John Berendt’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is getting a stage musical adaptation, Broadway World reports.
Rob Ashford, the Tony Award–winning choreographer and director whose previous credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Evita, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and The Wedding Singer, will direct the production.
Berendt’s book, published in 1994 by Random House, tells the story of a cast of real-life characters in Savannah, Georgia, including Jim Williams, a nouveau-riche antiques dealer, who was accused of killing his lover, Danny Hansford. Williams, who died in 1990, was acquitted in the slaying.
The book became a massive bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. It was adapted into a 1997 film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, and Jude Law.
The book for the musical adaptation is written by Taylor Mac (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus), a MacArthur Fellow who has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee. Jason Robert Brown (The Last Five Years) is writing the music and lyrics, with Tanya Birl and Sarah O’Gleby in charge of choreography.
An invitation-only industry reading is scheduled for May 12 and 13. There’s no word as of yet regarding a debut date.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
