Duncan Sheik To Perform 3/18 At SOPAC

Whisper House, a musical theatre production featuring an original score by Grammy and Tony award winning songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik, will have its theatrical debut January 13 at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Sheik received widespread praise for the score upon its release as a solo album last year, with People calling it a "standalone set of artful chamber pop," and The New Yorker declaring him a "brilliant singer-songwriter." Whisper House was written by up-and-coming playwright Kyle Jarrow and directed by Peter Askin (Hedwig and the Angry Inch). Prior to the premiere, Sheik will perform songs from Whisper House with a full band on January 11 at The Old Globe Theatre. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Globe's educational activities. Sheik will take the tour to the East Coast in March. See reverse for details.

The debut of Whisper House comes 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."

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.

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 in 1996 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.

DUNCAN SHEIK tour dates

January 11 The Old Globe Theatre San Diego, CA
March 18 South Orange PAC South Orange, NJ
March 19 Gild Hall Arden, DE
March 20 Landmark on Main Street Port Washington, NY
March 25 Plaza Theater Orlando, FL
March 26 Ferguson Hall Tampa, FL
March 29 Maltz Jupiter Theatre Jupiter, FL

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