The genesis of the project was a story Mellencamp heard when he bought a vacation cabin. “The wife of the guy [said], ‘Oh, by the way — it’s haunted, but the ghosts won’t bother you, you’ll get used to it. I went, ‘OK, great.’ I don’t believe in that stuff. Then she sends me these magazines from the 1930s, like Private Detective” he said. “She sends me a couple of these crime magazines with accounts of what happened.”

 

He asked King to collaborate on shaping the tale into a musical, and the prolific fiction writer produced the initial draft of the book in about three weeks. Since then the show has been a fully produced musical (premiering at Atlanta’s Alliance), a 3-CD concept album featuring the likes of Elvis Costello and Roseanne Cash, a touring concert, a radio play, and back to an evolving stage show which audiences here in Tampa will see the most current version of — it’s quite a different shape than the previous versions, now 25 years in the making.

 

Jobsite’s production includes new arrangements approved by the creators. Our band is led by Jeremy Douglass (keys) with Joe Grady (bass), Andrea Tafelski (percussion), and Mark Warren (guitar/strings). The cast features Jonathan Harrison as a dark shape known as the Troubadour; Spencer Meyers as the cabin’s caretaker; Kayla Witoshynsky, Cameron Kubly, and Blake Smallen as the modern love triangle; and Noa Friedman, William Alejandro Barba, and Dylan Hannessen as the cabin’s spectral inhabitants. It is directed by David Jenkins with choreography from Alexander Jones.

 

GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY is on stage Oct. 15 – Nov. 9 at the Straz Center.

 

Parts of this post were gathered from the AP, LA Times, and TCG reporting. Photo: Kevin Mazur.