SHOUTING ABOUT WHISPER
In Whisper Darkly, it’s once again 1928 and the audience are patrons of Manhattan’s notorious speakeasy, the Hush Club at the height of Prohibition, circa 100 years ago. The proprietress who runs the joint, Topeka McShane, leads her cast of chorines, comics, and dancers with an iron fist, while teaching her niece, Evie, about business and the ropes of big city life. When international African-American singing sensation Wysandria Cole Davis shows up in the audience, the trio forms a unique connection, and it kicks off a tumultuous evening that leaves the club and its denizens forever changed.
This concept album has brought together actors and musicians from the top echelons of Broadway, jazz and electro-swing to create a show that is part 1920s, part 2020s, and entirely new. Whisper Darkly, written by by composer lyricist Andrew Gerle (Meet John Doe, Glory, Mississippi) and bookwriter DJ Salisbury (Moonshine and Mistletoe, The Man Who Would Be King), is the first musical written in the retro-inspired genre of electro-swing, which Gerle defines as “a mashup of classic jazz and Vaudeville harmonic and instrumental sounds with 21st-century EDM [electronic dance music] beats. Imagine a swing tune, with live saxes, violin, guitar, with a strong club kick and fantastical electronic textures laid on top.”
But what shines through is classic musical theater. It’s totally original, but you’ll sense Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party, Kander & Ebb, Astor Piazzolla, and more. To help create the album’s fifteen tracks, the creators enlisted the help of pioneering electro-swing arranger and producer PiSk (Roberto Costa) of the popular Italian electro-swing band The Swingrowers, and Bogotá-based Latin Grammy Award nominee Santiago Deluchi. The album’s jazz band includes violinist Sara Caswell; drummer Josh Roberts; trumpeter Alphonso Horne; and Italian accordion virtuoso Roberto Gervasi.
The album is available digitally to stream or download here.
The cast stars Aléna Watters (The Cher Show), Kayla Davion (Tina), Keri René Fuller (Six: The Musical), Tony Award nominees Brad Oscar (The Producers) and Howard McGillin (The Phantom of the Opera), Alli Mauzey (Kimberly Akimbo), Claybourne Elder (Company), and the West End’s Alistair Brammer (Miss Saigon). Also featured are Victoria Huston-Elem, Riley Noland, Graham Stevens, Hansel Tan, Khalifa White, D’Kaylah Whitley, and Luke Hawkins.
The album is produced by Gerle and PiSk, and co-produced by Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra and Stephen Della Pietra, Avadon Broadway LLC.
TRACKS
1 We Make the Night 03:42 (Aléna Watters & Whisper Darkly Concept Album Cast)
2 The Top Dog Strut 04:12 (Claybourne Elder, Keri René Fuller, Hansel Tan & James R. Callan)
3 Who’s Evie Now? 03:59 (Keri René Fuller)
4 Run in the Rain 05:08 (Aléna Watters, Keri René Fuller, Victoria Huston-Elem, Riley Noland & Khalifa White)
5 Love in the Shadows 03:45 (Howard McGillin)
6 Too Much Fun Fun (Alli Mauzey & Whisper Darkly Concept Album Cast) 04:09
7 Jazz Age Johnny 03:00 (Brad Oscar)
8 Paris Says Yes 05:22 (Kayla Davion)
9 The Go Easy Tango 03:36 (Keri René Fuller, Alistair Brammer, Sara Caswell & Roberto Gervasi)
10 Black Widow’s Kiss 05:25 (Aléna Watters, Keri René Fuller, Victoria Huston-Elem, Riley Noland & Khalifa White)
11 Things I Didn’t Know / Keep Your Secrets 04:24 (Claybourne Elder, Keri René Fuller, Victoria Huston-Elem & Alistair Brammer)
12 The Spouse of Ill Repute 04:32 (Andrew Gerle, DJ Salisbury, Pisk, Aléna Watters & Kayla Davion)
13 Fallen Angels 05:24 (Andrew Gerle, DJ Salisbury, Pisk, Whisper Darkly Concept Album Cast, Keri René Fuller & Claybourne Elder)
14 This Is Not My Song 04:42 (Keri René Fuller, Aléna Watters, Khalifa White, Victoria Huston-Elem & Alli Mauzey)
15 We Make the Night Finale 02:29 (Victoria Huston-Elem, Khalifa White, Alli Mauzey, Kayla Davion, Keri René Fuller & Whisper Darkly Concept Album Cast)
TBIC (The Broadway Investor’s Club) Music Group, LLC
