King & Mellencamp to Premiere Gothic Musical in Atlanta 2009

The New York Times reports that song-writer John Mellencamp and horror novelist Stephen King are teaming-up to create a new Southern Gothic musical based on King's book, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.  Peter Askin will direct.

Set to open in April 2009 at the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Mellencamp told Rolling Stone "that if the musical, about the reverberations of a tragedy in small-town Mississippi, did well in Atlanta, it would head to Broadway."

Though not commonly associated with the stage, Stephen King, one of America's top-selling thrill-writers, provided the source-material to the cult-favorite flop musical Carrie and his novel "Misery" was also adapted for the New York stage. Many of his books have been transformed for the big-screen, including horror-hits The Shining, Carrie, Christine, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

John Mellencamp (also previously known as John Cougar Mellencamp) is a Grammy Award-winning rock singer and songwriter – and will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2008. His 22-album discography includes top Billboard-sellers "American Fool" (1982), "Scarecrow" (1985) and "Freedom's Road" (2007). Mellencamp also dabbled in movie-acting, having appeared in films including Falling from Grace and Lone Star State of Mind.

The ALLIANCE THEATRE held the pre-Broadway engagement of The Color Purple and the first concepts of Aida. For more information on ALLIANCE THEATRE visit www.alliancetheatre.org