West End, Broadway, Melbourne – why AussieTheatre can’t wait for Ghost to arrive

AussieTheatre.com’s Perth correspondent, Craig Dalglish, took a trip to London recently to see as many West End shows as he could, and to soak up the theatrical atmosphere. Here, he writes about new sensation Ghost, The Musical which will be debuting on Broadway in March 2012, and in Melbourne in August 2013…

Yes, I’m a believer!

Even sitting behind a six foot patron with a two foot afro couldn’t spoil the experience of Ghost for me. (I’m just glad there were spare seats in the rows in front to swap to at interval!)

So excited was I to see this production after listening to the soundtrack by Bruce Joel Rubin (lyrics), Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard (Music and Lyrics) and viewing clips on the official website, I actually turned up at the theatre a day early. (I blame jet lag…)

Everything about this show is a winner: the cast, costumes, music, illusions and the set. All of the familiar scenes from the movie are there, and you will leave the theatre having laughed, cried and everything in between.

Cassie Levy who plays the title role of Molly, gives an emotional and raw performance and her rendition of “Without You” (able to be viewed on the Ghost website) is haunting. Richard Fleeshman as Sam also does an exceptional job, and you really believe the rest of the cast are unable to see his character on stage. These two can sing and have you believing and feeling the emotions of their characters.

Andrew Langtree’s Carl is pure evil – he does such a great job I found myself itching for him to get his ‘just desserts’.

At the performance I attended Oda Mae Brown was played by the understudy Da’vine Joy Randolph. Her character gets all the laughs and I didn’t once compare her to Whoopi Goldberg’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar winning performance in the 1990 film. Despite being based on the movie, turning Ghost into a musical has created something new, which enabled me to enjoy the show and not compare it to the movie.

Paul Kieve (Magic Consultant whose credits include the film of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) produces magic on stage with special effects that had me constantly guessing how they were achieved. There are many show stopping numbers which will have you wanting to buy the CD as you leave the theatre.

One of my favourite movies, has now become one of my favourite musicals.

Ghost the Musical opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne in August 2013.  Australia – prepare to believe!