Mullingar Musical Society put their own spin on the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic Whistle Down The Wind from September 17-21.
Whistle Down The Wind is a show for all the family, with 14 children in the cast, and this Andrew Lloyd Webber score looks set to fulfil expectations as always.
Based on the novel by Mary Hayley Bell and subsequent Richard Attenborough-produced film, Whistle Down The Wind follows the fortunes of a fugitive caught between the prejudice of adults and the innocence of the young.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman, together with Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards (co book writers with Andrew Lloyd Webber ) reset the original story in Louisiana in 1959.
Whistle Down the Wind revolves around the time and place where the word teenager was invented. Swallow, a 15-year-old girl growing up in America’s Deep South in the 50s, discovers a mysterious man hiding out in a barn. When 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 - the townspeople who are determined to catch a fugitive hiding it their midst. As fantasy and reality collide, Swallow is torn between the two and begins to discover who she is and where she is going.
Rebecca Heery stars as Swallow, Whistle Down The Wind’s protagonist. Conor Walsh stars as the ‘Man’, who at first is thought to be the second coming then is quickly established as a fugitive. Supporting roles go to Graham Dowling as Amos, Rebecca Doolin stars as Candy, Richie Geoghegan as Boone, and Paul McDermott as the Snake Preacher
Whistle Down The Wind will be running in the Mullingar Arts Centre from September 17-20. Tickets are €15 full rate and €12 reduced (child/student/senior ) and are available from the box office or by phoning Mullingar Arts Centre on (044 ) 9347777.
