![\"Theater](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/whisper.jpg\" "\\"whisper\\"")
<\/a>A good ghost story sends a tingle down the spine, gives listeners a sleepless night and makes for a memorable evening\u2019s entertainment. At least that\u2019s the idea behind \u201cWhisper House,\u201d a new musical from Duncan Sheik, who is best known for his score for the Tony Award-winning, groundbreaking musical \u201cSpring Awakening.\u201d<\/p>\nAnd there just might be a great spooky experience in this show, but it needs to honed more. A lot more. As the Old Globe has the honor of premiering the show, chances are it will get a lot of polishing before going to New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhisper House\u201d is set in 1942 at the height of WWII. Eleven-year-old Christopher is sent to live with his old maid aunt after his father is killed in the war and his mother has a nervous breakdown. His Aunt Lilly, who runs a lighthouse on the New England coast, is cold and distant to her nephew, yet friendly with her Japanese handyman, Yasuhiro. Like many kids during WWII, Christopher has been taught to hate \u201cthe Japs\u201d and is convinced that Yasuhiro is a spy.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s not the only one to be suspicious of Yasuhiro. When the lighthouse is fitted with a radio to report the sighting of any German subs, the government demands that Yasuhiro leave. It\u2019s then that Christopher learns to respect the man and not judge him based on color or nationality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhisper House\u201d is about refusing to let fear run your life. The time period of WWII, when fear and prejudice permeated the culture, mixed in with a ghost story is a perfect vehicle for demonstrating this theme. There are two ghosts who haunt the lighthouse and interact with Christopher, the only one who can see them. They are, presumably, the ghosts of a boat that ran into the shore many decades ago, the only time his grandfather forgot to light the lighthouse beacon.<\/p>\n
These two ghosts never talk to Christopher \u2013 they sing to him, often telling him what to do. Sheik\u2019s music is fittingly haunting and has the feel of another time. But there\u2019s just too much of it. The opening number, \u201cBetter to Be Dead,\u201d is a rousing start to the show. It also sets up the story and the tension perfectly. Some songs move the action forward, but just as many do not, such as \u201cEarthbound Starlight,\u201d which adds nothing except stalling the action. There are 12 songs in the show, sung beautifully by David Poe and Holly Brook, but the production would be better off with half that amount.<\/p>\n
The problem with cutting any songs is that the show is a mere 90 minutes long with no intermission. With less music, it would only be 60 to 70 minutes in length, sort of a glorified one-act. So the story would need to be beefed up, but there are enough interesting elements in it that this easily could be done.<\/p>\n
The production gets much of its weight from the subtle and natural acting of Mare Winningham as Aunt Lilly. Last seen in San Diego in the La Jolla Playhouse\u2019s \u201cBonnie & Clyde,\u201d Winningham plays the role as stoic and unbending, a woman scarred by her past so badly that she can\u2019t open up to anyone. Aunt Lilly also lets fear run her life and Winningham never tries to sugarcoat the character to win the audience\u2019s favor, but in the end the character does just that.<\/p>\n
As Yashiro, Arthur Acuna is also distanced from the audience and plays the role as a cold fish. These characters are as frosty as the chilling wind that whips around the lighthouse. Christopher is not yet as boxed off as the adults are (perhaps why he alone can see the shots?) and A.J. Foggiano brings a nice energy to the role, although it would be helpful to see why the ghosts affect his character so much.<\/p>\n
Peter Askin\u2019s excellent direction is finely tuned and exact. The show\u2019s production elements are really outstanding. Michael Schweikardt\u2019s set of a staircase winding up toward the lighthouse beacon is beautifully stripped down and evocative. Projections on the back walls provide glimpses of the water and pure-white ghostlike creatures (the band is also on stage, dressed as ghosts). Matthew Richards\u2019 lights help us make the many transitions from reality to fantasy and back again. The costumes by Jenny Mannis look like the real clothes these characters would wear and the ghost outfits have a sense of otherworldliness (although I\u2019m not sure why the female ghost strips down to her underwear).<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot in \u201cWhisper House\u201d that is memorable and captivating. However, it\u2019s still like a block of stone waiting to be made into a sculpture. Once the excesses are chipped away, it should be more than just a good ghost story \u2013 it has the potential to be great theater.u<\/p>\n
\u201cWhisper House\u201d<\/p>\n
When: Through Feb. 21<\/p>\n
Where: Old Globe Theatre<\/p>\n
Tickets: $36-$89<\/p>\n
Info: (619) 234-5623<\/p>\n
Web: www.TheOldGlobe.org<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fewer songs, more story would make \u2018Whisper House\u2019 holler By Patricia Morris Buckley SDUN Theatre Critic A good ghost story sends a tingle down the spine, gives listeners a sleepless night and makes for a memorable evening\u2019s entertainment. At least that\u2019s the idea behind \u201cWhisper House,\u201d a new musical from Duncan Sheik, who is best […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Theater Review: Whisper House","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}