|
|
|
|
|
Rebekah Lowings as Molly and Josh St. Clair as Sam. Pictures: Alastair Muir Ghost - The Musical Coventry Belgrade ***** Musical Theatre Review, for which I have periodically written, describes this touring Ghost as 'One of the best musicals I’ve seen in years… powerful, evocative and a display of incredible talent.' Well, one should probably set aside the hype. Another magazine suggests a few problems. 'Not every moment is as successful, however, with the annoying early number More ironically leaving me longing for less.' (It's too long and repetitive, and is a classic example of Musical cliché). 'Writer Bruce Joel Rubin's attempts to flesh out the characters have varying success, feeling too underwritten and one note' (monotonous). So West Side Story it is not. But the Belgrave audience absolutely adored it, and there were plenty of reasons why it should. Mark Bailey's designs - a magnificent example of creative originality - were a glorious highlight. A New York skyline, brilliantly evoked, was offset by almost an immense variation of structures descending from the fly-tower. Every scene had its own visual identity, and the imagination and ingenuity of Bailey's inspired fluctuations, helped by Nick Richings' Lighting plot, engineered dark threatening to offset patches of bright optimism. I suppose one should get this out of the way. Bob Tomson, the Director, failed hopelessly to lend any character to the Ghost, Sam, who has been killed in a standoff. Sam, incidentally played by understudy James Mateo-Salt. The point is that this is a production without a believable Ghost. Sam almost floats around, in the same blue suit, the same non-presence, and has no personality at all. Maybe that's what ghosts do (a violent burst-in by Garry Lee as an aggressive other ghost suggests otherwise). Suffice it to say Mateo-Salt comes far more to life in the second half (the bank scene notably). But essentially he's a wet, a wimp, and a drag. Sam the ghost needs more - lots more. Molly (Rebekah Lowings) sings like an angel, especially in high register. Her character is utterly believable, and perhaps particularly as she tries to make out the mystery of her missing yet somehow omnipresent boyfriend. She has a large role to play, perhaps slightly excessive, but she holds the show together admirably, and her characterisation, if largely unchanging, is vividly and immensely competently drawn. She is the heart of the production, and both her forthrightness and her vulnerability had no difficulty in eliciting the audience's sympathy, warm-heartedness and constant affection. The only reservation? The appalling use of mikes, at the start especially. Possibly they were mercifully turned down thereafter. But why must musicals be so obsessive about this? Her charming voice was perfectly capable of commanding the stage without.
Jacqui Dubois as Oda Mae Brown and Les Dennis who plays the hospital ghost and Lionel Ferguson
Yet it's not the loving then broken pair (some of the unappetising duets were a bit iffy, probably over-repetitive, certainly typically soppy) which made most impact. But a clutch of other characters. TV's celebrated Les Dennis, for instance, brings a treat of light comedy in a passing hospital scene and as the hapless Bank Manager. When Jules Brown (Willie Lopez, apparently Puerto Rican) first appears, fatal pistol in hand, the action certainly enlivens - and indeed every time he turns up, murderous and malicious. He's not an especially well-drawn or well-conceived villain. But Brown made him nasty enough: he knows how to play brutal. The third main protagonist is Carl Bruner, a sharpster who alternates genuine friendship with making approaches to Molly (once Sam has expired), but also snaffling large amounts of money from banks or whoever he can outfox. Jamie Pritchard, another understudy, provides a lively, energised character who not only acts creditably but has a splendidly refined singing voice (unlike Sam, who lacks vocal colour). Somehow Carl is the nuisance of the plot, always appearing when not just mismanaging business on the phone but indulging in a feast of malpractice. His acting was arguably the most polished and proficient of the three. Ensemble? As the play developed, two or three numbers were very nicely not just manufactured but executed. Others were perhaps less special, the group precision just a shade awry. A-minus, rather than A-plus. A rather better bet was the seven-man (or woman) band, directed with head-nodding energy (to guide those on stage) by Jordan Alexander. Occasional key changes were really telling. Allowing for many intense and beautifully contrived ensembles, some four of the star moments were the poignant expressiveness of violinist Charlotte Price. Sometimes with cellist Elisheba Kate Stevens added, she shone as vividly as a Mozart string quartet. These moments were magical, and wonderfully sophisticated. But the highlight of the entire evening - and the audience clearly felt this (how could they not?) was the sensational appearance of Jacqui Dubois as the larger than life, somewhat ropy medium (or fortune teller) Oda Mae Brown. Her wild and bizarre and African-looking main costume alone (uncredited: seemingly part of Mark Bailey's glorious designs) took the stage by storm. She did, it has to be said, outshine everything else in the show. Her somewhat unexpected interplay with the Ghost was hilarious ('We're in trouble'. 'Who's in trouble? You're already dead!' Her gesturing was equally bizarre: endlessly inventive, arguably the most professional of the entire parade. Her two acolytes, by the way, managed that enticing precision the ensemble just lacked. So, a mixed bag, both of script and of vocal line. Was it bad? Certainly not. Was it notably good? Maybe. Gripping? I think not. Sam will be haunting Coventry to 26-10-24. Roderic Dunnett 23-10-24 |
|
|
|
