Steve Martin to debut new musical at Old Globe in San Diego

Steve Martin will present the world premiere of his much buzzed about new musical “Bright Star” in September at the Old Globe in San Diego as part of the company’s 2014-15 season, which was announced on Thursday.

“Bright Star,” which Martin is writing with Edie Brickell, had been expected to debut at the Old Globe after the company held workshop performances earlier this year in New York. The musical, which runs from Sep. 13 to Nov. 2, had also been workshopped at the Powerhouse Theatre in upstate New York.

Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the musical focuses on a young man returning from war and the secrets of his past. Martin and Brickell recently collaborated on the bluegrass album “Love Has Come From You,” the title track of which won a Grammy Award this year in the category of American roots song.

PHOTOS: From screen to stage - Musical movie adaptations

“Bright Star” will feature some songs from the album as well as other songs not in album. Martin and Brickell won’t appear in the Old Globe’s production of the musical, which will be directed by Walter Bobbie.

The Old Globe will also present Mary Zimmerman’s “The White Snake” (March 21 to April 26, 2015). The piece, inspired by a Chinese fable, has been presented at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the McCarter Theater in New Jersey.

“The Twenty-Seventh Man,” a drama about Jewish writers in Stalinist Russia, will receive its West Coast premiere (Feb. 14 to March 15, 2015). Written by Nathan Englander, the play was produced by the Public Theater in New York in 2012.

The season will also include productions of the musical mystery “Murder for Two” (Jan. 24 to March 1, 2015); George Bernard Shaw’s “Arms and the Man” (May 9 to June 14); “The Royale” (Oct. 4 to Nov. 2), the boxing drama that was presented last year at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City; and the play “Buyer and Cellar” (April 4 to May 3, 2015).

An additional play will be announced at a later date. The Old Globe’s annual holiday production of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” will be performed Nov. 15 to Dec. 27.

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