The songs "Goodbye My Honey", "Johnny is My Darling", "Where is My Soldier Boy?", and "Why Did They Die?" are listed as actually performed. They do not appear in the proper order in any program. All of them, with "Bonnie Blue Flag", are sung at once as "Atlanta Burning".
The score is based on folk songs of the South.
In 1958, David O. Selznick (producer of the film version of the novel) contacted Harold Rome about writing a stage adaptation. Rome declined feeling that the film was still too fresh in people's minds.
When Selznick's option on the stage rights lapsed, they were taken up by Toho Corporation of Japan. They produced a straight play adaptation in 1966. Rome was brought in along with Joe Layton (who had wanted to stage a ballet based on the novel) to discuss writing a musical.
Composer Harold Rome said during the show's 1976 tour that the history of it had been the "longest out-of-town tryout in history". By 1976, the show had opened in Tokyo and played on three continents.
After each production, the score and lyrics were substantially revised.
Harold Rome told the New York Times in 1976 that he planned to offer the song "A Time for Healing" to Jimmy Carter for his campaign.
Originally performed in Tokyo as a play which was as a two-part stage extravaganza and ran a total of 13 hours.
