Old Globe Executive Producer Lou Spisto today announced the complete cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow's Whisper House. Emmy Award winner Mare Winningham headlines the new musical, Sheik's follow-up to his Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway sensation, Spring Awakening. Peter Askin helms the show, with music and lyrics by Sheik and book and lyrics by Jarrow. The musical director is Jason Hart and the dance director is Wesley Fata. Whisper House will run in the Old Globe Theatre Jan. 13 - Feb. 21. Previews run Jan. 13 - Jan. 20. Opening night is Jan. 21 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to Whisper House are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets will go on sale on Dec. 13 at noon and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office.
Sheik will also perform in concert at the Globe prior to the run of Whisper House with special guest,
David Poe. Sheik has toured extensively this year and will perform songs from Whisper House and his other acclaimed albums. His concept album for Whisper House was released earlier this year on RCA Victor. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Globe's education activities. Tickets to
Duncan Sheik in Concert are currently on sale to subscribers only. Single tickets will go on sale Friday, Dec. 11 at noon.
Set in 1942 at the height of World War II, Whisper House is the story of an 11-year-old boy, Christopher, who lives with his Aunt Lilly in a haunted New England lighthouse following the death of his father. All of the songs in the musical are performed by the ghosts, played by
David Poe and
Holly Brook, and embody the boy's subconscious thoughts and fears. When Christopher begins to hear strange music seeping through the walls, is his imagination getting the best of him, or is he receiving warnings of 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.
Mare Winningham is currently appearing in the world premiere of the
Frank Wildhorn musical, Bonnie and Clyde, at
La Jolla Playhouse. She last appeared at
The Old Globe as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie and will play Lilly in Whisper House. Winningham has appeared on stage, screen, and in over 60 movies for television. Her work has earned an Academy Award nomination (Georgia) and two Emmy Awards (Wallace, Amber Waves), among others. For her New York stage debut in Atlantic Theater's musical 10 Million Miles, Winningham received the
Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination in 2008. As a singer/songwriter, Winningham most recently released an album of original Jewish Country/Folk songs, "Refuge Rock Sublime."
In addition to Brook, Poe and Winningham, the cast includes Arthur Acuña (Yasuhiro),
Kevin Hoffman (Lieutenant Rando),
TEd Koch (Charles) and Eric Brent Zutty (Christopher).
The Whisper House creative team includes
Michael Schweikardt (Scenic Design),
Jenny Mannis (Costume Design),
Matt Richards (Lighting Design),
Dan Moses Schreier (Sound Design) and
Richard Costabile (Stage Manager).
Duncan Sheik initially found success as a singer, most notably for his 1996 debut single, "Barely Breathing," which spent 55 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100. He has since expanded his work to include compositions for motion pictures and the Broadway stage. Sheik won two Tony Awards, as composer and arranger, for the Broadway production of Spring Awakening. Written with lyricist
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening also received the Tony Award for Best Musical. Sheik and Sater's creative partnership began with the album, Phantom Moon, released on Nonesuch in 2000. They are currently developing two new musical theater projects. Nero (Another Golden Rome) had a workshop production this summer at
Vassar College, featuring Wicked star
Idina Menzel and Spring Awakening ingénue
Lea Michele. Their other project, The Nightingale, is slated for a 2010 opening at San Francisco's
American Conservatory Theater. His albums include "
Duncan Sheik" (1996), "Humming" (1998), "Phantom Moon" (2001), "Daylight" (2002), "White Limousine" (2006), "Brighter/Later: A
Duncan Sheik Anthology" (2006) and "Greatest Hits: A
Duncan Sheik Collection" (2007).
