GHOST THE MUSICAL fails to move

THEATRE: Piccadilly Theatre, London

DATE: 22-08-2011

TIME: 19:30

WITH: Richard Fleeshman, Caissie Levy, Sharon D. Clarke, Andrew Langtree, Paul Ayres, Adebayo Bolaji, Andrew Carnall, Andrew de Freitas, Samuel Edwards, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Lisa Davina Phillip, Mark White, Mark Wilshire

DIRECTOR: Matthew Warchus

“Ghost the musical” is the umpteenth stage musical to be based on a popular film and though there are lots of pleasures to be had the musical is handicapped by some novices who do not have a clue how to tell a musical story for the stage. The awesome illusions have the audience ooh-ing and aah-ing, but the real accomplishment would have been to make them feel. This is never achieved despite the three solid leads.

Ghost - the sleeper movie hit which starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg - is a great story and won screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin the Academy Award. It is a wonderfully weird mixture of genres (love story, supernatural thriller, comedy) and ingeniously taps into our most primal emotions. It starts out as a love story between a yuppie couple in New York, Sam and Molly, who are moving in together with the help of their best bud Carl. Their relationship seems ideal except for the fact that Sam cannot say the crucial words ‘I love you’. When Sam is murdered his spirit remains on earth and forces scamming medium Oda Mae Brown into helping him solve his murder and protecting Molly. It is these last two thirds of the story that won we me over in the movie and also on stage, because Rubin has adapted his own screenplay and closely sticks to the source material.

 Caissie Levy & Richard Fleeshman

It might have been better if another writer had reconceived the story, because sticking so closely to the screenplay does not really work to the musical’s advantage and it also does not set up the songs very well. Director Matthew Warchus and his crack design team have, however, made sure that this production is (at least visually) not a literal translation of the film like for example the other Swayze-show: Dirty Dancing or Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The look - by designer Rob Howell, lighting by Hugh Vanstone and especially the breathtaking video art by Jon Driscoll – is thrillingly theatrical and Warchus’s mise-en-scene is pretty terrific. His emphasis on hands touching is artfully captured in Driscoll’s projections.

 Fleeshman & Adebayo Bolaji as the territorial subway ghost

How disappointing then that the score by Glenn Ballard and Dave Stewart, who have been very successful in pop music, is so mediocre. Compared to Bono and The Edge’s score for Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark this one is pretty accomplished, but that is not saying much. A great musical score should move the story along in a surprising musical way or deepen your knowledge of the character’s feelings in their unique voices. The Ghost score does no such thing and is actually quite bland. The songs do not register emotionally or lyrically. The worst song Ball of Wax for example feels totally out of place and features a ridiculous tap-dancing ghost. The power ballad Without You, gorgeously sung by American Caissie Levy (Hair, Wicked), is probably the best of the bunch.

 Sharon D. Clarke & Fleeshman

The beautiful and buff Richard Fleeshman (Legally Blonde) gives an excellent performance as Sam, even though it is questionable to have a banker as the romantic lead in these times. Fleeshman is in great voice and his character calls for a lot of emoting and reacting, which he does with genuine conviction (not easy). Caissie Levy is also quite charming as Molly, but both lovers lack the material to make a profound emotional connection with the audience.  Sadly there is no musical equivalent in this production for the unforgettable close-up of Demi Moore’s single tear in the film. 

 Sharon D. Clarke ripping it as the eccentric Oda Mae

Undoubtedly the greatest role is that of Odae Mae. It is a hilarious comic creation (Whoopi Goldberg won an Academy Award for it) and Sharon D. Clarke has managed to sensationally make it her own. As in the movie her Oda Mae really is the motor of the show and she nails all the brilliant comic moments. And even though her songs are far from great she manages to sell them better than they deserve with lungs of steel. Personally I was delighted that my favourite line of the film - ‘Molly you in danger, girl’ - made it to the stage and delivered with perfect comic timing by Clarke. For my money Andrew Langtree was a bit too much of a charicature to make his role interesting. Right from the start he makes it obvious that he is the villain of the piece. A bit of more depth and subtlety would have gone a long way and poor Langtree is also saddled with some of the most inept musical material ever.

 Andrew Langtree as the villainous Carl

Paul Kieve's illusions are pretty stunning, from a soda-can telekinetically moving to Sam moving through a door (which recalls The Phantom of the Opera moving through the mirror). What was significant for me though was that at the end the audience was applauding the effects instead of being overwrought by emotion. This production is entertaining on a superficial level, but never once makes an emotional connection. This seems to be enough for a lot of people, because they are flocking to it. There is already a Broadway transfer in the works despite all powerful critic Ben Brantley of the New York Times already having panned the show. Producers are obviously convinced that the audience’s love for the film and the spectacular staging will be enough to turn a profit and they just might be right.