Just left the theater. The show is phenomenal and the story is soooo Stephen King. I can't say much without spoiling the show for the next audience... so I won't.
I will say the theme is classic King with an over-arching story of evil vs. good. The story simmers on a medium heat until the lid blows off and everything is drenched in a stew when it would be least convenient. A great story.
The music has a lot of "dark notes" and really colors the story. This is not your Grandmother's musical with an uplifting message and a heavy end beat so everyone knows to applaud. The moments in song were so wrenching that it was a little uncomfortable to clap (but the actors really deserved it). Yes, there are touches of King humor to lighten (and bring a laugh) at certain moments (which is a relief).
The cast is such an interesting mix just like the characters that populate a King novel. Very engaging staging and a set that wraps into the audience. A really incredible set that moves almost effortlessly from the past to the present (although on the first night one cast member was almost run over by a set piece... wouldn't THAT have made an interesting King-esque twist with someone dying in the 2nd Act?). The set really is another character in the show.
Again, I really can't say anything about the storyline without spoilers. It grabs you and really takes the audience for a wild ride with dark and light spirits.
The language and theme is defiantly by King and a warning is posted on the entrance doors to the theater. My absolutely favorite quote in the show has adult words... we're all adults here? A great moment is when one of the lead characters says, "I like songs about fucking... and murder... preferably at the same time!"
If you are a King fan, you must see this show. What would have been a great novel is brought to life on stage. The King and Mellencamp collaboration is very successful, but the actors have really put the life (or is it "the death") into the show.
I'll put together some more thoughts and share a photo or two later.
Daniel


And Mr King was present slipping into a seat towards the back just before the show.. exiting just prior to intermission to avoid being mobbed, returning quietly and escaping quickly at the end of the show... ushered out the side while hugging colaborators and politely declining to sign anything tonight.

Here is an expanded story synopsis for Ghost Brothers of Darkland County:

A malevolent shape circles around the Café, singing about his effect on the living and his role as a provocateur of bad behavior. In 1967, two lovers appear on a high cliff above Lake Belle Reve, and jump to their deaths. Joe McCandless (stepping out of time) appears to argue with himself as a ten year old (Young Joe) about whether or not to tell a terrible secret. Old Joe pushes the ghost of his own younger self down. We then see Joe lingering in the Dreamland Café, agonizing about whether or not to go “back”. Joe is urged to action by the friendly bartender.

It’s now 2007. He goes to his family cabin on Lake Belle Reve outside the town of Delight in Darkland County, MS where his brothers’ died in 1967, to tell his own sons Frank and Drake his tale of brotherly love gone sour. Frank and Drake’s relationship is under a strain as well. Drake stayed home after high school to play with a local band (that will probably always be a local band) while working as a mechanic. Frank, a college boy, will be rich after selling the paperback rights to his novel. Plus Anna, Frank’s girlfriend, used to be with Drake. And Drake’s band just bombed at the Delight Old Home Days in front of a journalist for Rolling Stone. Monique, the boys’ mother, tries to find a way for them all to get along.

The ghosts of Dan, the caretaker, who died in the cabin, Jack and Andy (Joe’s brothers), and Jenna, beloved of both Jack and Andy, haunt the cabin waiting to see if Joe will tell their terrible secret THIS time. With his sons at each other’s throats, Joe’s story will save or destroy the McCandless family.