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. Jarrow'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). Jarrow's playwriting work encompasses both musical theater and straight plays, and has been presented at New York Theatre Workshop, Performance Space 122, The
John Houseman Theatre,
American Repertory Theatre,
Williamstown Theatre Festival, Abron Arts Center,
HERE Arts Center, Boston Theatre Works,
New Dramatists, The Flea, The Hangar Theatre and Dad's Garage in Atlanta, among others. He's particularly well-known for incorporating rock and pop music into the theater, a topic that he's written and spoken about widely. Jarrow was a 2005-2006
Dramatists Guild Fellow. He was nominated for a 2004 Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award and a 2004 Back
Stage West Garland Award, and was runner-up for the 2002 Princess Grace Playwriting Award. He was winner of the 2001
John Golden Prize. He's a co-founder of the indie publishing company Awkward Press. Jarrow has guest-lectured at Juilliard, Pratt, and
The Actors Studio. Jarrow has developed film and TV projects for ABC, Paramount, Touchstone, Fox TV, and Deline Pictures among others, and his debut indie film Armless (directed by Habib Azar) is a selection of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. His band The Fabulous Entourage appeared as part of the 2006 Whitney Biennial, on the Knitting Factory Mainstage, at Joe's Pub, Viper Room, Bowery Ballroom, and with bands such as Hot Chip and We Are Scientists, and put out an album called Play Nice Now. Jarrow can also be heard on the "This Drama" EP from Super Mirage and the album "There Will Come Soft Rains" from his synth pop side project Krakow! Jarrow also produced the cast album of A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he majored in religious studies.
Peter Askin's NY stage credits include
John Leguizamo's Sexaholix, Spic-O-Rama (Drama Desk Award) and Mambo Mouth (Obie, Outer Critics' awards);
Paul Weitz's Show People and Privilege; Pulitzer Prize finalist
Dael Orlandersmith's Monster and Beauty's Daughter (Obie Award), as well as her play The Gimmick (conceived and directed). Other credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Trumbo and
Eve Ensler's The Good Body. Askin's upcoming projects include
Stephen King and
John Mellencamp's The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County. He has directed regionally at Goodman Theater,
American Conservatory Theater,
Seattle Repertory Theatre,
McCarter Theatre Center,
Ahmanson Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse and Dorset Theatre Festival. His film and television credits include Smithereens (co-writer), Company Man (co-writer, director) and Trumbo (director) and HBO's "Spic-O-Rama."
Jason Hart has toured internationally with
Rufus Wainwright and was a core member of Mercury-Prize winners Antony and
The Johnsons. His other performing and/or recording credits include
Gavin DeGraw,
Elton John,
Lou Reed, Keren Ann,
Kris Kristofferson, the B52's and others. His theater credits include Burleigh Grimes at New World Stages (keys, bass and guitar), Medea: In Concert at New York University (original music, musical direction) and The Shadow at the High School of the Performing Arts (original music, musical direction). Hart is also a songwriter and recording artist whose debut CD is entitled "If I Were You".
Wesley Fata has choreographed several productions at
The Old Globe including the 2008 Shakespeare Festival and
Stephen Sondheim's Marry Me a Little. His Broadway credits include Master Harold...and the Boys (dir.
Athol Fugard);
David Merrick's I Won't Dance (dir.
Tom O'Horgan); The News, Senator Joe (dir.
Tom O'Horgan); and Hair (assistant director/choreographer, original production). Fata's regional credits include
James Lapine's 12 Dreams, Public Theatre;
Gertrude Stein (dir.
James Lapine), New York Theatre of the Eye; Lost in the Stars (dir.
Arvin Brown); Camille with
Kathleen Turner,
Long Wharf Theatre; Travels With My Aunt (with
Jim Dale), Minetta Lane Theater; and Capitol Cakewalk, Vineyard Theater. He has also choreographed numerous operas including Les Troyens, Vienna State Opera; A Soldiers Tale (cond. Gerald Schwartz),
Carnegie Hall;
Leonard Bernstein's Mass, Kennedy Center (10th anniversary production); and Daphne and News of the Day, Santa Fe Opera. His film credits include The Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy and The Good Shepherd (co-choreographed with
Julie Arenal; dir.
Robert De Niro). Fata has taught at the Yale School of Drama for 32 years and has choreographed as many plays there.
TICKETS to Whisper House are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale at noon on Dec. 13 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on Jan. 13 and continue through Feb. 21. Ticket prices range from $36 to $89. Performance times: Previews: Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 14 at 8:00 p.m., Friday, Jan. 15, at 8:00 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.
TICKETS to
Duncan Sheik in Concert are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale at noon on Dec. 11 and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Ticket prices for the Jan. 11 8:00 p.m. concert are $25, $45 and $75. $75 seats include a post-show meet and greet reception with
Duncan Sheik in Hattox Hall. Concert and Whisper House packages are also available for $55, $75 and $105. The $105 package also includes the post-show meet and greet reception with
Duncan Sheik.
