Whistle Down the Wind

Playhouse 1960
6814 Gant Road Houston

Houston's Playhouse 1960 brings to the stage Andrew Lloyd Webber's often-overlooked rock musical Whistle Down the Wind. Based on the novel and the film of the same name, this stage version follows the fortunes of a fugitive caught between the prejudice of adults and the innocence of youth. Swallow is a 15-year-old girl growing up in America's Deep South in the late 1950s. When she discovers a mysterious man hiding out in a barn, she asks who he is and the first words he utters are "Jesus Christ." It's as if all her prayers have been answered. Swallow and the town's other children vow to protect the stranger from the world that waits outside -- townspeople who are determined to catch a fugitive hiding in their midst. As fantasy and reality collide, Swallow begins to discover who she is and where she's going in life. Webber's score combines hauntingly beautiful love songs and explosive rock music, with lyrics by Jim Steinman.