Ghost – ‘The Musical’ at The Regent – Review
When the movie Ghost hit the silver screen in the 90s everyone wanted to see it. It was the highest grossing film in the 90s and won writer Bruce Joel Rubin an Oscar. Rubin went on to adapt it into a musical and for the first time in Stoke it took to the Regent Stage – Review by Mel Osborne
Molly and Sam are the perfect couple,they are desperately in love with each other, although Sam does struggle to say the magic three words choosing ditto instead.
Tragedy strikes when Sam is murdered in a street mugging and to find peace he must make sure his beloved Molly is safe before he leaves for good.
This is a highly emotional story so take a full pack of hankies. It explores the absolute pain of grief.
Fans of the film will be pleased to see it stays faithful to the story but the actors portray the characters, not the actors who played them. Sometimes in adaptations lines can become blurred, particularly as Patrick Swayze who played Sam was a much-loved actor.
However Josh St. Clair’s portrayal of Sam was fresh and most likeable.
The music and lyrics were written by Eurthymics Legend Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard – who co wrote Alanis Morisettes Jagged little Pill.
With heartbreaking ballards such as ‘With you’ sung beautifully by Rebecca Lowings as Molly – whose voice sends shivers down your spine plus an updated reprise of “Unchain melody” by St Clair accompanied by guitar – there just wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
The ensemble are strong and supported the cast well but the choreography wasn’t as prominent as in other musicals. This was more about movement then fast paced routines which seemed intentional due to the nature of the story and focus on the effects and the music.
Some terrifying scenes and lighting played a huge part in the fear factor, and there are a couple of moments when if you blinked you would miss a sudden change, such as the transformation from death to Ghost.
But nothing to distract from the show in any way.
Jacqui Dubois & Josh St. Clair. Image Alastair Muir.
Notable performances from James Mateo-Salt as Carl – was phenomenal with fantastic character development particularly for a musical.
Garry Lee was utterly terrifying as the Subway Ghost who teaches Sam how to move objects. The effects in this particular scene were mind blowing.
Jacqui Dubois as Oda Mae Brown was hilarious and last but not least a cameo appearance by Les Dennis to lighten the mood was great fun.
The key message about Ghost is about believing. To truly enjoy this show you need to push all thoughts of reality out of your mind and see it for the heartbreaking story it tells. A life taken too young and a woman left heartbroken.
How does anyone come back from that? This is not a show for the stoic hearted but defiantly for those with a passionate soul.
5 Stars
(All images Alastair Muir)
Ghost The Musical is at The Regent Theatre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent until Saturday 16 November. For information visit HERE
