John Gallagher Jr. & Stark Sands to Star in World Premiere Avett Brothers Musical Swept Away at Berkeley Rep

John Gallagher Jr. and Stark Sands, strong-voiced Broadway stars who previously shared the stage in the Green Day-scored musical American Idiot, have been selected to headline the new Avett Brothers musical, Swept Away, debuting next year at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The previously announced world premiere, directed by Michael Mayer (who helmed American Idiot), will play the Berkeley, CA theater beginning on June 14, 2020.

"I've so enjoyed my past collaborations with Johnny and Stark," said Mayer, "that I'm even more excited to make this new show with them next year."

Gallagher, a Tony winner for his turn in Spring Awakening (under Mayer's direction), has also appeared on Broadway in Long Day's Journey into Night, Rabbit Hole and Jerusalem.

Sands, currently appearing on Broadway in To Kill a Mockingbird, earned Tony nominations for Kinky Boots and Journey's End.

With a book by Tony winner John Logan (Red, Moulin Rouge!) and featuring the music of the Avett Brothers, Swept Away is set in 1888, off the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship, the four surviving souls—a young man in search of adventure, his older brother who has sworn to protect him, a captain at the end of a long career at sea and a worldly first mate who has fallen from grace—each face a reckoning.

The Avett Brothers made mainstream waves with their major-label debut, I and Love and You, later earning acclaim for The Carpenter, Magpie and the Dandelion and True Sadness, which achieved their highest career debut to date.

Swept Away will feature music arrangements and orchestrations by Chris Miller and Brian Usifer. Additional casting will be announced soon.