Will Costello and Case join Alliance Theatre's 'Ghost Brothers?'

Atlanta theater-watchers might recall Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, a new musical co-written by John Mellencamp and Stephen King. In 2008, the Alliance Theatre slated Ghost Brothers to debut in the spring of its 2008-2009 season, but had to postpone the musical, which was eventually replaced by a remount of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. Ghost Brothers may be alive and well, too, at least according to on-line rumor:

Pitchfork is reporting that Elvis Costello and Neko Case have joined Kris Kristofferson, Sheryl Crow, and others in the long-gestating Stephen King/John Mellencamp collaboration Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County. The musical, set to premiere in Atlanta late this year, tells the story of two (presumably ghost) brothers set in the ever-haunted American south. Ryan D’Agostino of Esquire described a reading he sat in on in 2007 as "not only tolerable, it's good. It may be the first-ever musical written by men for men. There's no orchestra, just two twangy acoustic guitars, an accordion, and a fiddle. The songs are both haunting and all-American.”

It's basically everything one could hope for from a King/Mellencamp collaboration: Costello and Case round out a cast that includes Rosanne Cash, Joe Frazier, Will Dailey, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Glenn Morshower, Mellencamp, and King (as a character named Uncle Steve).

The Alliance Theatre will not announce its 2010-2011 season until February, so it won't confirm any of this — but hasn't denied it, either.