A ‘True Blood’ Musical Is Currently In The Works — Yes, Really.
For those who feel that Sunday nights just aren’t the same without vampires and faeries and werewolves (oh, my!), brace yourselves. Just two years after its final run, HBO is said to be considering a revival of True Blood for a new audience — a Broadway audience, that is.
Report: #TrueBlood to Become Musical https://t.co/ymfhEQoQKk pic.twitter.com/cVnWEJnDWb
— TVLine.com (@TVLine) July 2, 2016
According to a surprising reveal from the New York Post, a musical based on the popular television show, created by Alan Ball and based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by Charlaine Harris, is said to be in the “beginning stages” of being developed for theatergoers. Details are somewhat scarce at the moment, but there are several big pieces to the True Blood musical that have found their way to the public eye.
For starters, music and lyrics will be provided by Nathan Barr, a film and television composer whose tunes were heard throughout the seven-season run of True Blood, and Elizabeth Scott, a popular Young Adult author who penned the novel Living Dead Girl in 2008. Furthermore, the story for the True Blood musical will definitely be taking place in the fictional town of Bon Temps, La., where Sookie Stackhouse (played by Anna Paquin on the small screen), and her many suitors and friends, lived and died (and at times, lived again).
There is also quite a bit of editing that needs to be done, according to sources connected to the production. The current draft of the True Blood musical’s first act is said to be almost 132 pages — way too much for any stage play — but the content has been said to be “fun” and reminiscent of what once made the show so great. Unfortunately, even if Barr and Scott are able to translate the overdrawn “Team Bill vs. Team Eric” battle to a theatrical moment that’s worth it, there is still quite the uphill battle they must face.
Another vampire-themed production, 2002’s Dance With The Vampires, was filled with, “backstage shenanigans that made great column fodder,” Riedel continued. “Based on the movie The Fearless Vampire Killers, the musical had a strong score by Jim Steinman, including his hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” However, “[it] lasted just 56 performances and lost more than $12 million, making it, at the time, one of the costliest flops ever.”
Of course, if we’re really being honest, the source material for the True Blood musical doesn’t really loan us much hope for this going well, either. Initially starting off strong with enthralling story lines and characters who were multi-layered and interesting, latter seasons of True Blood were plagued with horrific plot elements that were either completely unnecessary (why did Tara have to suffer as much as she did?), or straight-up ripped off from other popular, yet equally confusing television series (remember the smoke monster from Season 5?).
Elements of the show were somewhat resettled and remixed following Ball’s stepping down as lead writer before Season 6, but the damage was irreversible by that point. By series end, True Blood was considered by many to be a once-great show that overstayed its welcome by several years.
No word on if any of the show’s cast has plans to sign on, or how the show’s earworm of a theme song, “Bad Things,” will fit inside the narrative of the craziness that is sure to be the True Blood musical, but we’ll keep you all posted.
[Photo by Denis Poroy/Invision/AP]
