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A show to raise the spirits
Rebecca Trehearn pottering away as Molly with soulmate Sam played by Stewart Clarke Ghost -
The Musical New
Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham *****
FEW would have imagined that Jerry Zucker’s heartwarming, 1990 movie
Ghost would emerge 21 years later as an all singing, all dancing slice
of musical theatre. Thanks to
a clever adaptation by its original writer, Bruce Joel Rubins and an
edgy, pulsating score by ex-Eurythmics’ frontman, Dave Stewart, the
transition is mostly a smooth one. The movie made stars of its
two leads , Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, and gave a perfect vehicle to
the comic talents of one Whoopi Goldberg. It also sparked a surge in
people enrolling for pottery classes as well as putting Unchained
Melody back in the charts. Director Matthew Warchus
combines fast moving, technical wizardry with tender, stiller moments to
powerful effect and the central poignancy of the story is never lost.
The visuals are, at times, breathtaking; New York dazzles on back
projected screens; underground trains thunder across the stage; slick,
corporate bank offices look out onto a dazzling vista of the Big Apple
at night. It’s a riot of computer generated graphics that give the piece
a music video feel on occasion. No bad thing, as long as the human
element plays in synch alongside it. In this instance, it does. The themes here are an
interesting mix. Love, death and betrayal run alongside the supernatural
and deceit. Tender, sensual moments are mixed with gutsy humour and
scenes of real tension. Punctuating this are slick, almost robotic,
dance routines that work well in such a corporate context. Dance works
best if it is choreographed to fit within a scene rather than just be
plonked around it for no apparent reason. In this case, the dance
augments the scene and is a joy to watch. Though slightly stripped down
of the special effects used in the West End version, there are still
some extraordinary magical illusions here. People seemingly walking
through doors, train passengers floating in slow motion, spirits rising
to heaven and one quite stunning effect at the end of the show that is
almost worth the ticket price alone. It’s one thing to achieve such
clever illusion in a film, quite another to recreate it live onstage. Stewart Clarke gives a
compelling performance as Sam, combining brooding with sensitive to
great effect. Rebecca Trehearn plays his devoted soul mate, Molly with
warmth and sincerity though at times her high notes were a little
pitchy. David Roberts is suitably crawly as the Judas in the pack, Carl,
but it’s Wendy Mae Brown, as the Psychic Oda Mae Brown who threatens to
steal the show with a blistering, committed and rumbustious performance. At its best , on numbers such
as Here Right Now, Three Little Words, Suspend My
Disbelief and Talkin’ Bout A Miracle the score is either
gloriously uplifting and exciting or sweetly melancholic. Just
occasionally though, it seems to run out of ideas and becomes a little
clumsy. Don’t worry. The iconic
pottery wheel scene is still there. However much technical jiggery
pokery is used, some things just can’t be left out... You will gasp. You will laugh.
You will cry. You will also be so glad you went. The West Ends loss is the rest
of the country’s gain. Catch it while you can! To 05-12-13. Tom
Roberts
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