The creation of the play King Mackerel and the Blues Are Running: Songs and Stories from the Carolina Coast and its path to the stage feel ever so close to a “big fish” tale. It all started in 1984 when beach music group The Embers hired the team of Bland Simpson, Jim Wann and Don Dixon to write songs and material. The resulting yarn of good old boy singing fishermen The Coastal Cohorts was too ambitious for the band to stage, so the writers performed it themselves, and it’s remained a regional favorite for more than three decades. The trio of Charlie Flynn-McIver, Ben Mackel and Joel P. Rogers headline the play at North Carolina Stage Company under the direction of Neela Muñoz. The show runs Wednesday, Sept. 20, through Sunday, Oct. 8, Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. with additional Saturday matinees on Sept. 30 and Oct. 7. $16-34. ncstage.org. Photo by Nina Swann Photography
Smart Bets: King Mackerel and the Blues Are Running
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