Mellencamp, King musical set to haunt stage

NEW YORK (Billboard) - A long-gestating stage musical from rock musician John Mellencamp and horror author Stephen King will open in April 2009 at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre ahead of a possible Broadway run.

Mellencamp wrote the score for "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," while King wrote the script.

The story, set in rural Mississippi in 1957, revolves around two brothers who hate each other. Their father takes them to a cabin where they used to vacation as children.

"What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin," Mellencamp said. "There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house. The older (dead) brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience."

The production will be directed by Peter Askin ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch").

Reuters/Billboard