'Ghost' takes stage

February 28, 2008

The John Mellencamp/Stephen King musical, "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," will open in April 2009 at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre. Mellencamp wrote the score, while King wrote the script. Mellencamp previously said the play, which is set in Lake Belle Reve, Miss., in 1957, is about two brothers who dislike each other intensely. "The father takes them to the family vacation place, a cabin that the boys hadn't been to since they were kids. What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin," he continued. "There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house." "Ghost Brothers" will be directed by Peter Askin ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch"), who hopes to prep the production for an eventual Broadway run. (billboard.com)

Whoopi Goldberg has accepted an apology from producer Gil Cates for not including her in a montage featuring Oscar hosts during Sunday's Academy Awards telecast. Cates called her Tuesday and "talked about the fact that he had made an oversight, pure and simple. He said, 'You know I love you,' " Goldberg said yesterday on ABC daytime talk show "The View." Goldberg said she has "moved on" since choking up on Monday's show when her cohosts discussed how she was left out of the clip. The 52-year-old actress-comedian hosted the Oscars in 1994, 1996, 1999, and 2002. (AP)

Want Michael Jackson's merry-go-round? How about his locomotive or his curtains? Those items and more could hit the auction block next month as the pop star's Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, Calif., will be put up for public sale unless Jackson pays the more than $24 million he still owes on the 2,500-acre property. Financial Title Co. filed the notice of trustee's sale with Santa Barbara County Superior Court, setting the auction date for March 19. If the property does go to auction, the initial asking price could be higher than the $24.5 million Jackson owes because of interest due and other costs, according to the filing. (AP)

Tommy Hilfiger has put his Greenwich, Conn., estate on the market. Sotheby's International Realty said the fashion designer's gated Stone Hill estate is listed at $28 million. The 20,000-square-foot home has eight bedrooms and eight bathrooms. There is also a swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court, lush gardens, and a 2,000-bottle wine cellar. Hilfiger has lived in Greenwich for more than 10 years. (AP)

"It's very freeing to play a supporting character. Those are the kind of parts I came up playing, so it was kind of nice to return to that." - Reese Witherspoon, referring to her role in the movie "Penelope," which stars Christina Ricci.