Tony and Grammy Award-winning songwriter Duncan Sheik follows up the successful UK run of his musical thriller American Psycho with Whisper House a haunting new musical that combines a thrillingly original rock score with a touching and beautiful tale about learning to embrace the unknown. Starring Simon Bailey, Nicholas Goh, Simon Lipkin, Niamh Perry, Dianne Pilkington and a seven piece on-stage band Whisper House opens on 18 April with previews from the 6 April.
It’s 1942, the height of World War II, and Christopher, an imaginative young boy, is sent to live with an aunt he’s never met: Lily, a reclusive woman who serves as the keeper of a remote lighthouse on the East Coast of America, aided by her mysterious Japanese housekeeper, Yashujiro.
It isn’t long before Christopher begins to hear strange music seeping through the walls. Is his imagination getting the better of him, or is the lighthouse haunted? Soon the whispers become something louder ...
The cast for Whisper House is Simon Bailey whose West End and off West End credits include the critically acclaimed Parade (Southwark Playhouse), for which he was nominated in the 2011 Broadway World Awards in the Best Featured Actor in a Musical category; Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys; Liam O'Deary in I Can’t Sing! The X-Factor Musical (London Palladium); Romeo and Juliet-The Musical (Piccadilly Theatre); Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (New London Theatre); We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre); Enjolras in the 21st Anniversary cast of Les Miserables (Queen’s Theatre); Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre) and Passion (Donmar Warehouse). Simon is also a founder member of ‘Theatreland’s First Supergroup’ Teatro.
Nicholas Goh has played The Kralahome in The King and I, (Leicester Curve), Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Timothy Wong in Martha, Jose and the Chinese Elvis (Oldham Coliseum) and on TV Nicholas played Dr Henry Chen in ‘Eastenders’.
Simon Lipkin’s credits include Honeymoon In Vegas (concert at The Palladium); Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (West End); Bill Sykes in Oliver! (Grange Park Opera); The Lorax in The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre); The Proprietor in Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory); Barlow in I Can’t Sing (London Palladium); Lonny in Rock Of Ages (Original West End Cast); Galahad in Spamalot (Original UK and International Tour) and Nicky/Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q (Original West End Cast).
Niamh Perry’s theatre credits include Sophie in Mamma Mia! International Tour (2014-2016); Fleck in the original London cast of Love Never Dies; Mary in the original London revival of Lloyd-Webber and Ben Elton's The Beautiful Game (The Union Theatre, London); Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Manchester Royal Exchange and West Yorkshire Playhouse); Kim in the original revival of Taboo (Brixton Clubhouse, London.); and creating the role of The Little Prince in the World Premiere of Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D Reid's The Little Prince, (Lyric Theatre, Belfast).
Dianne Pilkington has played Donna in Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre), Sophie De Palma in Master Class (Vaudeville Theatre), Amalia in She Loves Me (Minerva Theatre, Chichester), Glinda in Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre), Grizabella in Cats (National Tour), Belinda in The Far Pavilions (Shaftesbury Theatre), Mary in Tonight’s the Night (Victoria Palace), Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (National Tour), Kim in the original cast of Boy George’s musical Taboo and the title role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Victoria Palace) opposite Lily Savage.
Whisper House is directed by Adam Lenson whose recent credits include Songs For A New World (St James Theatre, 20th Anniversary Production), The Sorrows of Satan (Tristan Bates Theatre), Disgraced (English Theatre Frankfurt) and Dark Tourism (Park Theatre). In 2016, Adam was the recipient of a Kevin Spacey Artist of Choice Award for developing Wasted, a new rock musical based on the Brontës. Adam produces and hosts the podcast Dischord (@DischordTheatre) that debates and discusses new musical theatre.
Duncan Sheik is a Tony-Award winning composer, lyricist, and recording artist. His theatre credits include; Spring Awakening (2006) for which he won Tony Awards for Best Orchestrations and Best Original Score, and a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Other theatre works includes American Psycho (2016), and Because of Winn Dixie (2015). As well as a recording artist, and writer of film scores, Sheik produces his own work as well as that of other artists. Book and lyrics by Obie award-winning Kyle Jarrow (A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant). The idea for Whisper House was conceived with 30Rock actor, Keith Powell (Toofer).
