“We hate them, they hate us, they hate us, we hate them and…” will prove a poignant ellipsis for any open ears that find their last-minute way into Chicago’s new rock musical of illuminating controversy, White Noise, A Cautionary Musical.

Selling out stirs the young, attractive, highly marketable white supremacists into the melting pot of talent under the wing of strictly business Max (Douglas Sills) who around the same time transforms an ivy league educated team of two into a more money-making, rap gangster duo. The former, after Max’s right hand man Jake adjusts the trio’s fascist lyrics into main stream language, becomes pop star band White Noise and the later becomes the Blood Brothers.
Through these parallel roads of fame and monetary success we see the “Brothers,” Dion (Wallace Smith) and Tylers’ (Rodney Hicks) frustration for continuing the trend at hand to get the crowds while fuhrer following sisters Eden (Emily Padgett) and Eva (Mackenzie Mauzy) adjust in their own ways while one remains paired with an apathetic animosity embodied by her lover Duke (Patrick Murney). As Jake attempts reason with Eden we hear the disconcerting thoughts of one torn, “You only see the hate, but I see the hurt,” and even more head shaking is the unforgiving full throttle drive of Eva who will break for no one while hurling herself towards a name of lights which will no doubt explode as a short-lived sadistic star. “They’re going to buy me.”

Voices of impact are heard through devilishly appropriate song titles such as ‘W.T.F.’ (white trash fairy tale [a personal favorite]) “one day you’re on the bottom, the next day you’re on top.” Unsettling gestures fill the spun title ‘Mondays Suck’ and an ensemble fueled presence sets off the talent in ‘Showtime’ hit while the battle with a bang ensues during the ‘Master Race’; minds are bombarded by the reality set forth in the finale ‘I am America.’

This show is presented by Whoopi Goldberg, always a name I love to follow, and I could not commend her more for her part in this effort. It is a story that needs to be heard.

To be brief, the only thing I regret about this show was not having seen it sooner.

Programs contain support for awareness from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Taken directly from my personal program, a quote at length from Director of SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance Maureen Costello follows:

Messages of hate aren’t confined to the radical fringes of our society. They can be encoded in popular music. They can be threaded into political rhetoric. They can be heard on talk radio–or in the schoolyard. We cannot outlaw hate speech–It’s protected by the First Amendment. But we can be aware of it… And, we can speak out against it. This groundbreaking production raises important issues about the power of hate speech in our culture and should inspire people of conscience to call out others who engage in it. We applaud the producers and the entire White Noise company for their great work.

Click here to visit the White Noise website.

The only way any industry will ever change its tune is if we as a population stop buying what they, the industry in question, are selling. It is time to buy some truth.

White  Noise is the sound and sight that merits being royally received.

Tickets may be purchased directly through the Royal George Theatre which is located at 1641 N Halstead St. just north of North Avenue. Seats are limited and the show is scheduled to close tomorrow! Remaining show times include tonight (5/14/2011) at 8:00p.m. and tomorrow (5/1502011) at 2:00p.m. and 5:00p.m.

Visit www.whitenoisemusical.com for more information.