Another week, another blockbuster-film-now-musical on tour, with Curve currently hosting Bill Kenwright’s production of Ghost The Musical, a month into a UK tour ending in early December.
Recent past experiences have made me wary of these adaptations, however, this is a well-produced and performed musical with intriguing special effects.
The 1990 Oscar-winning and hugely popular film Ghost is pretty much recreated on stage with score and lyrics provided by Dave Stewart (of The Eurythmics) and six-times Grammy winner Glen Ballard. The writer of the film’s original screenplay, Bruce Joel Rubin, has also been heavily involved as writer of the show’s book and lyrics.
Director Bob Tomson keeps the action between songs moving at a fair whack, which contrasts with the frequent reflective ballads. As this heartrending story is very much focused on grief and loss, the humorous elements, predominantly involving phony “psychic reader and adviser” Oda Mae Brown (Jacqui Dubois), provide welcome respite.
Molly Jensen (Rebekah Lowings), a potter, and banker Sam Wheat (Josh St Clair) move into their loft apartment in Brooklyn, helped by their close friend and Sam’s colleague Carl (James Mateo-Salt). Although Sam and Molly are very much in love, Molly expresses frustration that Sam never tells her he loves her, preferring to show it with his actions. As they walk home one evening, an armed man confronts Sam demanding his wallet and, in the resulting scuffle, Sam is shot. He resists “following the light” and, as explained by a ghost he encounters at the hospital (Les Dennis), is now a ghost himself.
As a wandering ghost trapped between “this life and the next”, Sam realises Molly is in danger; he discovers he was murdered as a result of irregularities he had noticed in some of the accounts he had been managing, and, thanks to his encounters with Oda Mae Brown, finds a way of connecting with Molly and keeping her safe.
The themes of love and loss are hugely emotive: the shock of dealing with the sudden loss of a loved one, the things we wish we’d said when they were still around, the pain and emptiness of grief. Lowings and St Clair have great chemistry together; Sam’s bewilderment and anguish at his situation and Molly’s despair are both touchingly portrayed. Credit too to Lowings for throwing a pot on stage during the legendary potter’s wheel moments.
Oda Mae Brown needs streetwise sass but also a big heart, and Jacqui Brown gives a fine performance, particularly during her introductory number “Are You a Believer?”, ably supported by her assistants Clara (Tanisha Butterfield) and Louise (Keiahna Jackson-Jones).
The physicality of life trapped between two worlds is poignantly explored through Sam’s exchanges with Subway Ghost (Wade Lewin) and The Matrix-esque choreography (Alistair David).
The song “Unchained Melody” became a huge hit (again) due to the success of the film, and it plays its part in this musical; it’s not overused, and the different arrangements complement the narrative.
Handling the concept of a supernatural afterlife on stage is done well through Richard Pinner’s illusionary work, complemented well by Nick Richings’s rippling lighting design. The different moving panels of Mark Bailey’s set design work really well in Curve’s vast space, particularly Sam and Molly’s spacious New York loft.
This musical yanks pretty hard on your emotions, and the adaptation of this tender but traumatic love story has transitioned well from screen to stage.