Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil begins June 25!
When author John Berendt showed the manuscript of his true-crime book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil to his agent in the early 1990s, she opined that it was too “local.” And indeed, the book focuses exclusively on the denizens of Savannah, Georgia, a city that served as a crucible for America’s racial tensions and today is known for both its meticulously restored architecture and the ghosts—literal and figurative—that haunt its striking buildings. But when the book was eventually published in 1994, readers embraced its localness, reveling in the specificity of the colorful characters that Berendt so skillfully brought to vivid life. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil spent 216 weeks on The New York Times Bestseller list and sold more than four million copies. Later, in 1997 Clint Eastwood would direct and produce a film version of the story and now, 30 years after the book’s publication, it is revivified as a musical that is as thought-provoking as it is spectacular.
The (mostly) true-to-life events of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil center around Jim Williams, an antique dealer and restorer of historic houses. In the 1980s when the events of the book unfolded, Jim lived in Mercer House, a Civil War-era Italianate home that he restored so beautifully that it was featured in Architectural Digest. By the time Berendt arrived in Savannah in 1985 to conduct research for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Jim had been accused of a serious crime and was ensnared in what eventually turned out to be four separate trials. Berendt was so entranced by the locals that he uprooted his life from New York City and temporarily moved to Savannah. The former editor of New York Magazine was in his 40s at the time and had already enjoyed a successful career as a journalist. After renting an apartment in Savannah, he put his investigative skills to use by interviewing the locals and weaving their stories together to create a non-fiction narrative that showcased Savannah in all its multifaceted splendor and darkness. The characters represent different cross-sections of the city: some are Black, white, straight, gay, down-on-their-luck, wealthy and powerful. Together, they form a portrait of Savannah, which serves as a microcosm for the United States of America–a nation less cohesive than its name implies.
Reviewers of the book praised Berendt’s elegant writing, with one noting that “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to call a travel agent and book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime.” In fact, Savannah saw an enormous uptick in tourism in the years following the book’s publication and interest in the city hasn’t abated since. While an estimated five million people visited Savannah each year before the book’s publication, 17 million visited in 2022. Mercer House–where Jim Williams once lived and eventually died–is now called Mercer-Williams House and tourists congregate to see the scene of Williams’ crime, as much as to see the 1860s architecture that was originally commissioned by Confederate general Hugh Mercer (great-great-grandfather to legendary songwriter Johnny Mercer).
Although Eastwood adapted the book into a film fairly quickly–capitalizing on the book’s prominent place in 1990s culture–this new musical iteration comes a full 30 years after readers first fell in love with the characters and story. A full generation has grown up with the story on their bookshelves and their screens. Those fans now have the opportunity to see the story brought to life by some of theater’s most renowned artists: composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, bookwriter Taylor Mac, choreographer Tanya Birl and director Rob Ashford. And those who haven’t read the book or seen the movie can discover for the first time Berendt’s extraordinary narrative tapestry and its reminder that truth is often at least as strange as fiction.
Neena Arndt is the Resident Dramaturg for Goodman Theatre.
