WHISPER HOUSE: Kyle's Blog Begins

Grammy and Tony award-winning songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik returns with his new album WHISPER HOUSE, from Sony Music. WHISPER HOUSE marks Sheik's first solo album since 2006's critically-acclaimed White Limousine and comes on the heels of the success of Spring Awakening. WHISPER HOUSE, which will have its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre in January 2010, is a collaboration with up-and-coming young playwright Kyle Jarrow, already an Obie winner for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant.

It's 1942 - at the height of World War II- and Christopher, an imaginative young boy, is sent to live with an aunt he's never met: Lilly, a reclusive woman who serves as the keeper of a remote lighthouse. Not yet comfortable in his surroundings, Christopher begins to hear strange music no one else can hear seeping through the walls. It doesn't take long for him to suspect the lighthouse may be haunted, and these ghosts tell him that Yasujiro, a Japanese worker that Lilly has employed, should not be trusted. Is Christopher's imagination getting the best of him? Or are these ghosts warning Christopher about the very real dangers that lie ahead? Whisper House is a touching and beautiful story about how we should embrace, rather than fear, the unknown.

BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you Kyle's exclusive WHISPER HOUSE Blog!

The early stages of creating the new musical WHISPER HOUSE were not so different from Weekend at Bernie's. Which is to say: they involved a beach house and three men. However, unlike Weekend at Bernie's, no one died. Back in January 2008, Duncan Sheik (music & lyrics), myself (book & lyrics), and director Keith Powell (who some may also know from his work as an actor playing Twofer in Thirty Rock) holed up for ten days in a beach house outside of Charleston, SC while I worked on a second draft of the script and Duncan started writing the songs for the piece. That was a little over a year ago. Now the record of the songs from the show has just been released and we're moving toward a first production. And luckily, still no one has died. Unfortunately, some of the characters in the play aren't so lucky.

WHISPER HOUSE is set in 1942 at a rickety old lighthouse on the New England coast. The protagonist is eleven-year-old Christopher, an imaginative but melancholy child whose father recently died in the war. While his mother copes with her grief, Christopher is sent to live with an aunt he's never met: Lilly, the reclusive woman who serves as the keeper of this remote lighthouse. It doesn't take long for Christopher to realize his aunt has little experience with or patience for children. To make matters worse, the lighthouse is also home to Yasujiro, a Japanese immigrant who works for Lilly and whom Christopher suspects may be a spy.

Soon after his arrival, Christopher worries that his new home may be haunted - and, in fact, it is. The story is presided over by a band of ghosts that only Christopher can see. They serve as a spectral Greek chorus: only singing, never speaking. The ghosts are the only people in the show who sing. They represent Christopher's subconscious thoughts, articulating his fears and doubts with a cheerfully macabre wit. Using the ghosts as a chorus, like this, also provided an opportunity to approach the musical theater form from a slightly different angle-we looked back to Brecht for inspiration and chose to have the music stand separate from and as commentary on the action.

The show draws inspiration from two true pieces of history. First, that German U-Boats were active off the East Coast during 1942, sinking several ships and engaging in battle with US Naval forces, suddenly making lighthouses an important part of the war effort. Second, in February 1942 President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, instructing the military to create high security zones in which no foreign nationals from Germany, Italy, or Japan were allowed to live.

In addition to its nontraditional integration of music and dialogue, WHISPER HOUSE went a nontraditional route by releasing the songs as a concept album before the first production. There is a precedent for this kind of thing-shows like Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Chess were also released as albums before they were staged. Randy Newman's Faust is a more recent example. WHISPER HOUSE seemed like a natural choice for this treatment, even moreso than those other shows, because of the fact that only two characters sing: a male ghost with female backup. On the record, Duncan sings the male ghost's parts, with backup vocals from the awesome Holly Brook. Duncan, Holly and a full band are currently on the road touring the record, with Lauren Pritchard & Friends (including Holly Brook, Louis Schwadron, and Ben Kalb) opening. You can find tour dates and more information at http://www.duncansheik.com and you can purchase the Whisper House record at www.duncansheik.com/whisperhouse . And keep checking back here for more blog entries in the coming weeks!

-Kyle Jarrow, 2/20/09

Kyle Jarrow is a writer and musician based in New York City. He writes for the stage as well as film and television, and he plays in the bands The Fabulous Entourage and Super Mirage. He won the prestigious OBIE Award at age 24 for his Off-Broadway hit A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, which has subsequently been produced all over the country. Kyle's play Armless won the Overall Excellence Award at the New York International Fringe Festival. Other plays include Love Kills, Trigger, President Harding is a Rock Star, Rip Me Open (co-writer), Hostage Song (music & lyrics), Gorilla Man (script available from Samuel French), and the upcoming Big Money (with Nathan Leigh) and Whisper House (with Tony-winner Duncan Sheik, record now available from RCA/Victor).

For more information on Whisper House visit: www.duncansheik.com/whisperhouse

For more information on Kyle visit: www.landoftrust.com

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