GHOST The Musical – The smash hit West End musical GHOST the Musical, based on the Academy Award winning film, is to tour throughout the UK and arrived at The Bristol Hippodrome from Tuesday 27 August until Saturday 14 September 2013.
GHOST the Musical is directed by the Tony award winning Matthew Warchus (Matilda, Art) and has music and lyrics by Grammy® award winning Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard and features the iconic song Unchained Melody. Set and costume designs are by Rob Howell, musical supervision and arrangements by Christopher Nightingale, illusions are by Paul Kieve, choreography is by Ashley Wallen, video and projection designs by Jon Driscoll, lighting by Hugh Vanstone and sound by Bobby Aitken. The UK tour is being produced by David Ian Productions, The Ambassador Theatre Group, Colin Ingram, and Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle.
Oscar® winning Bruce Joel Rubin adapted his original screenplay for the stage production. Rubin won an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay for the movie GHOST, which starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg.
GHOST the Musical has been seen by over 500,000 people and has been nominated for five Olivier Awards and three Tony Awards.
Based on the phenomenal Oscar® winning movie that captured the hearts and imaginations of a generation back in the 90s, GHOST the Musical is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic in the hope of saving her from his murderer. GHOST the Musical is a rollercoaster ride of romance and comedy with dazzling state-of-the-art staging.
GHOST The Musical REVIEW
GHOST the Musical is the kind of show that you walk in to, not knowing quite what to expect. We’ve all seen the movie and fallen in love with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore’s portrayals of Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen and I must admit, I was unsure as to how well the movie I love, could translate to the stage.
It turns out that I needn’t have worried, not even for a second, as GHOST the musical delivers on every count and doesn’t disappoint. Not even for a second. I saw the show with my 10 year old daughter and my sister and we all came out of the theatre with tears in our eyes and raving about how much we’d loved the production. For me, this just highlights the shows broad appeal and how it manages to contain something for everyone.
The first thing that blew me away were the special effects throughout the show. From the moment the curtain went up, we were treated to 3D imagery, eye popping visuals and effects that really immersed the whole audience in to Molly and Sam’s world from the get-go. There were a few scenes that even left you thinking ‘how did they do that?’ as you watched a character fly around the room as if by magic, or Carl’s haunting which was absolutely seamless in its execution and rather chilling in fact. This was an element of musical theatre that I’d not experienced in such grandure before and I’m pretty sure it was down to the involvement of Paul Kieve, who is renowned for his illusions on stage and screen.
His stage work includes Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre, The Lord of The Rings and The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Our House at the Cambridge Theatre, Theatre of Blood for the National Theatre, Scrooge at the London Palladium, The Invisible Man at the Theatre Royal Stratford East/West End and Improbable Theatre Company’s Cinderella at the Lyric Hammersmith. Kieve’s screen credits include Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese, The Dark Knight Rises, and he was magic consultant on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He is a consultant to Derren Brown and David Copperfield and is a gold star member of the Inner Magic Circle.
The main cast were amazing to watch, and really brought the show to life. I loved how the characters who played Sam and Molly weren’t fake or trying too hard to play off of Demi and Patrick’s portrayals of their roles, but instead focused on giving a subtle nod to their performances whilst bringing their own personal flair to the table. Stewart Clarke who played Sam Wheat was charming and playful in his portrayal of ‘Sam’ and had a fantastic voice. Rebecca Trehearn breathed a down-to-earth and heart-warming personality in to ‘Molly’ and her voice in some of the main songs was just beautiful. A special nod must also be given to Wendy Mae Brown who plays Oda Mae Brown with energy, personality and a soulful voice that simply must be heard. I was blown away by David Roberts in the role of ‘Carl’ and thought that he portrayed the conflicted character incredibly well, managing to highlight his ever increasing levels of desperation and irrationality throughout and sing each note with conviction and charisma.
The supporting cast were fantastic and I really enjoyed Stevie Hutchinson’s portrayal of ‘Subway Ghost’ blending some crazy energy and rap music that added a whole new dimension to what we’d previously seen of this character in the movie. Very cool!
All in all, I have to say that GHOST the Musical was one of the best stage shows I’ve seen to date, and I’ve seen a LOT! So go and watch it as it tours through your area. It’s at the Bristol Hippodrome right now.
Tuesday 27 August – Saturday 14 September 2013
Evenings at 7.30 pm. Matinees on Wed & Sat at 2.30 pm
Tickets: £10.00 – £45.00
Concessions available at certain performances
ATG Tickets 0844 871 3012*
*subject to booking/ transaction fee
