Whisper House a Curtainup Los Angeles Musical review

Almost five months ago, I moved myself from New York to San Diego. During my decade in New York, I saw (and reviewed) thousands of plays. In my heyday I was reviewing three or four plays a week, and that’s not counting the ones I saw that I wasn’t reviewing. Now that I'm settled in I'm starting to explore the California theater scene.

Last night I went to my first play in San Diego at the Old Globe: Duncan Sheik’s Whisper House. This being the Duncan Sheik, of Spring Awakening fame, it was a bit strange to be watching off-Broadway type theater so far off-Broadway. And quite different.

In New York, I saw all manner of plays and playhouses. I viewed shows on Broadway and at BAM, packed to the gills; I sat in leaky basements in the East Village where I was one of three audience members. I’ve seen plays in cars (yes, in cars), in churches, in the subway, in apartments, in parks, in the street, and in innumerable basements. More often than not, I was watching theater in a repurposed space. I’ve sat on folding chairs, backless benches, church pews, boxes, floor mats, and the grass. Comfortable seating was a luxury, as was a coat check. Occasionally there was a folding table set up where I could purchase $6 beer or box wine.

Now, I didn’t always live in New York. I’ve seen plenty of community and regional theatre, so it’s not like the concept of free parking at the theater is completely unheard-of. But after my years in New York it's quite a novelty to discover that . The Old Globe has free parking. Lots of it. And a valet. It was nice to drive to the theater without worrying about missing plays because of subway snafus (It happened). The Old Globe also has a year-round outdoor pub. Let me just restate that—year-round. Outdoors.

As for the theaters. . . cushy seats and wide aisles with no chance for my knees to hit the back of the seat in front of me. Best of all, I didn’t have to swing back out into the aisle and perform a couple of advanced yoga moves in order to cross my legs.

The last play I saw in New York was Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, an incredibly subversive and hilarious musical. It played at a black box space about the size of three corner offices. Not one audience member was over 40, and there couldn’t have been seating for more than 50 people, tops. If I remember correctly, it was about 45 degrees outside.

Fast forward several months to San Diego, 70 degree weather and Whisper House. It's also a subversive musical, by a guy who made his name in New York. But it's debut is in an enormous, and beautifuld 600 seat venue. My seat had a cushion, and ample leg room. Granted, when I saw Spring Awakening on Broadway, the weather was lovely and it turns out that Duncan Sheik plays well on both coasts. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

It helped that I was viewing a familiar name. It's clear that Duncan Sheik is becoming a force to be reckoned with and while Whisper House is stylistically very different from Spring Awakening, it has Sheik's s characteristic musical insouciance.

While my new colleague Evan Henerson wasn’t thrilled with the show, it was perfect for my own personal re-entry into the theater world. I agree with much of Evan's review. The book IS pretty thin—but atmospherically, I found the evening was exceptional. The play’s soundtrack is very nearly a cross between The Killers and a moody James Bond theme song. The lighting and fog usage is eerie and mournful without being overwrought. The perfomances were excellent and the set architecturally interesting. I was pleased to see that the audience was happily mixed, unlike New York were older people predominate at the big Broadway shows and the Off and Off-Off Broadway theaters I frequented tended to be strictly well under forty.

Now that I’ve settled in, I’m looking forward to checking out the entire Southern California theatre scene Stay tuned!