Theatre News Wire

Artistic Director Susan V. Booth revealed that the new musical, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," based on John Berendt's renowned non-fiction work, will debut in at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago next summer. The musical features a script by MacArthur "Genius" Awardee Taylor Mac and songs by Tony Award-winning Jason Robert Brown. The premiere will be directed by another Tony Award recipient, Rob Ashford, and will showcase choreography by Tanya Birl and stage designs by Christopher Oram. Berendt's 1994 best-selling book, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and remained on the New York Times Best-Seller list for 216 weeks, inspired Clint Eastwood's 1997 film adaptation. The narrative delves into the trial of a high-profile antiques dealer from Savannah, Georgia, accused and re-accused of murder.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil at Goodman Theatre

Southern charm is bountiful in Savannah, Georgia. But behind polite smiles, the eccentric residents are filled with secrets and motives. When wealthy antiques dealer Jim Williams is accused of murder, the sensational trial uncovers hidden truths and exposes the fine line between good and evil - which sparks Lady Chablis and other Savannahians to change the city forever. MacArthur "Genius" grantee Taylor Mac, Tony Award winners Jason Robert Brown and Rob Ashford, and choreographer Tanya Birl bring the true-crime blockbuster book and its beloved characters to life in a new musical adaptation.

"I'm proud to build on the Goodman's legacy of nurturing important new works of the American musical theater with a new musical based on John Berendt's seductive, memorable book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil-an enduring popular sensation for three decades. Some of the smartest, wildly talented creative artists working in theater today convene for this project, and I'm eager to welcome everyone here," said Susan V. Booth, whose first curated season as Goodman Artistic Director begins in September with The Nacirema Society by Pearl Cleage, along with a citywide celebration of the award-winning author.

Said Rob Ashford, "I am a huge fan of John Berendt's terrific book-and of its star, the beautiful city of Savannah! When asked if I'd be interested in helping tell that story on stage, I pinched myself and then said 'absolutely!' I can't imagine anyone bringing these unique and wonderful characters to life in words and music better than Taylor Mac and Jason Robert Brown."

"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was a seminal book for me as a young queer person, coming out in the late 1980s and early 90s," said Taylor Mac. "The eccentricities of Savannah, and how they were celebrated by such a large readership, seemed to say, the things that made me odd and an outcast in the world were actually things I should cherish. Likewise, musical theater has always had a similar effect on me. Singing our thoughts is such an eccentric way of expressing ourselves-yet so perfectly aligned with my personal liberation and joy. So turning Midnight into a musical, and with such master craftspeople as Jason, Rob and Tanya is essentially an extension of celebrating the joy and liberation from exposing what's hidden."

"When I am deciding to start a new show, the two most important questions I ask myself are: 1) Does it sing? and 2) Do I get to work with fun people? With Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, I knew the answers to both questions immediately," said Jason Robert Brown. "The book's milieu, so rich with mystery and romance and history, sings with every sentence, deeply passionate, slyly comic, emotions threatening to boil over on every page. And to work with Rob Ashford, whose transformative production of Parade at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007 reinvigorated not only the show's reputation but my creative process, was a no-brainer. But then add to that the brilliant, joyful, radically inclusive mind of Taylor Mac, and there was no way I could resist. Creating this world with these mad geniuses is, in true Savannah tradition, a grand and great party. I can't wait for the world to join in."