The Globe's year-long 75th Anniversary celebration will begin with the recently announced 2010 Summer Season. Acclaimed director
Adrian Noble is the Artistic Director of the 2010 Shakespeare Festival and will direct Shakespeare's King Lear (June 12 - Sept. 23) and
Alan Bennett's The Madness of George III (June 19 - Sept. 24). Presented in repertory, the Shakespeare Festival will also include The Taming of the Shrew (June 16 - Sept. 26). The season also features the World Premiere of the Broadway-bound musical, Robin and the 7 Hoods (July 14 - Aug. 22) directed by
Casey Nicholaw with lyrics by
Sammy Cahn and music by
Jimmy Van Heusen, and the West Coast Premiere of The Last Romance (July 30 - Sept. 5), a romantic comedy by
Joe DiPietro starring television icon,
Marion Ross. Tickets to the Globe's 2010 Summer Season are currently available by subscription only.
SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS offer substantial savings with special subscriber benefits. Subscriptions can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623] or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Subscriptions to the Globe's Summer Season range from $75 to $365. Five-play packages range from $146 to $365. Four-play packages (Festival plus musical) range from $117 to $309. Shakespeare Festival packages (3 plays) range from $75 to $225. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and younger, seniors and groups of 10 or more.
LOCATION:
The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are several free parking lots available throughout the park. Valet parking is also available ($10). For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org.
CALENDAR:
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (11/21-12/27), I Do! I Do! (12/11-12/20),
Duncan Sheik in Concert (1/11), Whisper House (1/13-2/21), Lost in Yonkers (1/23-2/28), Street Lights (2/20-2/28), Boeing-Boeing (3/13-4/18).
The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for 74 years. Under the direction of Executive Producer
Louis G. Spisto,
The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the 600-seat
Old Globe Theatre, the 250-seat Sheryl and
Harvey White Theatre and the 612-seat outdoor Lowell Davies
Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair, and the annual holiday musical,
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, have been developed at
The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
ARTHUR ACUÑA (Yasuhiro) just finished a competition short (Philippine entry) for the ASEAN-ROK Film Festival in Korea next year. He also appeared as Lihn at
Goodman Theatre's world premiere of Ghostwritten, after a workshop production in Sundance 2006. Some other recent credits include: Two September and Most Wanted at
La Jolla Playhouse, and received an Obie Award for The Romance of Magno Rubio in the role of Nick. His international credits include the lead in
David Henry Hwang's The Golden Child in Manila, Philippines. He also played leads in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Real Thing with Repertory Philippines. Some of Acuña's film credits include: To Maritina, Rigodon, Batang West Side (as Bartolo) at the Manila International Film Festival (for which he received the Best Actor Award). Television roles include: "Law and Order", "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", "Third Watch", "As the World Turns", "Stella", "To Maritina" and "One Life to Live." Acuña will be playing the role of Macario Locsin in the next John Sayles film to be shot next year.
Holly Brook (Female Ghost) is a Wisconsin native and lives on the southern coast of Oregon, deep in the woods, with her own little recording studio. After seven years of bouncing between LA, New York and tour, she left the over-stimulating, empty promise-lands to nurture her creative muses and refocus on what's really important. Brook had three independent albums under her belt by age fifteen, in mother-daughter duo, "Generations". At 19, she was recognized worldwide for her vocal contribution on a song called, "Where'd You Go," by Fort Minor, which was a
Linkin Park side project. Soon after she released her debut solo record, "Like Blood Like Honey", on Machine Shop Records/Warner Bros., she teamed up with
Duncan Sheik. Together, they've worked on many projects and have toured the country numerous times. She is the featured female vocalist on the "Whisper House" album. Brook is currently awaiting the release of her new album, "O'Dark Thirty" for which Sheik has had a major hand in producing (date TBA). This is Brook's first step back into a theater production in 10 years, when she participated in a dozen or so community theater musicals.
