| PICCADILLY |
| GHOST THE MUSICAL |
| *** |
| book/lyrics BRUCE JOEL RUBIN DAVE music/lyrics STEWART & GLEN BALLARD song from film UNCHAINED MELODY by HY ZARET/ALEX NORTH director MATTHEW WARCHUS/ with associate RUTH CARNEY m.d. JAMES McKEON décor ROB HOWELL video/projections JON DRISCOL dances ASHLEY WALLEN/ LIAM STEEL illusions PAUL KIEVE sound BOBBY AIKEN lights HUGH VANSTONE with RICHARD FLEESHAMAN sam, CAISSIE LEVY molly, SHARON D CLARKE oda mae brown psychic, ANDREW LONGTREE carl, IVAN DE FREITAS willie lopez, ADEBAYO BOLAJI subway ghost, MARK WHITE hospital ghost, LISA DAVINA PHILLIP clara oda’s sidekick, JENNY FITZPATRICK louise oda’s sidekick
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| Here we go again..it’s getting to be a habit with theatre…the nostalgic films made into musicals for today’s theatre. We have here a double contention…..a film made into a musical and a film converted to theatre. If you want to see the most immaculately precise spectacle on stage with its special effects that are marvellously magical to witness (just like fireworks) then this is a must-see. If you want to see a musical…well there’s one song that remains and it’s from the film Unchained Melody. The pop music in the show blasts away so that the lyrics are difficult to follow but then again….so is the melody….they all sound alike and Molly’s grief goes on from song to song. As to choreography…..here we go again…they’re dance routines as the chorus are used for the scenic changes and their dancing moves us into the next location in New York City. They slump forth, knees slightly bent, when they’re on the subway…they move with the video change of set and it in itself is part of the spectacle…not the dance but the movement with the music and video filming of the moving train. The one dance number Ball of Wax by the hospital ghost is an oblique symbol to figure out. You’re dead when you’re a ball of wax…he then tap dances to that song…but he can’t tap…And all those ghosts who join him? Well….they can dance. I like it better when the dancers postulate in disjointed movement on the subway. The subway ghost Adebayo Bolaji is fabulous when he shouts and pushes Sam’s ghost, ‘get off my train!’ You have the video moving fast with horrendous rumbling, the dancers involved in the action…the lights flashing, the fury of the subway ghost at being pushed to death….a great spectacle, great drama, and such exciting special effects within the video filming. That is the real triumph of the production…. Warchus flows from scene to scene with spectacular precision as the magic illuminates the video movement. Sam’s ending when he goes through the door is another blazing moment. His learning how to touch and handle objects, his talking to the fake psychic Oda Mae are just not credible. So forget the storyline, forget the thriller, forget the love story, it’s not like the film where the concentration is on the love story….just follow the flow of special effects and the hilarious reactions of the fake psychic Oda Mae acting on behalf of Sam the ghost whom she can now hear. I just waited for Sam’s best friend the villainous Carl, plus Sam’s murderer Willie, plus more bodies on the operating table in the hospital…..all of them to die… so there would be more dead bodies turning into ghosts within these fascinating special effects.
The story is simple…Molly, a brilliant sculptress, falls in love with Sam, a clever- banking financier, and marries him. They live with her sculptures and her ceramic wheel in this chic apartment (seeing her knead the clay to show her sorrow is another non-consequential bit of business that worked in the film). Sam’s best friend at work, Carl, is supposedly helping Sam. However, Carl has actually been embezzling Sam’s and the company’s money into his own bank account. Carl hires Willie to rob Sam of his wallet so he can get to his credit cards. Willie shoots and kills Sam in the process. Carl pretends to comfort a broken hearted Molly. His intentions are to get to Molly and steal the necessary papers in the apartment. Molly is now in danger. Sam cannot leave her unprotected so he remains a ghost to finish off Carl and save Molly. How can he do this? He discovers Oda Mae, a psychic, who is a fake but by the time Sam finishes with her…the fake voices become Sam’s real voice and together they manage to manoeuvre all of Carl’s million into a cheque which Oda Mae is forced to give to the church orphanage. Carl and Willie are eventually killed and become inferno ghosts, while a heavenly Sam bids farewell to Molly who can now begin to recover from her mourning. As to Oda Mae…well she’s no fake….not any longer….and will probably be lifting Molly into a happy life.
Richard Fleeshaman as Sam sings with great passion and has fun as the ghost. Caissie Levy’s Molly is winsome with a sweet voice. But it’s the comic brilliance and powerful voice of Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, the psychic, that steals the show. Andrew Longtree’s Carl, Ivan De Freitas’ Willie Lopez offer good support.
However, the full kudos and bravos go to Matthew Warchus’s ingenious direction with associate Ruth Carney, James McKeon’s immaculate musical direction, Rob Howell’s imaginative scenic designs uniquely using space within three walls to formulate a room, Jon Driscoll’s amazing video projections fitting into changing locations with three dimensional illusions, Paul Kieve’s fabulous magical ghosts floating through doors or space, and Bobby Aiken’s perfectly accompanied sound with Hugh Vanstone’s lights in harmony. Talk about escapism…this is it!!!! Import and export this production for Broadway. |
| June 24/11.... |
| 1196 |