DEEP LOVE: A GHOSTLY ROCK OPERA Returns This Halloween Season

 In a tradition spanning more than a decade, the award-winning original production Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera is returning this October for its annual Halloween performances in both Utah and Idaho.

The cast will feature Sheldon Bladh as Florence, Mike Dunn as Friedrich, Chase McKnight as Old Bones, and Ash Anderson as Constance. Melanie Stone is reprising her role of Constance for one night only in Idaho Falls. After stepping into the role of Old Bones in 2022, Chase McKnight is also now adding “co-director” to his list of jobs, joining Liz Whittaker as she returns for her third year as director. The duo are excited to reimagine certain aspects of the show while still remaining true to the story and characters. 

Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera is a show without dialogue—a modern take on the opera—where the characters tell the story entirely through the veil of a rock & roll concert. In the tradition of The Who’s Tommy and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, Deep Love tells the story of a widowed Constance and the tragedy that threatens when her former love arises from the dead to demand her loyalty. Will she and her new beau Friedrich survive the jealousy of their former loves, the violent Florence and the vengeful Old Bones? Or will they fall prey to the darkness that haunts them?

Longtime fans of Deep Love know that the production is closer to a rock concert than a musical performance, with audience members encouraged to clap, sing along, dance, and cheer. Audience members also attend in their best funeral attire, ranging from simple black clothing to full skeleton makeup. “The fandom is a really special part of this show,” says Liz Whittaker, director. “Their devotion shows up in everything from fan art to bringing newbies to the show. Which we love! We always welcome new ghosts and ghouls into our haunted family.” 

This year is particularly special because opening night also coincides with the digital release of the long awaited studio album of Deep Love. For over ten years, audiences have been asking for a studio album, and after raising the initial funds through a GoFundMe, longtime members of the Deep Love band and cast are finally making it happen. Most of 2024 was spent laying down tracks, mixing, and mastering, and the final product is a true labor of love, starring Amy Whitcomb as Florence, Melanie Stone as Constance, Chase McKnight as Old Bones, and Garrett Sherwood as Friedrich. 

Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera is the brainchild of songwriters Ryan Hayes and Garrett Sherwood. From the first performance in 2010, the audience for Deep Love has grown from the two-dozen attendees in a living room, to thousands of devoted fans across the country. In 2015, Deep Love: A Ghostly Rock Opera was selected as a featured production in the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), following which it was invited to be workshopped at the Johnny Mercer Writer’s Colony at the Goodspeed Theatre.

Audience members who love rock music and gothic tales, and anyone who has a dark and haunted soul, had better get tickets soon…before this show returns to its crypt. 

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