Producers of ‘American Psycho: The Musical’ Are Using Kickstarter to Raise More Cash for Production

With all the recent talk about Kickstarter surrounding Zach Braff‘s decision to use it to raise money for his next film (and Melissa Joan Hart‘s failed attempt to do the same), it’s good to know that there’s a campaign going to support a serial killer.

Okay, let me rephrase that — it’s a campaign to support Patrick Bateman, the titular psycho in American Psycho, as the classic novel is being adapted as a musical.

Duncan Sheik — who is best known for writing the music for Spring Awakening — already has a deal in place to stage the premiere of the musical at The Almeida Theatre in London, but he and the other producers are hoping to raise $150,000 on Kickstarter to add more to the production.  He tells The New York Post, “This allows us to up the ante in terms of what the production is going to entail.  I think it’s about being able to do things in the space that make for a really cool immersive theatrical experience.” Read more

Theater Review: Duncan Sheik’s ‘Whisper House’

This past weekend I saw Duncan Sheik‘s new musical, Whisper House at The Old Globe Theater in San Diego. I say musical, but it’s not really a musical in conventional terms. The cast don’t burst out in song and dance across the stage. No, they leave the singing to the Ghosts.

Set in World War Two (1942), Christopher (Eric Brent Zutty) is sent to live with his aunt Lilly (Mare Winningham) in a remote lighthouse. Christopher soon begins to hear music that no one else can hear and to top it off, he begins to suspect his aunts Japanese worker, Yasuhiro (Arthur Acuna), of being a spy.

And that’s all I’m giving away.

The Ghosts played by indie rockers, Holly Brook and David Poe, come and go in the scenes, singing and pretty much doing whatever they want. They take off lampshades and turn the stand into make-shift microphones, fling off Christopher’s covers when he’s trying to sleep and make general mischief for the cast. They act as… narrators of the show? I’m hesitant to say narrators because at some points they deliberately sing their songs to screw things up. And that’s what makes this show so great. The Ghosts are having a fantastic time messing with everyone. And usually to a bad outcome.

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