Alliance Presents DARLIN' CORY A New Musical

The Alliance Theatre has announced its return to the Coca-Cola Stage with the world premiere musical, DARLIN' CORY. Set against the backdrop of 1920s Appalachia, DARLIN' CORY is a haunting new musical by playwright & novelist Phillip DePoy (Edward Foote) and Sugarland's Grammy Award-winning front man, Kristian Bush (Troubadour). DARLIN' CORY is directed by the Alliance's Jennings Hertz Artistic Director, Susan V. Booth (Ever After, Troubadour). Performances begin September 8, 2021.

In a tiny mountain town with no road in - and no road out - a community carries secrets of all sizes. But when a young woman with ambition and intelligence collides with a pastor deeply committed to preserving the status quo, cracks begin to appear in the town's well-constructed façade. And when a stranger appears with a mysterious backstory and the best moonshine anyone's ever tasted - some of those secrets threaten to spill. Featuring an original folk-country score, this modern-day myth inspired by local lore promises to leave audiences on the edge of their seats.

"DARLIN' CORY is, in my experience, a unique musical - Greek themes, Appalachian stories, supernatural characters, and new music all focused on specific contemporary events, current news-and I think it's the most collaborative enterprise with which I've been connected in this century, thanks to Susan and Kristian and [Line Producer] Amanda Watkins," said Playwright and Co-Lyricist Phillip DePoy. "Absolutely remarkable."

"It's not every day that you get to play with magic; real magic. Writing, making, and dreaming DARLIN' CORY to life has been nothing short of magic," said Composer and Co-Lyricist Kristian Bush. "I keep trying to explain it to my friends in the music industry when they ask what I am working on right now. I say 'close your eyes. Imagine starting a band with six lead singers that need a double album, a double live album, actually, to be released worldwide, with a tour that goes with it... and dancers, and lights, and production that will never be seen by an audience until it all gets released, on the same day. Oh yeah, and also that band sometimes sounds like Arcade Fire and sometimes sounds like Dolly Parton, and might or might not contain details from your own life buried within it, wrapped in a story about a town and a girl and moonshine and secrets.' This is what we are doing in the next few weeks. This kind of magic."

The cast of the Alliance Theatre's production of DARLIN' CORY includes Jeremy Aggers (Alliance: Edward Foote), Jimez Alexander, Marcello Audino (Aurora Theatre: Men with Money), John Bobek (Geffen Playhouse: Mysterious Circumstances), Jewl Carney (Alliance: Working), Katie Deal (Milwaukie Rep: Back Home Again: My Life with John Denver), Kelli Dodd (Colorado Springs FAC: The Bridges of Madison County), Rob Lawhon (Alliance: Working, Troubadour) Rhyn McLemore (Alliance: Ever After), Gillian Rabin (Actor's Express: Fun Home), Maria Rodriguez-Sager (Theatrical Outfit: Our Town & The Laramie Project), and Asia Rogers (Theatrical Outfit: Our Town & The Laramie Project). Musicians in the production include Tomi Martin and Q. Robinson.

The creative team for DARLIN' CORY includes Director Susan V. Booth, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre John Welker, Sound Designer Clay Benning, Costume Designer Kara Harmon, Tony Award-winning Scenic Designer Todd Rosenthal, Lighting Designer Xavier V. Pierce, Music Director and Player/Conductor Brandon Bush, Dialect Coach Elisa Carlson, and Fight Choreographers Amelia Fischer and Connor Hammond. The production team includes Line Producer Amanda Watkins, COVID Coordinator Haylee Scott, and Stage Manager Jayson T. Waddell.

"To come home to the Coca-Cola Stage in the company of fifteen stellar Atlanta performers in a world premiere from Kristian Bush and Phillip DePoy, just feels every kind of healing, hopeful, and just plain joyful," said Director Susan V. Booth.

DARLIN' CORY will have its world premiere on the Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre September 8 - October 3, 2021. Media Night is Wednesday, September 15. Tickets and information are available at www.alliancetheatre.org/cory.

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