WHISPER HOUSE: Kyle's Second Blog Entry

Grammy and Tony award-winning songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik returns with his new album WHISPER HOUSE, which hit stores on January 27 from Victor Records/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. The idea for WHISPER HOUSE came about when actor Keith Powell (30 Rock) approached Sheik about developing a musical theatre piece with him.

Following a trip Powell took to New England, a story began to emerge centered around a lighthouse, and up-and-coming young playwright Kyle Jarrow, already an Obie winner for A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant, signed on to create the book. BroadwayWorld is excited to bring you Kyle's exclusive WHISPER HOUSE Blog following the show from it's inception through the tentatively scheduled Broadway Production in 2010, now continue the journey with Kyle to WHISPER HOUSE!

This past weekend I was out in Seattle and got to see one of Duncan's shows on the Whisper House tour, at a venue called the Triple Door. The place is a little like Joe's Pub-sit-down crowd, dinner-but larger. A big, responsive, enthusiastic audience.

While watching the show, I started thinking about the relationship between theater and rock music. People in my generation (including myself) tend to go see a lot more rock shows than they do theater pieces. This is partly because rock shows are generally cheaper... though that's certainly not always true. I think the main reason is that rock shows provide a feeling of emotional authenticity for the audience, where too often theater doesn't. In a rock show, the performer is playing him- or herself, and interacting directly with the audience. There is no fourth wall, and that allows a greater sense of emotional connection between audience and performer. In an age when there's a profusion of entertainment alternatives, that connection is the thing that makes live performances still attractive. 

So the question is, can you bring that sense of emotional authenticity to the theater, while also servicing narrative? (This is definitely one of the goals of Whisper House.) I think the answer is yes. Music makes it easier. In Whisper House, the songs exist as songs-as opposed to being "sung dialogue" in the course of a scene-and the fourth wall can disappear, to a certain extent, during their performance. By shifting between scenes (where the fourth wall is very much intact) and the ghosts' songs (in which the fourth wall falls away a bit) the hope is to deliver the authentic energy of a rock show experience, as well as an engrossing narrative.

I think combining these two things-the energy of a rock show and a narrative-is the future of the musical theater. At least, it's the future I'd like to see it have. The shows that have managed to do this (shows like In the Heights, Spring Awakening, and Hedwig all come to mind) are the shows that excite younger audiences. The way these pieces have approached this goal, and the way Whisper House will, are by no means the only way to do it. But it seems to me a worthy goal.

-Kyle Jarrow, 3/14/09

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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Masterworks Broadway Newsletter: www.masterworksbroadway.com

Photo of Kyle by Sarah Sloboda