Blackpool Winter Gardens – until Saturday 7 December 2024
Reviewed by Debra Skelton
5*****
Ghost The Musical has landed at the Winter Gardens Blackpool and will be showing until Saturday 7th December.
This musical is based on an all-time favourite and highest grossing film of 1990 ‘Ghost’ which starred the late Patrick Swayze alongside Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. The screenplay from the film has been adapted for the stage by the Oscar winning screenwriter himself Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Bob Tomson.
As Ghost is a nostalgic film from me, I was really looking forward to seeing how this was portrayed on the stage and the only word I can say is WOW. Just everything was beyond my imagination and will be classed as one if not the best show that I have seen for a while.
The story centres around Sam Wheat and his girlfriend Molly Jenson who are navigating their life when one night when they are walking back to their apartment, Sam is murdered leaving Molly lost and alone and wondering how she will carry on.
Sam doesn’t move on and stays in the in-between watching over Molly when he sees that she is in danger so seeks the help of a phoney psychic, Oda May to get a message through to her.
Unfortunately, Molly is sceptical but after various attempts and with the help of Oda May, Sam does help to prevent anything dangerous from happening to Molly with a very touching scene at the end.
This production starred Rebekah Lowings as Molly Jenson, Josh St Clair as Sam Wheat, Jacqui Dubois as Oda Mae Brown, James Mateo-Salt as Carl Bruner and to my delight, Les Dennis as the Hospital Ghost / Lionel Ferguson with the help and support of an incredible cast. Their voices can only be described as out of this world and along with their acting talents created such a presence on stage with a standing ovation at the end.
Ghost features two terrific hours of fabulous songs co-written by ‘Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart and of course includes the iconic The Righteous Brothers song ‘Unchained Melody’.
The production also needs special thanks to Mark Bailey for creating such an adaptable set, Dan Sampson for the wonderful sound, Nick Richings for the lighting and Alistair David for the streamlined choreography.