Kevin Hoffman (Lieutenant Rando) has appeared at
The Old Globe in Twelfth Night (Sebastian), Cyrano de Bergerac (Musketeer), Coriolanus (Senator) and Six Degrees of Separation (Ben). He most recently played Speed in The Two Gentlemen of Verona with
The Old Globe/USD Professional Actor Training Program where he was also seen in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Greeks: The Murders. Regionally, Hoffman has performed in Antony and Cleopatra and Merry Wives of Windsor at The Theater at Monmouth, as well as Proof at Barksdale Theatre. His TV credits include "As the World Turns" and "All My Children." His many commercials include Sony, Callaway Golf, and Fidelity Financial. Hoffman holds a BFA in Acting from Elon University.
TEd Koch (Charles) has appeared in several Broadway productions including: The Pillowman, Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. His Off Broadway credits include: Meshugah,
Naked Angels; The Chaos Theories, Shotgun Productions; Topsy Turvy Mouse, Cherry Lane Theater. His national tours include: Frost/Nixon, Death of a Salesman. Koch as also appeared in the following regional production: The Front Page and Sweet Bird of Youth,
Williamstown Theater Festival; True West,
Arena Stage (
Helen Hayes Nomination- Outstanding lead Actor); Pig Farm and Sea of Tranquility,
The Old Globe; Ella, Crossroads Theatre; Broadway, Pittsburgh Public; A Streetcar Named Desire,
Studio Arena Theatre; The Fair Maid of the West and Orphans, CT-20 Ensemble (
Joseph Jefferson Award- Best Actor); As You Like It, the
Goodman Theatre; Guys and Dolls,
North Carolina Theatre; Macbeth, Burning Chrome and All's Well That Ends Well. TV and film credits include: "Gossip Girl", "Cashmere Mafia", "The Sopranos", "The West Wing", "Law & Order", "Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "Ed", "Third Watch", "Hack", "One Life to Live", "Guiding Light", "Chicago Hope", "Early Edition," Cold Souls, Collar, A Crime, Griffin and Phoenix, Hannibal, Autumn in New York, Dinner Rush, Stranger and Death of a Salesman for Showtime.
David Poe (Lead Singer Ghost) is a songwriter, performing musician, producer and composer for film and dance. Transplanted from the American Midwest to New York City, Poe served as the sound engineer at CBGB before being signed to Sony Music. He has released five critically-acclaimed studio albums and two live albums: his debut, "
David Poe" (Sony/550 1997), produced by T-Bone Burnett, "The Late Album" (Sony/Epic 2002), "Love Is Red" (Universal/Fuel 2004), "
David Poe Live & Solo" (The Artists Den 2005) a live performance DVD, "
David Poe Onstage at World Café" (Universal/Decca 2006), and two commissioned works for dance: "The Copier: Music for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet" (2008) and "Shadowland: Music for Pilobolus," (2009) the company's first-ever full-length shadow dance piece, currently on tour. Poe has produced recordings for Regina Spektor,
Joseph Arthur and Kraig Jarret Johnson, collaborated with several other songwriters, including T-Bone Burnett,
Grace Potter and Reni Lane and scored five films, including The Brooklyn Heist, Dare and the forthcoming Harvest, with longtime collaborator
Duncan Sheik. In 2009,
The Sundance Institute named him a composer fellow for his film score work. His songs have taken him around the globe as support act for
Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and
Tori Amos and have been featured in numerous film and television soundtracks: Transamerica, "The OC", "Dawson's Creek", Seibutsu: Still Life, Jesus Henry Christ and
Sam Shepard's play The Tooth of Crime (Second Dance). A new
David Poe CD will be released this fall.
Mare Winningham (Lilly) is currently appearing in the world premiere of
Frank Wildhorn's musical, Bonnie and Clyde, at
La Jolla Playhouse. She has appeared on stage, screen, and in over 60 movies for television. Her work has earned an Academy Award nomination (Georgia) and two Emmy Awards (Wallace, Amber Waves), among others. For her New York stage debut in Atlantic Theater's musical 10 Million Miles, Winningham received the
Lucille Lortel Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination in 2008. As a singer/songwriter, Winningham most recently released an album of original Jewish Country/Folk songs, "Refuge Rock Sublime."
ERIC BRENT ZUTTY (Christopher) is a 14-year-old student at Community Middle School from Princeton NJ and is thrilled to join the cast of Whisper House as Christopher at the
Old Globe Theatre. He has played the role of Aaron Carson in the New York City production of Trouble in Shameland, and has appeared in TV shows such as "Law and Order: SVU," "One Life to Live" and "Late Night with
Conan O'Brien."
