(pictured) Kevin Webb in Black Button Eyes’ 2018 “NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTCAPS: The Stories of John Collier.” Photo by Cole Simon.

Black Button Eyes Productions—the Chicago theater company known for its knack for the macabre—has announced its 2019-20 season, featuring two Chicago premiere musicals.

GHOST QUARTET by Dave Malloy (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) kicks off the season this summer, directed by Artistic Director Ed Rutherford, with music direction by Nick Sula and choreography by Derek Van Barham. Next winter brings WHISPER HOUSE, featuring music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik (“Spring Awakening”) and book and additional lyrics by Kyle Jarrow, also directed by Rutherford.

GHOST QUARTET will be presented at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont. WHISPER HOUSE will be staged at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio Two), 2936 N. Southport Ave.

Black Button Eyes Productions’ 2019-20 season (show descriptions from the press release):

July 12 – August 17, 2019
GHOST QUARTET
Chicago Premiere
Book, Music and Lyrics by Dave Malloy
Directed by Ed Rutherford
Music Direction by Nick Sula
Choreography by Derek Van Barham
at Stage 773 (The Box), 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago

From the mind of Broadway composer Dave Malloy (“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) comes a musical ghost story of four friends who love each other, kill each other, and drink whiskey across centuries and lifetimes. GHOST QUARTET delightfully mashes up Grimms’ fairy tales, Edgar Allan Poe, Arabian Nights, Sondheim, Thelonious Monk and more.

January 10 – February 15, 2020
WHISPER HOUSE
Music and Lyrics by Duncan Sheik
Book and Additional Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow
Directed by Artistic Director Ed Rutherford
at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio Two), 2639 N. Southport Ave.

When Christopher’s father is shot down in the Pacific during World War 2, the young boy is sent to live with his foreboding aunt in her very remote – and very haunted – lighthouse. Despite any lurking spirits, the most fearsome demons Christopher will need to confront lie within.