Ghost the Musical Wales Millennium Centre 25 April 2013

Unchain the Melodies

The show started seven minutes late and the opening music had to compete with an announcement concerning switching off mobile phones and other such public information. If that wasn’t enough the production has had difficulties from the start. The first two preview performances scheduled at the Wales Millennium Centre were cancelled because it became apparent more rehearsal time was needed to prepare for the technical demands of the show.

That was against a background of a less than successful run on Broadway that included Richard Freeshman and  Caissie Levy who were the original Sam and Molly in the world premier sell-out season in Manchester and a spell in the West End that was terminated some six months earlier than planned while Freeshman and Caissie were performing on Broadway. That spell on Broadway appears to have been the least successful of the ventures and yet the tour show apparently is based more closely on the Broadway production than that of the West End and Manchester with more illusions and magic.

Ghost the Musical as many people will know is based on Ghost (the film) which again many will know involves Sam (Stewart Clarke) who is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with his girlfriend Molly (Rebecca Trehearn) through a phony psychic in the hope of saving her from his murderer.

Rebecca Trehearn who took over the Molly role in the West End from Siobhan Dillon when she fell ill, hails from Rhyl. She now continues in that role and appears well accomplished in it, but she has a new boyfriend and spirit friend.  

Sean Ebsworth Barnes

Stewart Clarke who plays Sam had perhaps one of the most publicised faces in London recently, to say nothing of his biceps, when he played one of the leading roles in Loserville in the West End. He is not long out of youth theatre and likely to continue in an upward spiral.

                                                                

 The villain of the piece is Carl played to great effect by David Roberts, sometimes ‘sweet’, sometimes aggressive but with his eyes always on the main agenda. 

 

 Sean Ebsworth Barnes

The first half was such a slow burner to get to the plot that by the time it surfaced the flame had all but been extinguished. The whole show lacked sufficient freshness and originality tending to rely on special effects which were far from spell-binding, some of which were dazzling but only into the eyes of the audience. There were also some fisticuffs where the gap between the punches and the opponents body were so exaggerated at times to warrant the use of the captions KAPOW, KRUNCH and OUCH!................if only.

Apart from a master-class of Goldburg proportions from Oda Mae Brown playing Wendy Mae Brown, no relation I suspect, there wasn’t much notable dialogue. That would not have been a problem if the words of several of the songs telling the story could have been heard clearly all of the time.

 

 Sean Ebsworth Barnes

The young and obviously talented cast were largely fettered by the loud score and the many special effects that it almost became a guessing game about what the sung messages were and what the next ‘explosion on stage’ was going to be.

Thankfully the most successful musical theatre doesn’t rely on special effects to make it work like, for example, Les Miserables or the more contemporary Blood Brothers, both have a good storyline which is well told in words and music but they also have show-stopping songs. Les Miserables has the lot, including the ballad I Dream a Dream, the comedy number Master of the House and the rousing Do you Hear the People Sing, and who could forget Blood Brothers’ Tell Me It's not True immortalised by Barbara Dickson and cherished by a whole host of other artistes.

The songs in this show are instantly forgettable with several of them being spirited away with the orchestra or by a sleight of hand. There is one notable exception however! Unchained melody is the main theme throughout and that in itself is a sad irony.

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