'True Blood' might be headed for a musical afterlife
LOS ANGELES — Like the vampires it portrays, “True Blood” won’t seem to die. Even if it means breaking out in song.
After the final scene of the upcoming final season of “True Blood,” fans may be able to take another fresh bite out of the HBO vampire drama.
In the works: “‘True Blood’: The Musical.” Seriously.
“This was something that I pitched to HBO and (show creator) Alan Ball,” said composer Nathan Barr, speaking on the arrivals line at the “True Blood” season premiere Tuesday night in Hollywood. Barr has written the instrumental scores for the series’ entire seven seasons, the last of which debuts at 9 p.m. Sunday.
Barr said the musical will revolve around protagonist, telepath and waitress Sookie Stackhouse, portrayed in the series by Anna Paquin. But, Barr added, after seven seasons of twists, turns and characters for Sookie, it’s proven a challenge to trim the saga down.
“I think we’re really going to try to return to the roots of the show,” Barr commented.
“True Blood” co-star Stephen Moyer, who showed off his vocal chops last year on NBC’s highly rated live telecast of “The Sound of Music,” revealed he helped Barr put together some samples of the “True Blood” musical presented to HBO and Ball. Moyer plays vampire Bill Compton in the series.
Barr said he hopes to present a workshop version about a year from now, but he’s not looking beyond that. To say this is “Broadway bound” is premature.
“There’s no guarantees,” he warned. “But I think the direction we’re heading in is really exciting.”
Through its seven seaons, “True Blood” has chronicled the adventures of Paquin’s character as she encounters the various vampires, werewolves, witches and other creatures that populate her backwoods Louisiana home. In the story, the creation of synthetic blood allows vampires to reveal their existence on the basis that they no longer need human blood to survive.
Author Charlaine Harris, whose novels were the basis for the show, published her 13th and final Sookie Stackhouse novel last May. One final book, called “After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse,” was published in October and served as a kind of epilogue.
