Evan Rachel Wood to Lead Presentation of Black Sun, New Musical from Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz

Evan Rachel Wood will star in a presentation of Black Sun, the first stage musical by Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, according to the Los Angeles Times. A collaboration between Duritz and playwright Stephen Belber (Fault Lines, Tape), Black Sun is scheduled to be presented August 11 at the Ojai Playwrights Conference.

The musical follows a group of eight New Yorkers who must deal with the sudden disappearance of the sun. Joining Wood in the piece will be TV leading man Rob Morrow (Numb3rs, Northern Exposure), Broadway vet James Carpinello (Rock of Ages), Gina Loring and Liam Springthorpe.

Wood is perhaps best known for her roles in HBO hits True Blood and Mildred Pierce. Other film credits include The Wrestler, Across the Universe, Thirteen and the upcoming The Ides of March, based on Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North. Wood was originally cast as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, but withdrew before the musical began performances on Broadway.

In addition to Black Sun, the 2011 Ojai conference will feature works in progress from playwrights Bill Cain, Danai Gurira, Sarah Treem, Ken Lin, Rick Cleveland, Greg Boyle and Don Nguyen. It is scheduled to begin on August 2, with public presentations running August 9 to 14.

Two notable plays recently developed at the Ojai conference are Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherf**ker With the Hat, which recently closed on Broadway, and Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, which opens on Broadway this fall.