Red Bus Londinium Life

With stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg in the lead, Ghost was the highest grossing film of 1990 and the iconic pottery scene remains legendary and much-loved.

Premiering in Manchester in 2011, Ghost the musical brings the beloved film back to life with The Righteous Brothers’ Unchained Melody peppered throughout alongside original songs co-written by Glen Ballard and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. The show is a warm and nostalgic feast for fans of the original with the set and costumes accurately portraying the early 1990s for those of us who were there. And yes, we do get that pottery scene!

The New Wimbledon Theatre is currently hosting the London leg of a touring version which has many more dates to come.

An experienced cast has been assembled with the roles of Molly (Rebekah Lowings) and Oda Mae Brown (Jacqui Dubois) being reprised. Josh St. Clair (Frozen) stars as Molly’s boyfriend Sam Wheat and James Mateo-Salt (Bonnie and Clyde) as good-friend-turned-bad Carl Bruner. All are capable and competent in their roles, while Jacqui Dubois elevates the show with her superb comic timing – including in-character reactions to audience misdemeanours.

The set design (Mark Bailey) and lighting design (Nick Richings) are inventive within the limitations of touring and the use of the ensemble to move pieces to create new settings works well. The New York skyline backdrop which moved through all the rainbow hues of day and night, both natural and artificial, was especially effective.

There was some real strength in the supporting roles. Jules Brown as Willie Lopez was suitably nasty and had my husband muttering that maybe he could take the next turn as Bill Sykes in Oliver. Garry Lee as the Subway Ghost was mesmerisingly terrifying and was possibly an actual manifestation of my fears when first going on the New York Metro in those ’90s days before the crime clean up.

The ensemble performed Alastair’s David’s choreography with accuracy. A focus on rather frenzied unison moves highlighted the sense that these were corporate worker drones in their identikit jobs. No wonder nasty Carl was looking for an escape route.

If you are not already a life-long Ghost fan, there is possibly not enough here to turn you into one. But if you are, or if you were a City worker in the 1990s, this will be an enjoyable romp down nostalgia lane.

[Thank you to New Wimbledon theatre for the gifted tickets for an honest review].