Sheik's WHISPER HOUSE Set For Vassar and NY Stage/Film July Concert Readings, Followed By 2010 Old Globe Premiere
Tony Award and Grammy Award -winning songwriter Duncan Sheik follows up his Broadway
sensation, SPRING AWAKENING, with his new musical WHISPER HOUSE. Concert readings of the production will take place at Vassar and New York Stage and Film's Powerhouse Theater program in Poughkeepsie, NY on the Vassar campus on July 10/11 followed by a debut run at the Old
Globe Theatre in San Diego, CA on January 13 - February 21.
Duncan Sheik introduced the story of Whisper House last January in the form of a CD of the same name. The collection of songs, written specifically for the theatrical production, marked Sheik's first solo album since 2006's critically-acclaimed White Limousine and came on the heels of the success of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening for which Sheik collaborated with lyricist Steven Sater and composed an original score. Described by Variety as "the most startling and exciting rock tuner to hit the boards since 'Rent'," Spring Awakening won eight Tony awards, with Sheik earning two Tony awards for "Best Orchestration" and "Best Original Score" as well as a Grammy award for "Best Musical Show Album." Since the release of the CD, Sheik has been touring across the country with original Spring Awakening cast member Lauren Pritchard and singer-keyboardist Holly Brooke.
The concept 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. Up-and-coming playwright Kyle Jarrow was enlisted to write the script. Sheik wrote most of the music during a writing retreat on an island off of Charleston. A native Southerner, he explains, "Charleston has this history of ghost stories, a southern tradition that I kind of grew up with. I reconnected with it in some way and used that to write the lyrics to these songs. Having this narrative was so much more rich and vital, and it was so much more fun to write from the persona of these ghosts, these dead people, and the whimsical malevolence I could articulate through their voices. That felt really good and was very inspiring."
Duncan Sheik launched his musical career 11 years ago with his self-titled debut album Duncan Sheik, which earned him a Grammy nomination for "Best Male Vocal." He has subsequently garnered
critical accolades for his unique brand of folk-pop music." Sheik's career highlights are featured on a 2-CD collection of songs titled Brighter/Later: A Duncan Sheik Anthology, which was released by Rhino in October of 2006
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