Writing Team Announced For New Musical WITCH HUNT

Zane Carney ("Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark," John Daversa's GRAMMY Nominated Album "Kaleidoscope Eyes") and Ashley Griffin ("Trial," "Forever Deadward,") will collaborate on the upcoming musical WITCH HUNT - a reimagining of the Salem witch trials set against the backdrop of the American political system. Griffin will pen the book and lyrics with Carney writing the music.

When the repressed children of well-known Washington figureheads are caught at a rave in the basement of a satanic temple they decide to manipulate the political game to reclaim their voice and power - taking to social media, claiming they're the victims of witchcraft and displaying their injuries live on the internet. Their ecstatic families use the situation to all but instantaneously eliminate their rivals - but when the kids, led by Abigail Williams, begin turning on their own family members and family friends, Washington goes into a tailspin - capped by Abigail, suppressed for years from speaking out against her rapist ("golden boy" Justice John Proctor,) using the cry of witchcraft to quite literally force his head on the chopping block. WITCH HUNT explores the true meaning of justice, the games we play "for the greater good" and whether a mentality of "win at all costs" in the name of righteousness might just turn out to be the road to hell.

The concept album for WITCH HUNT is expected to be released in the coming year.

Ashley Griffin is a Broadway writer/performer whose work has been produced/developed at New World Stages, MTC, Playwrights Horizons, A.R.T. and more. She received the WellLife Network Award and a county commendation for her hit off-Broadway play "Trial" directed by Lori Petty ("A League of Their Own," "The Poker House.") She has received five NYIT Award nominations across multiple categories and is the first person in history to be nominated for a major award for both playing and directing "Hamlet" for a theatrical production. Griffin and her work have been heralded as "Magnificent...utterly electric" by Theaterart, "Intriguing" by the New York Times, "Masterful" and "Profound" by Showscore, and Paper Tiger says: "I am predisposed to trust any production under Griffin's auspices."

Zane Carney has been described as a "massive guitar player" by Thundercat and named "the future of electric guitar" by HuffPost. Carney's discography includes playing on Thundercat's "Drunk," John Mayer's "Paradise Valley," John Daversa's Grammy-nominated Big Band Jazz Album "Kaleidoscope Eyes," and writing and recording on Avril Lavigne's "Head Above Water" album. Most recently, he formed a band with Evan Rachel Wood (EVAN + ZANE); their sold-out shows "dazzle with an array of guitars and blister-worthy solos" (SF Weekly). Prior to that, he served as lead guitarist, arranger and founding member of CARNEY with his brother Reeve Carney, a rock group that opened for U2 and was signed to Interscope Records before being cast in "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark" on Broadway. As a guitarist, he toured with artists including Jonny Lang and John Mayer. Carney was born in New York City, studied studio/jazz guitar at USC's Thornton School of Music, and currently resides in Los Angeles. For more information, go to www.zanecarney.com