quickly and quietly slipped away into the night — almost certainly to do some more tinkering.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/04/stephen-king-john-mellencamp-ghost-brothers-of-darkland-county.html

Time lapse video of the "Ghost Brothers" set being constructed:

http://www.youtube.com/v/DDT9isPf-pQ?fs=1&hl=en_US

Soooo, did the reporter like the play? Can't tell LOL ???
Looks like they have some technical stuff to work on

doesnt look like a good review to me. i would think jm and them would hang around to thank the audience for attending in the lobby. but the way they departed, sounds more of a disappointment i see this as a flop.
and that portrait of meg that john did? is that the way he really sees her? must be, i heard it say artists paint what they really feel and what they see. so the truth has been revealed.

Soooo sad .Honestly, You need help. Hopefully your posts will be banished like the other ones were. ..

Btw John about his paintings

I like that music during the film.  Is that from the show?

I love John's paintings, as a painter myself I can see the emotion in his work and I love the bright colors. He is gifted in painting just like his music.  :)

I attended the night this post was written, the first night of preview week, and I guess the saying goes you can't be everywhere at once. However, I saw all the major players, including John. He did hang out in the lobby (he came right before we were asked to leave) which was about, I'm guessing a half an hour after the show ended. Stephen King was hanging out after the show, in the lobby, as well as Meg Ryan (who I also passed in the hallway during intermission, going to the bathroom as we were leaving.) I also spotted TBone Burnette in the lobby talking to some fans, also during intermission.

The play was phenomenal. I did notice a few of the microphones cutting in and out, no big deal. This is what preview week is for, to work out the kinks.

The set was amazing, as you can see in the video, the story was captivating as well as humorous at times. The Shape stood out in the show, his entrance, the first cast member to be  seen, had him appearing out of the floor with a guitar strapped behind his back - a stellar performance with great comedic timing. My favorite song was right before intermission, "Tear This Cabin Down." There were several JM references in the play, some obvious some maybe not so obvious if one isn't a fan. "Lil Bastard" was referenced at least twice, small town was mentioned, and one I haven't figured out and I am assume there is a hidden meaning - was the license plate on the car used in the set, JM 1919. I'm still trying to figure out what is significant with 1919 - or if there a significance. Would love to know the answer to that one. Fun trivia kind of stuff.

Back to the lobby. As I said, John came in as the crowd was thinning out. I approached him first, he seemed surprised to see me there, and I told him the play was excellent. He replied back "Oh, ya'll think everything I do is excellent." I then asked if he would take a picture and he stood and posed as I handed the camera to Jane. I then walked away while others were getting programs signed and what not.

 (http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a35/Mellenhead/John%20Mellencamp/JMCindyFacialRetouch-2.jpg)

I would love to go see it again and hope to head south one more time. Oh, and to note, I invited a friend of mine and his wife, who live in Atlanta, to come see the play. He is not much of a JM fan but was very interested in seeing the play. He just emailed me last night and told me he ordered JM's box set "On The Rural Route" he was that impressed and now wants to explore JM's music. :D

That is a very nice review Sugarmarie, sounds like a great show. Wish I could of seen it. Nice picture of John. Thanks for the great post. ;D

thanks sugarmarie for sharing. nice pic(he's so cute!

Nice one Cindy.  Thanks for the review. :D

Love it Cindy!

Cindy, you are a true Mellenambassador! Turning strangers into Mellenfans,  great pic of you and John, thanks for posting this.
Can you name all the states you have seen John....I know NY!!!
Thanks again for taking the time!

Off the top of my head, including my Tristate area of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, also Florida, California, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, New York, Missouri, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Georgia. If Farm Aid is included, then add Kansas, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts. I've attended additional Farm Aids but some of those states were also states just previously mentioned.

Opening night is tonight!

I wish them lots of luck.  :D

Wow! Very impressive, I bet you have quite a collection from all those concerts! Awesome! :D

I started traveling to see JM in 2003, starting with his GMA appearance when he was promoting TNM. I've been a fan since 1980.  :)

Did John skip the red carpet? I only saw mention of T Bone and King

“@johnmellencamp: Standing ovation with John, Stephen, and Susan on stage an amazing night @thealliancetheatre @

John walked the red carpet with T Bone

Very cool. Your a long time fan like me. I first saw John on American Bandstand, he performed "Small Paradise" not sure the year 1979 or 1980. A bunch of friends and I went to this bar in Central NY to see him perform then. I was 15 and we got in, don't ask me how it was long ago. Anyway he never showed, I was soooo bummed. I have seen him in concert in NJ, CT and NY and at Farm aid in MA. The closest I ever got to him was in NY and he smiled at me from the stage. I hope to meet him one day, but my luck I would probably faint and never get to. LOL

T bone looked so cool

I hope one day you get the chance to meet him!

Yes! Dar, you are going after tax season, as in after next Monday??

I hope one day you get the chance to meet him!


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Thanks Sugarmarie