The cast of Ghost threw everything they had at this production, but when all is said and done there is only so much you can do with the material you are given. This ghost story is more a love (and I mean ‘lurve’) story than a gripping thriller. There was an awful lot of yearning and missing to get through – thank goodness we were rescued from the sentimental quagmire by the fabulous Jacqui Dubois as the in-your-face psychic Oda Mae (cheered raucously at the end), and the extraordinarily powerful cameo from Garry Lee Netley as the subway ghost. In these two performances you got a glimpse of where this production might have led to, perhaps a less serious take on itself.
Sarah Harding, formerly of pop group Girls Aloud, played the bereaved Molly, while Andy Moss played her ill-fated boyfriend Sam. I confess to not seeing the original 1990 film of Ghost starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, so I am not able to compare performances, except to acknowledge that Moss and Swayze wear the same claret-coloured shirt. Funny how clothing seems to remain as much a part of a ghost’s identity as that of its formerly living host.
Harding and Moss did a good job of portraying the good-looking young couple settling into their apartment in the Bronx – a very charming pair who can turn in a good tune. In a string of sentimental but well-delivered songs, ‘Here Right Now’, Three Little Words’ and ‘With You’, we were shown the more saccharine side to the Ghost brand. I was surprised to learn that Dave Stewart of The Eurhythmics was co-songwriter, until, that is, the cracking ‘I’m Outta Here’ lifted the auditorium and I could see the connection.
Later, there was too little shock on show when cataclysmic events kicked in. Bodies were wheeled off in an almost a humdrum fashion as indeed was Molly’s final goodbye to her Heaven-bound Sam.
I felt a bit sorry for Moss as the ghostly Sam. Despite sets that flew in left, right and from above, the poor man had to parade about with nothing but our own suspension of disbelief to support the idea he had ‘passed to the other side’. There was no special lighting to give him ethereal presence, no drifting on wires, not even a musical theme, he was just Sam Wheat, walking about the Hippodrome stage, as before. Perhaps they should have upped the hired illusionist’s, Richard Pinner’s, invoice a bit.
There were some much-needed distractions from the claustrophobia of Molly and Sam’s relationship. A pulsing song and dance routine to ‘More’ had real lift – a terse critique on consumerism and its associated behaviours – in this case, the greedy Carl, played dryly by Sam Ferriday, recklessly plotting his fortune at great personal risk. Amongst the come-uppences that littered the night, his was the most melodramatic, accompanied by what one assumed was supposed to indicate the red lights of Hell!
With the introduction of Oda Mae we finally had relief from the sobbing and the stress. Jacqui Dubois has got the voice to levitate the Hippodrome. In fine old gospel/soul style she blew us away with ‘Are You A Believer?’ and of course, later, with the fabulous ‘I’m Outta Here’. But what really worked was her relationship with the ‘invisible’ Sam. There was some quick-witted and humourous dialogue between them, particularly when she is ordered by Sam to hand over $10million to some fund-raising nuns.
As a spectacle, Ghost splutters. Sometimes it hits its target as an all-guns-blazing West-End musical, then seems to want to be something much smaller, more intimate. Perhaps in film the power of close-up would have helped. But its simple message, to remind us of our own mortality, and the power of articulating a message of love to someone we cherish while we have breath to do it, will always have resonance. ★★★☆☆ Simon Bishop at the Bristol Hippodrome 13th September 2016
