Ghost the Musical – Darlington Hippodrome

Book & Lyrics: Bruce Joel Rubin

Music & Lyrics: Dave Stewart & Glen Ballard

Director: Bob Thomson

The 1980s and early 1990s remain big business, particularly in musical theatre where producers mine people’s nostalgia to lucrative effect. Musical versions of classic films from that era are becoming prolific: Dirty Dancing, Back to the Future, An Officer and a Gentleman, Sister Act, Beetlejuice, Mrs Doubtfire… the list goes on and on. Based on the 1990 movie, Ghost the Musical is another of these, and on the surface at least, it seems to have everything that a good musical should have: romance, tragedy, and comedy. So can this latest tour of a show that debuted in 2011 stand up on its own? Or does it use brand recognition and an in-built fan base as crutches?

Firstly and most noticeably, the entire cast are superb. The central couple of Molly and Sam are played by Rebekah Lowings and Josh St. Clair who have a strong palpable chemistry in the early scenes which creates a solid foundation for the devastation that follows in the wake of Sam’s death. Lowings has the most challenging role, with most of her time on stage seeing her enveloped in grief. Her scenes are all beautifully played with raw emotion, something she also injects onto her performance of the songs, particularly With You. St. Clair is given slightly less to work with as Sam, the script not managing to relay his grief as well as it does Molly’s. However, he still manages a performance filled with panic, confusion and frustration that transitions nicely into confidence as he becomes used to his new spectral form. Both of their vocals are impressively powerful.

Jacqui Dubois takes on the role that Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for: Oda Mae Brown, a charlatan psychic who discovers she has a real gift when Sam discovers she is the only person who can hear him. Like Goldberg’s performance in the film, Dubois delivers a flamboyant and often hilarious characterisation, although it sometimes feels at odds with the rest of the show’s tone and occasionally plays as if she has wandered in from an entirely different musical. James Mateo-Salt plays Carl, Sam’s supposed friend who is quickly revealed as being responsible for his death. The script quickly transforms the genial Carl into an almost cartoonish villain, but despite the lack of subtlety in the writing. Mateo-Salt still manages to both charm and repel when required.

In what amounts to little more than a cameo appearance, Les Dennis materialises as a ghost for the comedy number You Gotta Let Go Now, which he delivers with gusto and his usual twinkle. He reappears as a different (corporeal) character in act two, but this is again a minor role, and one is left yearning for more from this master of his craft.

The set is simple yet detailed, and the lighting is excellent, particularly when separating the ghostly Sam from the living Molly by having him constantly bathed in a soft blue glow. The special effects are very simple, old-fashioned illusions but they provide their required effects efficiently and effectively. Bob Thomson’s direction nicely delineates the real world from the spirit one, and manages some great feats of misdirection to achieve some simple but very effective bait-and-switches. Alistair David’s choreography feels out of place, but this is probably more to do with the music he was given to work with than anything else, with most of the chorus numbers feeling somewhat incongruous in what is otherwise a chamber piece.

This production delivers everything you would want for a stage version of Ghost, including some extremely powerful emotional beats, and for what it is, it is excellent. Unfortunately, the material itself struggles, including the aforementioned issues with the script (by Bruce Joel Rubin, adapted from his own original movie script), but particularly thanks to a score that fails to be memorable and lyrics that are very often weak and predictable. The songs have a strong pedigree, written as they are by Dave Stewart from Eurythmics, and recent inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Glen Ballard (with additional lyrics by writer Rubin), however most of them feel undercooked and none of them remain in the memory once the final curtain falls (except obviously Unchained Melody which they wisely decided to carry over from the film).

If you love the 1990 Patrick Swayze / Demi Moore movie Ghost, then you will no doubt love this show. If, however, you are looking for a well-crafted piece of musical theatre that can stand on its own two feet, then you may want to keep looking. Ghost will keep the fans in high spirits, but it’s doubtful it will win any new ones.

Runs until 28th September 2024