Whistle Down the Wind tour- anyone seen it?

I caught it in Sacramento, and really enjoyed it. It has its flaws, but is a pretty good show. There's some great songs in the score. Eric Kunze (?) is great as The Man, and the young lady playing Swallow is a revelation.

http://jam.canoe.ca/Theatre/Reviews/W/Whistle_Down_the_Wind/2008/01/05/4753930.html

Ouch!

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Is Justine Magnusson the u/s? Or has she taken over for Andrea?
I'm going to try to catch it just to see Eric Kunze again.

I just saw the show all 6 performances in TO. I seemed to be one of a handful of theatre workers who actually enjoyed it. The overall reaction was resoundingly negative. I've personally loved the show since it's creation, but this production of the show is highly lacking. It's kind of like a very good high school or community theatre production. Most of the actors were attrocious, but Eric Kunze was very good. Justine Magnusson was in my opinion good, but I heard alot of mixed reviews from my coworkers on her. She is only 16 and I think she's doing very well considering her dirth of experience. She has a beautiful voice. The Amos was aweful, as was the understudy who played Boone. The choreography was AWEFUL period. The direction was uninspired. It seemed like Bill Kenwright knew how to create a picture on stage through blocking but there was nothing more to it than that. The pictures were there, but they weren't strung together with emotion or intention. Most of the actors were simply walking through the blocking and adding little more to it. The set and lighting was beautiful, definatly the best part of the production. And I thought the children were all very good and adorable.

During many heated debates about the show on our breaks, we really found that those who either enjoyed or disliked the writing of the show fell into two camps - people who had some sort of religious background, and those who didn't. I personally see the show (granted it has multiple loopholes in the book) as a wonderful metaphor for redemption through faith and innocense vs. cynicism and stubborness. I really don't think it deserves the criticism it's recieved with respects to the show itself. The score is wonderfully melodic and I've heard far worse lyrics in other shows. Many critics claim it was a mistake to move the show to the deep south but I think it's a perfect fit considering the religious ferver that exists there - moreso I would think than in England where it's originally set. All debate aside, I love the show as a show and think it's highly under rated.

I also found that many people I knew walked in hating it just because it was Andrew Lloyd Webber. Alot of musical junkies who posess this hatred for him walk in with closed eyes.

Overall, the audiences loved it. Standing ovations and cheering every show. We perhaps had 4 or 5 walkouts the entire run, as opposed to the minimum of 20 we had every show for the previous production in our theatre of Doyles Sweeney Todd.

Anyway... here's the songlist from the program. Just a note that they've renamed many of the songs from the original cast recording...

ACT 1

Keys to the Vaults Of Heaven
Overture
What's He Doin?/I Never Get What I Pray For
Snake Preacher/ Amos
Whistle Down The Wind
I Always Prayed
Cold
For The Sake of all the Children
Soliloquy (Snippit of Unsettled Scores)
If Only
Tire Tracks
Safe Haven
Long Overdue (When Children Rule The World)
The Tribe*
No Matter What

ACT 2

Act 2 Opening
Try Not To Be Afraid
Let's Make A Promise
A Kiss is a Terrible Thing To Waste/ Tire Tracks Reprise
Over Here
If Your Mother Was Here
No Matter What Reprise
So Many Cries (Unsettled Scores)
Now the Noose/ I Asked for a Christmas Bonfire
Wrestle With The Devil
No Matter What the Outrage/ Tower of Fire
There's A Prayer
Nature of the Beast
Fire Sequence
Thunder Is Rolling and Whistle Down the Wind

* The Tribe is a new song that replaced "Annie Christmas" from the original. It's a good song, very reminiscant of Joseph. The Lyrics are by Don Black.

Overall I think the changes are improvements from the original. There is more dialogue in the show and the songs have been cut down in spots. But they need to majorly retool the production values to improve this production.

I'm happy to answer any more questions if you have them guys...

I am one of the ALW haters but I approached teh show with an open heart adn open ears because a) one of my best friends loved the cast album and sadly could not attend with me and 2) My mother has always loved the movie and thinks it would make a good musical.

My dislike of ALW is best summed up in some of the comments in my review:

Whistle down the Wind proves – lest their be any doubt – that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber does not know how to write a musical.

Oh he can write music, all right. His songs are filled with the long melodic lines that build in a classical style. Yet the man has no clue as to how to use music in theatrical terms to build upon the emotions conveyed by the book.

The score has a few fascinating tunes. “No Matter What” may well be the most moving piece in the show, though the composer obviously favors the title song finding ways to reprise it frequently. It is a nice melody, mainly because it shares the same melodic line as the classic “Moonlight in Vermont.”

The touring production, which made a brief stop in Toronto this week, is performed at the level of a good community theatre staging. With a few exceptions, the cast delivers the lines and “act” the piece without ever becoming the characters. The exceptions are Eric Kunze as the stranger the children mistakenly believe to be Jesus, and Justine Magnusson as Swallow, the young girl on the verge of womanhood who cannot understand why her mother was taken from her so suddenly.

The rest of the cast seems to be lacking any insight into their character motivations. It’s hard to achieve when the script and score rarely dip beneath the surface but a stronger directorial hand might have at least made for convincing portrayals. Bill Kenwright seems more interested in keeping the scenery moving while the actors stand in static tableaus.




I am glad you enjoyed it enough to see it 6 times. But what is it about the show that grabs you?

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Updated On: 1/7/08 at 11:59 PM

Thank you for sharing that Walcer....very well put! I agree and think that people can really relate to Swallow because when you lose someone there is this absolute desparation to change it. I think that is a big part of what this show is about.

I saw the show in CT and was pretty familiar with the music, so I knew what I was going into. I CERTAINLY think it needs work....but agree that it is not as awful and terrible as some people are saying it is. I think that if they took just a few things in the show and changed them, it could be a really good show. Did you also notice that they changed the melody to the title song? Of all the things you could change I feel that was the least necessary!

I just got back from the matinee in Philly. Was a bit disappointed in the production for all the reasons above but it was still interesting. Can anyone who has seen the production either here or on the West End answer one question for me? Who gave Swallow her mother's bible at the end of the show. The scene went so quickly I couldn't take notice. I thought it was the Minister. My friend thought it was "The Man", with his collar turned up and hat low to disguise his face. I'd appreciate anyone else's take.

...the stage manager!

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