The Wycombe Swan kindly offered us seats at their opening night of Ghost The Musical on Tuesday this week and I jumped at the chance.
Have I seen the film? No.
Am I a musical fiend? Yes. 100%. There is genuinely very little else I like as much as dramatic exposition through song.
I’ll get into all the ins and outs of the production shortly, but right off the top — I loved it.
The music, the incredible vocal talent, the light and dark of the script, the chemistry between the leads — all of it kept my eyes glued to the stage and entertained. This is a fantastic production and I wholly recommend seeing it before the end of its run at the Swan on Saturday 1st February.
The Story
As I mentioned, I hadn’t seen the film prior and my knowledge of it was strictly limited to that pottery scene. And I guess I knew that ‘Unchained Melody’ was floating around in the mix somewhere.
But the premise is simple: Sam is murdered, seemingly out of the blue one night, and manages to ‘get stuck’ between worlds as he tries to save his grieving girlfriend, Molly, and find out the truth about his death — all with the help of one Oda Mae Brown, a scene-stealing Jacqui Dubois, a quick-witted psychic.
OK, maybe it’s not a simple premise per se, but it is easy to follow and you certainly don’t need to know the film in order to understand what’s going on.
With a total running time of a smidge over 2 hours (not including the interval), I was worried my attention might wane — but this is a masterful adaptation, that feels fast-paced and high energy with a great balance between dialogue and music throughout.
Here’s the trailer:
Character Notes
The chemistry between Molly (Rebekah Lowings) and Sam (Josh St Clair) is evident from the get-go. This is a young couple very much in love and lust, and enjoying all that a Brooklyn apartment with a sterling view of the Empire State Building might offer you back in the glory days of the 90s. Tall and handsome, St Clair’s Sam definitely gives Patrick Swayze a run for his money, while Lowings is tender and sweet against him. She’s also very believable as the grieving girlfriend left behind, showcasing raw emotion in ‘With You’ which left many audience members around me visibly touched.
The choreography for ghost Sam is powerfully suggestive and it’s impressive that they were able to really visually separate him from the ‘real world’ without the special effects the film enjoyed. Similarly, the physicality of the Subway Ghost scenes was incredibly effective and absolutely mesmerising to watch.
Oda Mae, played skilfully by Jacqui Dubois, is the perfect comedic foil to the tragedy of the story and brings light and laughter aplenty. Quick and expressive, she’s everything you could ever need in a morally questionable psychic, and Dubois fully embodies the character, body and soul. Whoopi Goldberg who?
There’s really no weak link here — special mentions to James Mateo-Salt as Carl, Finance Bro personified, while Garry Lee as the Subway Ghost is just thrilling in his brief cameo.
The Music
While ‘Unchained Melody’ is the song you’re probably thinking about at the top of the show, by the time it ends you’ll be thinking about the rest of the score. Music and lyrics are by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics so you can expect some hits. And while it’s no ‘Hamilton’, there’s an impressive array of genres on display here with gospel and rap alongside power ballads and love songs.
Closing out Act One is ‘Suspend My Disbelief/I Had a Life’ featuring the full company, which really shows off the impressive vocal talent in the cast. Lowings is exceptionally talented with a depth and passion to her voice and just the right dose of pathos.
We also really enjoyed ‘Are You A Believer?’ featuring Oda Mae and her sisters. Again, it’s powerhouse singing combined with humour and evocative physicality. Incredibly fun.
Review
I thought this was a fantastic production with an amazing score and a talented cast. I’d love to see it again and would definitely recommend buying tickets if you’re thinking about it.
It’s fun, fast-paced, and brilliantly balanced between light and dark. Overall, a wonderful way to spend an evening in Wycombe this week!
Show Details
- Dates: Tuesday 28th January to Saturday 1st February
- Times: 7.30pm daily (plus additional 2.30pm showings on Wednesday 29th, Thursday 30th Jan and Saturday 1st Feb
- Prices: From £26
- Location: Wycombe Swan Theatre
- Tickets: https://trafalgartickets.com/wycombe-swan-theatre/en-GB/event/musical/ghost-the-musical-tickets
Have you seen Ghost The Musical? What did you think?
Enjoyed this article? Share it!
