A Change in the Webber

''I've always felt that in some cases Andrew gets a raw deal,'' says Steinman. ''I know where his soul is at. People don't realize what a huge rock freak he is. Whistle is really innovative in that it seamlessly uses rock & roll and operatic elements.''

Webber, knighted in 1992, once reflected onto the stage the political cynicism of the '70s (Superstar, Evita) and the excess of the '80s (Cats, Phantom, the roller-skating Starlight Express). But Aspects of Love closed on Broadway in 1991 at a loss of $8 million. And 1994's Sunset Boulevard still hasn't recouped its Broadway investment. With a little Whistle, Webber hopes to strike that old harmonic convergence again.

Set in late-1950s Louisiana and adapted from an obscure 1961 British film of the same title, the musical tells the story of a young girl (newcomer Irene Molloy) who discovers a stranger (Gaines) in the family barn and thinks he's Jesus Christ. ''There's a soulfulness to Whistle I've never heard in his other music,'' says Candy Buckley, who'll make her Broadway debut as Aunt Dot. ''There's a rough sort of rock & roll edge.''

To guide this crucial outing, Webber has reteamed with director Harold Prince (Evita and Phantom). Avoiding unsavory topics like demented has-beens (Sunset) and unbridled lust (Aspects of Love), Whistle is aimed squarely at a family audience, with more than one third of the 35-member cast below the age of 18. ''It's a show that will operate on a different scale, so it's important to stay away from words like mega,'' says Edgar Dobie of Webber's Really Useful Company, which is producing Whistle. ''It can backfire.''

To cover this risky new bet, meanwhile, Webber has spent the past year stubbornly trying to turn old shows into new successes. He and playwright-director Alan Ayckbourn retooled their flop 1975 comedy Jeeves as By Jeeves, opened it in London in July, and last month brought it to the Goodspeed Opera House in rural Connecticut, a high-profile regional theater known for grooming hits. And Superstar will soon be revamped for a London run. So Whistle's been cruising below the hype radar to clear the deck for more visible successes.

''What Alan and I hoped [with By Jeeves] was that if we could establish the thing, regional theaters could do it,'' Webber says. ''We got it wrong 20 years ago. Now I think we've got it right.''

With musical theater taking the next step forward with shows like Rent, Webber may be pressed to prove he can evolve. In the end, audiences will decide. When the curtain rises at the National Theatre Dec. 6, Andrew Lloyd Webber could find his new voice — or he might just be whistling in the dark.