Ghost - the Musical

[skynyc]

A thread with disclaimers.

 

Disclaimer to readers: there are lots of spoilers within, proceed at your own risk.

 

Disclaimer to theater folk: this was a first preview. I assume that many things will be tightened and tweaked before opening night on April 23rd.

 

Well, from the first preview, I cannot tell if the Lunt-Fontanne Theater will be vacant by July 4th or occupied for ten years.

 

I got a tdf ticket for tonight's introduction of Ghost and for me I have to say there are more flaws than flights of fancy. I imagine everyone has seen this movie...Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. Whoopi. Tony Goldwyn. Pottery Wheel. Unchained Melody. "Molly, you is in danger, gurrl."

Sweet and sappy. Love is stronger than death. You know.

 

Well, perhaps it's because I am used to seeing Patrick (Sam) and Demi (Molly's) faces filling my TV screen, (as in pretty large,) and tonight I was seeing them from the center of the 6th row from the rear (as in pretty small)...but I felt completely removed from the sweetness that makes the story. But it's not just the distance from the stage, it's the slickness of the production that stole the heart ran off with the show.

 

The three sides of the stage are blocked off by three enormous LCD screens. So no matter the location, we're seeing it like a movie. And while this technology amazed me on the bus of Priscilla, here I found it a bit overwhelming. When it rains, it looks very real, but there's no imagination involved. When we're careening through New York, you want to tell the driver to slow down. But the worst use, for me, of the screen was the portrayal of the ensemble, eighteen folks who must be glad to be getting a paycheck, but are completely extraneous to the show. When there are opportunities for the ensemble to be on stage...as office workers, pedestrians, hospital workers, etc...they are multiplied by three on the screens, so instead of a cast of ten dancing on stage, it's a cast of thirty. Maybe from the front of the orchestra, it would look like a stage full of people, but from the rear mezzanine, it looked tacky.

 

Ohter than the lack of intimacy in the show, the other huge disappointment for me was the score. I had hopes...the first number "Here Right Now." is actually quite lovely, and introduces the two very sexy young leads. And then Sam sings Unchained Melody. But it's all down hill from there.

The show is so over-mic'ed, that I literally could not understand a single word in half of the other songs. (Granted, this is a fixable problem, so I imagine that by opening, the songs will be understandable,) but tonight, the words were lost to me, and the melodies...were so loose as to be unchained.

 

That's not to say I didn't get my money's worth. The two leads are sexy and working their asses off. Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy are due a lot of credit for carrying this piece. Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Ota Mae is funny, and pretty much succeeds in making the role her own. (Although, her big number in Act 2, I'm Outta Here, when she's just received the ten million dollar check, was the most unintelligible of the evening.) The lighting is a sight to behold. Yes, sometimes the LCD's are distracting and overblown, but how the lighting crew manages to keep Sam bathed in blue, as he stands inches away from the rest of the cast, fully lit, was terrific. And the two scenes in the subway were very interesting and I wish I could have seen them again. And some of the special effects are pretty terrific. But interestingly some of the most effective are the least technical...such as the use of distraction to draw your eye away from when Sam is killed and they bring in a double so that Sam's Ghost can separate.

 

No matter what you do to this tale...no matter how much you cover it with glitter and glitz, it still needs to be intimate and sweet, and here it fails pretty badly.

 

I suspect that this British import which received five Olivier nominations today will be savaged by the critics, but may still find an audience of tourists who, like those who fill the house at Mamma Mia eight times a week, will find this to be everything they expect from a big Broadway show. There were lots of those folks sitting around me, checking their phones and texting away, taking pictures and talking. And they leapt to their feet as the lights were fading away.

 

Leaving the theater, I said to my companions, that they could have written five new songs, and hired seven actors (who could cover every role in the ensemble), and done this down at a tiny Off Broadway theater, and it may have gotten raves. A sweet intimate show about the tragic love of this couple.

[Isis123]

I have not seen this show in London so I cannot comment but, initially, I had written it off as something for the large market of teens and hen parties that seem to be a very lucrative area for theatre producers nowadays. What struck me was that the London reviews were mostly very positive, including many from "heavyweight" reviewers who I would not have expected to fall for some teenage fluff. A couple more or less said they ended up enjoying it despite their better instincts. The charm seemed to make it through in the London production so - maybe - they will be able to fix this in New York.

[+ Lucky]

It looks like the Lunt-Fontanne will be vacant by July 4th! The reviews were not good. Here's a sample:

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/theater-review-ghost-musical-article-1.1066158

[+ Lucky]

WSJ critic Terry Teachout says: "

I'd sit through "Bonnie & Clyde" three times in a row in preference to watching any five minutes of "Ghost" again." (WSJ.com, April 23d, 2012)

[operalover21]

WSJ critic Terry Teachout says: "

I'd sit through "Bonnie & Clyde" three times in a row in preference to watching any five minutes of "Ghost" again." (WSJ.com, April 23d, 2012)

 

So, now he's okay? Is it because you agree with him?

 

As for me, I'd rather be rammed up the ass by a 400 lb Japanese man than sit through GHOST. I hated the movie almost as much as I hate Cameron's TITANIC.

[+ Lucky]

I just quoted him, nothing more. If I quoted you, would that mean I now think you are okay?