RIALTO CHATTER: Sheik's 'WHISPER HOUSE' to 'Haunt' Old Globe in Jan. 2010?

Grammy and Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik talked to Newsday.com about his new CD, Whisper House and its future as a theatrical piece. During the interview Sheik reveals that Whisper House looks set to bow at the Old Globe theater in San Diego in January 2010, to read the entire Newsday.com feature, click here.

To watch an exclusive video of the Whisper House song, "EARTHBOUND STARLIGHT" on BWW TV visit here.

The collection of songs was written for the future stage production. Whisper House marks Sheik's first solo album since 2006's White Limousine and comes on the heels of the success of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening.

On Whisper House, Sheik employs a narrative approach to songwriting, combining elements of the chamber pop that first brought him critical and commercial acclaim.

Much like Spring Awakening, which the New York Times praised as a deft blend of straight-up rock, folk and melodic pop, Whisper House is just as much a pop record as it is a musical theatre composition.

Structured as a melodrama, each of the 10 songs on the album weave together to tell the story of a child's grief and spinster's longing as seen through the eyes of the ghosts that haunt the remote, World War II-era Maine lighthouse where they live. Singer-keyboardist Holly Brooke plays a prominent role alongside Sheik on several of the songs.

Sheik is currently performing the Whisper House songs on the road. The tracklist includes; "It's Better to Be Dead", "We're Here to Tell You", "And Now We Sing", "The Tale of Solomon Snell", "Earthbound Starlight", "Play Your Part", "You've Really Gone and Done It Now", "How It Feels", "I Don't Believe In You", "Take A Bow".

After an amazing run from Off-Broadway sleeper to Tony Award-winning Best Musical Spring Awakening, his groundbreaking musical hit, closed on Broadway on Sunday, January 18th, 2009.

This past fall marked the launch of the First National Touring Company, which premiered at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco and opens in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre on October 30th.The tour's upcoming schedule includes Tempe, AZ, Chicago, Boston, Tampa, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Washington, DC among many other stops and is currently booked through the end of 2009.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.