I saw the recent UK tour of Ghost The Musical at the Manchester Palace Theatre. I have always wanted to see Ghost because I heard great things about the music and special effects. I had a nice night watching Ghost and I would recommend it to ages 12 and above.
Ghost is based on the film of the same name and premiered in 2011 at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to London and Broadway! It is a tragic love story that everyone is bound to enjoy! One minute you could be laughing then the next you could be in tears.
This tour is brilliantly cast with Rebekah Lowings playing Molly and Niall Sheehy playing Sam. I really enjoyed their electric chemistry. Rebekah Lowings “With You” was pure perfection and was absolutely heartbreaking. And Niall Sheehy played a loveable Sam with powerful vocals. Jacqui Dubois played the hilarious Oda Mae. She was hilarious and I loved her hearty character. Sergio Pasquariello played the villain Carl. He had powerful vocals and his character arc was very interesting. This show has a hard working ensemble and they all had character names which I enjoyed.
Ghost is directed by Bob Tomson and is produced by Bill Kenwright. I was a tad disappointed with the direction and illusions in this show. I know it is a touring production but it really did felt like it. There is a famous scene in the film where Sam walks through a solid door however I was sat in the side block of the circle but I was 2 seats away from the central block so it wasn’t really a side view. In this production the door is on a right angle to the audience so that only the left side of the audience could see the illusion which I thought was really disappointing and the rest of the illusions were just okay. The 7 piece band sounded great but at times they overpowered the singing. I enjoyed Nick Richings lighting design with good use of backlighting and it was surprisingly very colourful. Set and Costumes were by Mark Bailey. For me the Set felt very budget and cheap. It reminded me of pantomime sets with a lot of flats but I did like the use of sliders.
Some stand out moments were the end of act 1 with the three main characters singing at the same time with the powerful score nearly shaking the theatre. Another stand out moment was the end of the show with Sam going to heaven. It was visually stunning with genius lighting design. Rebekah’s “With You” was very heart-wrenching and powerful.
Overall I would recommend Ghost but for me I was slightly disappointed with the production. However the cast, music and story is worth the ticket price!
Have you seen Ghost? Feel free to comment below! Or message me on instagram @unofficialtheatre
Thanks for reading!
Eugene
Unofficial Theatre 