Review: Ghost The Musical in London

Musical: Ghost: The Musical

Venue: Piccadilly Theatre, London, UK

Date: 13th December 2011 at 19:30

Cast: Richard Fleeshman (Sam), Caissie Levy (Molly), Paul Ayres (u/s Carl), Lisa Davina Phillip (u/s Oda Mae Brown), Ivan de Freitas (Willie Lopez), Adebayo Bolaji (Subway Ghost), Mark White (Hospital Ghost), Jenny Fitzpatrick and Yemie Sonuga (Clara and Louise)

Rating: ***1/2

Review:

It was my London trip with my parents, brother and girlfriend after my graduation ceremony on Monday. I was looking for a show to bring my family to and I figure the best one to take them to was the new musical "Ghost: The Musical". I have seen the show before when it premiered in Manchester earlier this year (read my review) but have never seen how it looked since it opened in London so I was quite looking forward to the show very much.

Overall the show was very identical to what I saw in Manchester which was both good and bad. The sceneries seemed to be fitting better in the smaller Piccadilly Theatre. The illusions (which I shall not reveal too much here) were impressive and the lighting works better in this theatre as well as it conceals some of the illusions better (especially in the subway scene) and though I still can't work out how they did them, these illusions never fail to impress me.

I still also really enjoyed the LED screen projection used in the production as I found them to be fairly realistic and innovative (love the elevator scene). If I was not mistaken, it seemed that they have made some changes with some of the projections as well, i.e. in "Here Right Now" and "Nothing Stops Another Day". The pottery scene was also better projected here, I feel. 

The Pottery Scene

The cast was pretty much the same team that I saw in Manchester except we got 2 understudies for Oda Mae and Carl. Lisa Davina Phillip was stepping in for the brilliant Sharon D. Clarke who broke her foot and she didn't disappoint at all though I must say that she still couldn't really match the talent of Ms. Clarke especially her comedic timing but she was still pretty darn funny. Too bad I feel that her "I'm Outta Here" was not as good as it could have been. 

Our Oda Mae, Lisa Davina Phillip

"I'm Outta Here"
(seen here with Sharon D. Clarke as Oda Mae Brown)

 Also covering for Andrew Langtree as Carl Bruner is ensemble member Paul Ayres and I actually prefer him to Andrew. Though Paul didn't look as villainous as Andrew, I found myself enjoying Paul's singing and acting more and I could actually understand what he was singing.

Paul Ayres who was our understudy for Carl Bruner
seen here in Bright Lights, Big City back in 2010

"More" (seen here with Andrew Langtree as Carl Bruner)
You can see Paul Ayres standing to the right of Andrew there.

We still got Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy as the lover Sam and Molly and they were very good. I loved Caissie's voice and her "With You" was just heartwrenching and beautiful. Richard seemed to be more muscular but his singing was still very poppish (very notable when he sang "Here Right Now" with Caissie) and he just looked uncomfortable when he was acting angry during "I Can't Breathe" and "I Had a Life". But he clearly did a lot better in the second act towards the end and the chemistry between him and Caissie during the final "Unchained Melody" was great.

"Unchained Melody"
Caissie Levy and Richard Fleeshman

Richard Fleeshman as Sam Wheat during "I Had a Life"
(see the tension in his face?)

The songs were pretty much unchanged from the Manchester production which means that I still hated the scenes (and songs) in the hospital and the subway very much. Again, some of the songs towards the end of act one and beginning of act two were quite dragging, boring and seemed pointless to me (such as "Life Turns on a Dime" and "Nothing Stops Another Day") However, the act one finale sounded cleaner and better this time.

Seeing the show for the second time, I feel that the show does suffer from dragging plots and repetitive music with some big holes in the plot like if Sam can't touch an object, how can he sit on a refrigerator and get back to Molly's place or manage to jump on the sofa and not fall through it? However, I feel that the reason that the show survived was that it has such a capturing beginning and ending. The first few scenes in the show (from the opening up to the hospital scene) were very grabbing and very eye-popping and the last few scenes in the show were very hilarious and moving which sends the audience out of the theatre feeling happy and fulfilled that they might overlook some of the boring scenes in between that they saw. I still feel that they should have ended the show when Molly said "Ditto". The audience at the performance I attended gave them a long applause right after that as the music swells but as Sam came back out again to deliver the "Love Inside" monologue, I felt that it was a bit of an anti-climax but ultimately the cast got a full standing ovation from the audience. 

"I Had a Life"

"Rain"

Personally, I did enjoy myself at Ghost very much despite feeling a little bored at times but by the end, I (as well as some other audience) was in tears. I would recommend the show to any theatre lovers but not for those looking for a sophisticated theatre night out though. 

Ghost will open on Broadway in March 2012 with Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy reprising their roles. I still doubt the fate of a British show on the great white way (Sister Act, anyone?) and I'm not really sure whether they will make any dramatic changes to suit the American audience but I do sincerely wish them the best of luck. Mark Evans and Siobhan Dillon will take over the roles of Sam and Molly in the West End from January 13, 2012 onwards.

Mark Evans and Siobhan Dillon
taking over the leading roles in GHOST in January 2012