Theater News

Atlantic Theater Company to Present World Premiere of New Musical by Patty Griffin and Keith Bunin

Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin

The final show of the Atlantic Theater Company’s 2006-2007 season will be the world premiere production of a musical with a score by singer/songwriter Patty Griffin and a book by playwright Keith Bunin. The as-yet-untitled show will be directed by Michael Mayer and is scheduled to open in June 2007; further information, including casting and the design team, will be announced shortly.

The musical tells the story of Duane and Molly’s road trip in a beat-up old Chevy pick-up truck from the southern tip of Florida to the Northwest corner of New York, with many detours along the way. It concerns the pursuit of love and family, and the geography of the American dream in our time.

Griffin’s recordings include Living With Ghosts, Flaming Red, 1000 Kisses, and Impossible Dream, the last two of which received Grammy nominations; her songs have been featured in several films (including Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown) and television shows. Bunin is the author of such plays as The Busy World is Hushed, The World Over, and The Credeaux Canvas. Mayer’s Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Side Man, A View From the Bridge, and Triumph of Love; he also directed the Duncan Sheik-Steven Sater musical Spring Awakening, which recently concluded an extended engagement at Atlantic and will move to Broadway this season.