A collaboration of Stephen King and John Mellencamp, “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” premiered in 2012 before King refined, reworked and rewrote the play.
This spring, a Buffalo theatre company is bringing it to life and stage.
“We’re the first professional theater company, now, to do this version,” said Scott Behrend, Artistic and Executive Director at Road Less Traveled Productions. “Our team gets the first stab at the blueprint of this show.”
While the production is a musical, the Mellencamp score doesn’t lend itself to chorus lines and glitz.
“The music really dictates how the story is told,” said Director Doug Weyand, pointing to the story’s “Deep South Gothic, horror feel. So, it doesn’t ever feel like it’s song-and-dance.”
The 2013 original production featured 20 characters. That’s now reduced to seven.
“Much more intimate and much more creepy” is how Weyand describes this latest version. He credits the cast with ”a lot of bouncing ideas around, bouncing creativity around” in developing the production.
Starring Matt Witten, Leah Berst, Ricky Needham, Anna Fernandez, Ryan Butler, Thomas Evans and Alex Garcia, “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County” runs from April 17 through May 17.
