True Blood creator Alan Ball is spilling the beans on the impending musical version of the hit HBO series.
While delivering a live commentary at a 10th-anniversary screening of the TV show’s pilot episode at Vulture Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, Ball revealed some details about the musical, which has been in the works since 2014.
“It tells the story of vampires coming out of the closet, and [Sookie and Bill’s] love story,” Ball said of the stage play’s plot. “Ultimately, it really departs from the books [in which the TV series is based on] and follows vampires not being good for this society, so they end up going back in the closet.” Given the unhappy ending, Ball said that the musical’s storyline is much like an opera.
As for the music, Ball said that what he has heard so far has been “pretty good.”
Though Ball didn’t mention whether he has any sort of involvement with the musical, he did say that the project is still being workshopped.
Theater director Pam MacKinnon reportedly staged a workshop for the musical in 2016, which was participated by Night Court star Ellen Foley, Bonnie & Clyde actor Claybourne Elder, and Avenue Q actress Ann Harada, among many others.
While True Blood was a big hit as on the small screen, some Broadway enthusiasts think that the musical version of the TV series would likely have a hard time luring audiences as previous vampire-themed stage plays like Dance of the Vampires and Lestat didn’t do very well at the box office.