Ghost the Musical. Book by Bruce Joel Rubin based on the Paramount film written by Rubin. Lyrics by Rubin and Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. Music by Stewart and Ballard. Choreography by Ashley Wallen. Directed by Matthew Warchus.
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Ambassador Theatre Group Asia Pacific, GWB Entertainment and Red Live. March 19, 2016. Theatre Royal, Sydney, until May 14. ghostthemusical.com.au.
The phenomenon of adapting movies into musicals isn't new but it has become increasingly popular in recent years. An Officer and a Gentleman, King Kong and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels are just some of the examples drawing on Hollywood for inspiration. The creators are, in part, banking on audience familiarity with, and affection for, the originals and the results have been mixed, both commercially and artistically.
Ghost the Musical is another such effort to be mounted here, based on the popular 1990 movie Ghost for which Bruce Joel Rubin won an Oscar for best original screenplay. Rubin also wrote the book for the musical and the storyline is the same (why mess with success?). Banker Sam Wheat (played by Rob Mills) and his potter girlfriend Molly Jensen (Jemma Rix) move into an apartment in Brooklyn together. Mills and Rix are likeable but a little bland as a couple; it doesn't help that they don't ever have a complete, emotionally overwhelming rendition of Unchained Melody, the most famous song associated with Ghost – there are three different renditions but none is entirely satisfying.
When Sam is murdered in a robbery, Molly is shattered – and Sam finds himself a ghost, able to see what's happening in the world but unable to communicate with anyone in it. He learns some of the "rules" of his new existence from his fellow spirits – in some of the most impressive scenes in the show, dramatically, musically and technically, with David Denis a standout as the hostile Subway Ghost. Sam also discovers there is one person who can hear him: a phoney medium named Oda Mae Brown (Wendy Mae Brown, who steals pretty much every scene she is in with a gift of a comic part). She is shocked to learn she actually does have a psychic gift. And when Sam discovers his death was no accident, it becomes very useful, indeed.
There's a lot of talent invested here, on stage and off. Rubin is credited as co-writer of the lyrics alongside successful Grammy-winning songwriters Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard and the show is directed by Matthew Warchus, whose credits include Matilda. The production is impressive technically with sets changing smoothly and lighting and other effects well integrated. And the supporting actors, including David Roberts as Sam's dubious friend Carl, and the busy ensemble, are good.
The book songs are pleasant but unmemorable pop ranging from comic numbers to soulful ballads and none is as memorable as Unchained Melody: any show that mixes indelible standards with an original score is bound to have the latter coming off sounding second best.
This is a thoroughly professional and enjoyable production that showcases a lot of talent. It will remind people of why they enjoyed the movie but it doesn't, ultimately, make a convincing case for why Ghost needed to become a musical.
