Dave Malloy’s Haunting Song Cycle Shimmers

by Mary Lou Herlihy

“Ghost Quartet” is so haunting and curious, I want to share it with my musical friends.

In a cozy living room setting, an array of instruments lies scattered on Persian rugs, awaiting the human touch for a wild musical ride. Standing at the ready are drums, chimes, ukulele, guitar, cello, auto harp, two pianos, and some wonderful surprises. A gifted cast of five musicians/actors breathe wondrous life and spectral magic into composer Dave Malloy’s “Ghost Quartet.”

Singer-actors Veronica Renner, Monica Rose Slater, and Michael Perez perform in the small living room set, accompanied by Rinde Eckert on piano and Ami Nashimoto on cello. Using dialogue and music, they spin ghostly tales of love, loss, and liquor. Virtuosic vocals and instrumentation take us deep into Malloy’s poetic and eerie imaginings.

Whether spoken, sung, or screeched, Slater’s and Renner’s beautiful voices draw us into their every whisper. They inhabit otherworldly characters with remarkable conviction and charm. In a powder blue gown and flowing head scarf, Slater sings about “Soldier and Rose,” with a haunting Bulgarian-folk melody. Her vocal range dazzles with soaring high notes and low notes that linger—unfolding a melodramatic, mysterious love story.

But piecing together disparate shards of the elusive and meandering ghost story is like trying to remember a dream. Brief glimpses hint at a whole. A photographer replaces her broken camera. Two sisters expose a cheating soldier. Bereft parents lose their Starchild. Travelers push and jostle on a subway platform. Criers warn of the apocalypse.

In swiftly paced scenes, we meet ghosts of siblings and jazz musicians, an astronomer, and a photographer. So many ghosts, hiding a spectral vision. Buried in the song “Hero,” a heart-breaking romantic apology draws closest to Malloy’s truth—love lost, regret, melancholy.

Musical genres change quickly— in “Monk,” a jazzy melody played by Eckert suggests that humans have lost touch with their holy connection to music. The sisters, moved by the beautiful tune, dance together. Moods slip from sweet to scary in a heartbeat.

The screaming, weeping, chuckling cello of Ami Nashimoto elevates the songs. Slater’s maniacal plucking of piano strings shocks with dissonant chaos in “The Photograph.” In true ghost story fashion, she holds a flashlight to her chin and cries out in horror. Rose and Roxie’s sisterly duets mix an otherworldly brew of jazz, opera, and burlesque.

In “Any Kind of Dead Person,” Michael Perez ropes in a few lucky audience members to keep the beat. In “The Astronomer,” Malloy ratchets up the rhythm, backed by lush harmonies. The actors tease us with an impending spiritual visitation.

Eckert reminds us to “PRACTICE, PRACTICE.” But there’s never enough time to PRACTICE—the end looms. What will become of the women? Will the family survive? Is there a yesterday, tomorrow, today?

“Ghost Quartet” is a haunting theatrical experience not to be missed by music lovers, theater lovers, or just plain lovers. It’s a mystery for us to untangle.

“Ghost Quartet” –music, lyrics, & text by Dave Malloy, directed by William Thomas Hodgson, co-produced with New Performance Traditions, by Oakland Theater Project, Oakland, California.

Info: oaklandtheaterproject.org – In Oakland: November 1- 24, 2024. In San Francisco: December 5 – 8, 2024.

Cast: Rinde Eckert, Ami Nashimoto, Michael Perez, Veronica Renner, and Monica Rose Slater.

Banner photo: Ami Nashimoto, Michael Perez, & Monica Rose Slater. Photos: Ben Krantz Studio