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"Whistle Down the Wind' at Merriam
Steve Cohen
Sir Andrew strikes out
STEVE COHEN
The opening scene of Whistle Down the Wind is a funeral. How fitting!
This Andrew Lloyd Webber musical has been in precarious health since its premiere in Washington, D.C., in 1996. It’s been revised three times and has never made it to Broadway. Just before it reached Philadelphia, management announced that this national tour would terminate prematurely on February 17. The musical was scheduled to play Cleveland, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas, but will now shutter following an engagement in Norfolk. No further plans have been made.
This venture’s failure makes an interesting back story, but my main reason for attending the production at the Merriam Theater was to see if I’d enjoy the music and drama as much as I liked Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sunset Boulevard.
Why takes side with Sondheim?
The first three shows on this list are acknowledged landmarks. Even the much criticized Sunset Boulevard appealed to me with its moody and melodious score, an excellent story and some grand theatrical scenes. Sir Andrew is a fine creator of melodies, and I agree with Harold Prince: One can appreciate the talents of Webber and Stephen Sondheim without having to choose sides between them (as some theatergoers do).
However, Whistle Down the Wind doesn’t compare favorably with any of the above. Webber still writes good tunes; the principal failure lies in the book and lyrics. The book (by Patricia Knop, Gale Edwards and Webber) and lyrics (by Jim Steinman, of "Meatloaf" songwriting fame).
There may be some merit in the idea of an escaped convict who is mistaken for Jesus Christ by a grief-stricken teenager who has just lost her mother. But not enough to carry a two-act musical.
The anti-hero protagonist
The idea of a non-heroic protagonist is not new. Ferenc Molnar used it successfully in Liliom, which Rodgers and Hammerstein musicalized in Carousel. Webber himself did it in Phantom of the Opera. But Whistle Down the Wind fails to make the mysterious stranger a substantial and appealing character.
There’s plenty of spinning of wheels before the plot shifts into gear. I mean that analogy literally. When nothing dramatic is happening, the director brings on a motorcycle or a train for diversion. There’s no tension and no reason for audiences to return after intermission– except to see and hear some excellent singers belting out Webber’s tunes.
Eric Kunze is a marvelous Broadway leading man with thrilling big notes and, even more impressively, beautiful soft notes that float effortlessly and sometimes swell excitingly from piano to full volume while maintaining the original pitch and timbre– what opera singers call messa di voce. Whitney Bashor is excellent as the 16-year-old girl who believes that the criminal is her savior. She looks properly young and innocent (actually, she’s a recent college graduate) and possesses a clear, unaffected voice that’s perfect for this part. I look forward to seeing her in roles such as Julie Jordan and Eliza Doolittle.
Other excellent voices in this cast include Al Budonis as the preacher at that opening funeral and Matt Skrincosky as a troubled boy from the town.
Local color is missing
One other aspect of Whistle Down the Wind bothers me. The show is set in Louisiana in 1959 but there’s little sense of local color or period flavor. Unlike Jeanine Tesori in Caroline, or Change, Webber fails to recapture Louisiana’s regional music.
In one scene he seems to try but fails. Two black men do an awkward rhythmic song that can’t compare to the rock ‘n’ roll, R&B or country music of that era. And the dance that follows seems like one of those "good ol’ boys" numbers that Colonel Parker forced Elvis Presley to perform in his worst Technicolor musicals.
STEVE COHEN
The opening scene of Whistle Down the Wind is a funeral. How fitting!
This Andrew Lloyd Webber musical has been in precarious health since its premiere in Washington, D.C., in 1996. It’s been revised three times and has never made it to Broadway. Just before it reached Philadelphia, management announced that this national tour would terminate prematurely on February 17. The musical was scheduled to play Cleveland, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas, but will now shutter following an engagement in Norfolk. No further plans have been made.
This venture’s failure makes an interesting back story, but my main reason for attending the production at the Merriam Theater was to see if I’d enjoy the music and drama as much as I liked Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sunset Boulevard.
Why takes side with Sondheim?
The first three shows on this list are acknowledged landmarks. Even the much criticized Sunset Boulevard appealed to me with its moody and melodious score, an excellent story and some grand theatrical scenes. Sir Andrew is a fine creator of melodies, and I agree with Harold Prince: One can appreciate the talents of Webber and Stephen Sondheim without having to choose sides between them (as some theatergoers do).
However, Whistle Down the Wind doesn’t compare favorably with any of the above. Webber still writes good tunes; the principal failure lies in the book and lyrics. The book (by Patricia Knop, Gale Edwards and Webber) and lyrics (by Jim Steinman, of "Meatloaf" songwriting fame).
There may be some merit in the idea of an escaped convict who is mistaken for Jesus Christ by a grief-stricken teenager who has just lost her mother. But not enough to carry a two-act musical.
The anti-hero protagonist
The idea of a non-heroic protagonist is not new. Ferenc Molnar used it successfully in Liliom, which Rodgers and Hammerstein musicalized in Carousel. Webber himself did it in Phantom of the Opera. But Whistle Down the Wind fails to make the mysterious stranger a substantial and appealing character.
There’s plenty of spinning of wheels before the plot shifts into gear. I mean that analogy literally. When nothing dramatic is happening, the director brings on a motorcycle or a train for diversion. There’s no tension and no reason for audiences to return after intermission– except to see and hear some excellent singers belting out Webber’s tunes.
Eric Kunze is a marvelous Broadway leading man with thrilling big notes and, even more impressively, beautiful soft notes that float effortlessly and sometimes swell excitingly from piano to full volume while maintaining the original pitch and timbre– what opera singers call messa di voce. Whitney Bashor is excellent as the 16-year-old girl who believes that the criminal is her savior. She looks properly young and innocent (actually, she’s a recent college graduate) and possesses a clear, unaffected voice that’s perfect for this part. I look forward to seeing her in roles such as Julie Jordan and Eliza Doolittle.
Other excellent voices in this cast include Al Budonis as the preacher at that opening funeral and Matt Skrincosky as a troubled boy from the town.
Local color is missing
One other aspect of Whistle Down the Wind bothers me. The show is set in Louisiana in 1959 but there’s little sense of local color or period flavor. Unlike Jeanine Tesori in Caroline, or Change, Webber fails to recapture Louisiana’s regional music.
In one scene he seems to try but fails. Two black men do an awkward rhythmic song that can’t compare to the rock ‘n’ roll, R&B or country music of that era. And the dance that follows seems like one of those "good ol’ boys" numbers that Colonel Parker forced Elvis Presley to perform in his worst Technicolor musicals.
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