> This is my first posting in a long time. Over the last few months, I've
> noticed a couple of threads on the musical, Whistle Down the Wind. I've
> missed a few Vocalist Digest issues recently; so if I say anything that's
> already been covered, please accept my apologies in advance. However, I
> think I can add something to this discussion, since I saw the show.
>
> Even though I live in the Washington, DC area, I missed Whistle Down the
> Wind when it played locally a couple of years ago. However, I did see it
> in London last May. It had apparently been completely revised. I know
> nothing of the earlier version, but I can speak for what I saw in London.
>
> First of all (if this is any indicator), I had a tough time getting a
> ticket for it. Even though I went on a week night, the house was sold out
> (and I was informed they were selling out every night). In fact (to
> illustrate just how full the theater was), I had a problem with my seat;
> and had to live with it, because the box office had no other seat to give
> me.
>
> I thought the production was wonderful. The music was beautiful (there is
> one duet with a hauntingly beautiful melody that IMHO rivals "Memory" from
> Cats). The actors and voices were excellent (the next day, I went to a
> local Tower Records and purchased the London cast recording on CD).
>
> In this version, the story takes place in the 1950s Texas/Oklahoma
> panhandle area. Swallow (a 15-year-old girl who had recently lost her
> mother), and a group of other children of assorted ages, find an escaped
> convict asleep in a barn. When the kids notice the extensive injuries to
> his hands and feet (which he received during his escape from prison,
> climbing the barbed wire and fighting off the guards), the kids believe
> him to be Jesus. The kids (who live in a very poor area) hope that, if
> they take good care of him and nurse him back to health, he will use his
> divine powers to help them out. Of course, Swallow is hoping he will use
> his power to "raise the dead" to bring back her mother. When the prisoner
> awakens, and realizes the kids' misunderstanding, he capitalizes on it by
> putting them to work (appointing them his "Special Apostles") --
> instructing the children to bring him food, drinks, and other supplies he
> needs (while, of course, keeping their discovery of "Jesus" a secret).
>
> The musical has everything: A scene from a 1950s diner (with some period
> music), a traveling group of religious snake handlers (from where I sat,
> it looked like they used real snakes -- though obviously non-venomous),
> some racial issues from that era (interracial dating between two
> teenagers, and a couple of redneck cops), the innocence of children, and
> the cynicism of adults.
>
There is one particularly moving song the children sing, to their
newly-discovered savior, where they offer him their most precious
possessions (trinkets of absolutely no economic value, but obviously
treasured by the children from this economically depressed area).
> I highly recommend this production to anyone traveling to (or residing in)
> London. Judging from the consistent full houses, and the positive
> audience response, I assume it is still playing there. I also recommend
> the CD with the London cast.
>
> Bruce Sterkin
>
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