Stephen King finds his "Ghost Brother" in ambitious new stage musicalBy John Wenzel
The Denver Post
Stephen King fears a lot of things, but doling out praise is not one of them, as anyone who follows the best-selling author on Twitter knows.
The 67-year-old remains deeply connected to American popular culture, calling out his favorite new novels, TV shows, films and albums to his 560,000 or so followers.
But as an author — and one who has sold more than 350 million copies of his books over the past four decades— King chooses his words carefully. So it's no small flattery when he singles out someone as "the most talented person I've ever worked with."
Who, pray tell, might that be?
"John Mellencamp," King said recently over the phone from his home state (and favored storytelling-setting) of Maine. "And there's no doubt about that. He's awesome in his ambition and his drive."
King would know, having worked on and off with Mellencamp over the past 16 years on "The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," their touring musical production with Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett.
In a fraught, stop-start fashion worthy of one of King's epic tales, he and Mellencamp have spent the last decade-plus hammering out the narrative of two brothers driven to murderous ends by love. As ghosts, the brothers haunt a parallel scene in the cabin where they died and impart their spooky, if tuneful, lessons.
It's an odd project, even for King, combining his words and story, Mellencamp's music and lyrics, and Burnett's musical direction in a high-concept tale of romance, betrayal, blood and melody. Press materials call it "a Southern gothic, supernatural musical."
King, a consistently prolific author who has survived drug and alcohol addiction and a catastrophic car accident, calls it one of the greatest challenges of his life.
"I don't think either of us realized how big it would be when we started," he said of "Ghost Brothers," which Mellencamp proposed after buying a supposedly haunted cabin on a lake in Indiana. "It's a lot of work and a big investment of time.
"But it's also been what it seemed like it might be at the beginning. It's been creatively refreshing and I've learned a lot. I told John (Mellencamp) at the outset that it was an intriguing idea, but that I'd never written a play, let alone a musical — which has its own challenges. And he gave me this look like 'Are you chicken----, or do you want to go for it?' And I admire that attitude."
The show, which plays the Buell Theatre on Dec. 1, features Billy Burke ("Twilight") and Gina Gershon ("House of Versace") in the leading roles. The 2013 soundtrack album boasts such artists as Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Sheryl Crow and Ryan Bingham covering Mellencamp's songs.
Despite having no trouble attracting talent, the creators have poured a great deal of themselves (including their personal finances, though King declined to say how much) into the show, helping smooth its bumpy journey from page to stage.
"Ghost Brothers" was first mentioned by Billboard Magazine 14 years ago. It has seen dozens of rewrites, edits and tweaks between conception and the current, 20-city national tour — its second North American jaunt since last year.
"When you see it up on stage, you see what works and what doesn't, and one of the things we both thought after seeing it (during a 2012 preview run in Atlanta) was that a more stripped-down production would complement the music and the words better, because it's a pretty stark story."
Staging a literal "lover's leap," for example, seemed unnecessary on stage, King thought. Why not let the audience fill in the visual gaps while putting more energy into the performances and music, as with community theater or "an old-timey radio play"?
"It gets better and more audience-friendly every time," King said. "And when you're going to play what amounts to a whistle-stop tour, with just one or two shows per city, you have to throw the extra baggage overboard and move fast and light."
Reviews of the show have been mixed but generally admiring of its ambition to be both strange and recognizable. Mellencamp's songs employ the powerhouse melodies and cadences of gospel, blues and rock. Together with King's ear for dialogue and Burnett's way with arrangements, it invokes a pastiche of moody Americana while mirroring its creators' tastes.
"John does not suffer fools lightly, and he's got a clear vision of what he wants, and I've got a clear vision of what I want, too," King said. "So, in this case, we're lucky because it's like having two eyes instead of one. You've got that depth perception and clarity that comes with it."
Fortunately, Mellencamp's prickly reputation in the studio did not translate to his working relationship with King, despite some outside warnings.
"I can remember a member of his band coming up to me one time when we were on break and saying, 'So, have you experienced a full-blown Johnny Cougar tantrum yet?' And I said, 'Nope.' And he said, 'You will.' And I never have! If you're talented, and you've got your eyes on the prize, as far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to defend your position."
Like Mellencamp, King's work is wide-armed by nature. It spans generations and genres, moods and modes. King's latest novel, "Revival" (which will be published on Nov. 11), is his 53rd work of full-length fiction, not counting two dozen short-story collections and nonfiction books, and even more screenplays, essays and magazine articles.
But despite the never-ending adaptations of his work in film, TV and comic books, King rarely collaborates with other artists on serious projects. A handful of musical forays notwithstanding, King has written only alongside author Peter Straub (on "The Talisman" and "Black House") and his son Joe, who publishes under the pen name Joe Hill.
"Otherwise, John's been the guy I've worked with the longest," King said. "He's a guy who, like me, has built a career, and his money's been pretty good. He does Farm Aid, and he's got his own little niche. But one of the things where we bonded is that we both understand that if you continue to do the same thing over and over again, it starts to get flat, and you have to do something new. The risk is that you'll fall on your face in public. The benefit is that it could reinvigorate you."
http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_26886095/stephen-king-finds-his-ghost-brother-ambitious-new
