Performance Run: Mon 19 - Sat 24 September 2016

Performance Reviewed: Mon 19 September (Press Night)

Assessing the individual merit of a musical theatre production whilst keeping expectations and impressions divorced from what has come before can be difficult - from the perspective of being not just a reviewer, but as an audience member generally. It’s a recurrent sticking point, particularly with touring theatre; more often than not given the current surge of revivals and retreads, it’s not uncommon for a performance to not be one’s first experience with that particular show. 

With that being said, it’s encouraging to see a slew of producers and creatives stepping up to the bar and raising the stakes, with recent productions such as Nikolai Foster’s re-imagining of Annie and Craig Revel Horwood’s current tour of Sister Act each providing distinctive, original and fresh takes on already established brands in the industry. 

It’s incredibly disappointing, then, to see the polar reverse be true of Bill Kenwright’s acquisition of Ghost the Musical, a show which I previously branded ‘the most ambitious, bombastically visceral and tirelessly inventive musical theatre production you will see either on or off the West End’.

There’s been no shortage of people clamouring to lay blame at the feet of former Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding, who here steps into the admittedly demanding sing and performance of Molly, the grieving young sculptor who has the love of her life, Sam (Hollyoaks star Andy Moss) ripped from her life as a botched theft unwittingly escalates to murder. And yet, whilst the very public lambasting of Harding is, sadly, deserved, there’s blame to share across-the-board and she is by no means solely responsible for the show’s shortcomings. This is a production which feels diluted throughout, and even pushing aside the fact that it contains precisely none of the visually stunning, award-winning staging and effects from the show’s previous incarnation (which lent it so much of its impact and character), this latest iteration of Ghost feels strangely dull and pedestrian throughout.

Many shows rest entirely on the strength of their central performances - previously, Ghost offered itself an extra ace up its sleeve in addition; it boasted some genuinely incredible artistry and technical bedazzlement with it’s gravity-defying, perspective-warping trickery, and a wilfully over-the-top use of lighting, digital imagery and sound. It was bombastic and audacious, and revelled in it. The previous production’s subway train sequence remains one of the most visually striking and impressive sequences of theatre I have witnessed. And even taking on board the argument for a version of Ghost which strips back all the flash, bang and illusion, what is offered here is bland, uninventive and rudimentary in and of it’s own accord.

Yes, there is still a smidgeon of inherent charm and tenderness to the core story, and when the Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody’ chimes out it will likely pinch - however briefly - at the heartstrings. Most will cling to every second Jacqui Dubois takes to the stage as phony psychic Oda Mae Brown, who turns out to actually be able to commune with the dead, reluctantly becoming the now-deceased Sam’s only means of communicating with the world. Dubois is a lot of fun in the role that made a star (and Oscar-winner) of Whoopi Goldberg, but even she cannot escape the spectre of what has come before or do much more than occasionally elevate the show briefly above mediocrity. And Sam Ferriday does a solid job as the dubious Carl, selling the characters ruthless and manipulative streak with cocksure charm, solid vocals and just enough boo-hissable slime.

But if the overall tiredness and execution of pretty much every key element of Ghost sets this particular production’s ship on choppy waters, it is undoubtedly the central performances which  go the whole hog and sink it. Andy Moss neither looks nor feels right for the role of Sam, and whilst he is by no means a poor singer, his irascible, almost whiny performance and awkward physicality depict the character as something more akin to a frustrated, erratic teenager than anything else. In a role that is almost entirely reactionary, it takes a steady, assured lead to get an audience invested, and Moss just seems to lurch from grimace to pained expression throughout.

And Harding… for the love of Olivier, she has to be given merit for trying. And that is genuine praise where it is somewhat difficult to find any. She never appears to be coasting or simply apathetic where she would now be perhaps be forgiven for doing so - every scene she sincerely appears to be giving the role and show her all. Unfortunately, what she has to give is simply not up to par. To be clear, it is by some measure the worst lead performance I have witnessed in almost five years of reviewing musical theatre, and though I could go into expansive deconstruction as to exactly why, to do so feels cynical, indulgent in a mean-spirited way, and somewhat unnecessary. Harding is poor, but she is surrounded by equal poorness in a myriad of fashions.

To say it is difficult to recommend this latest interpretation of Ghost the Musical is an understatement. In fact, there’s a case to be made that I should perhaps actively discourage people from going to see it, so disappointing is the end result, and so varied and numerous are the alternate shows theatregoers could opt for in its place. There’s also something of a narrative to be aimed at those behind productions of this ilk, and with any luck the recent critical, industry and even public outcry (which has, I will again emphasise, been perhaps a touch unfairly squared solely against Harding) will hopefully make future producers and creatives think twice about shoehorning in that ‘name’ to fill seats and sell tickets even at the expense of the show’s quality and audience experience.

Theatre is an organic, ever-changing thing. Revivals, retreads and re-imaginings will always come around, and will always vary in quality. Not every show has the budget or even talent to attempt to top what has come before, and indeed sometimes there is comfort in familiarity with what has come before. Sadly, Ghost the Musical in it’s latest incarnation offers none of this, and is, quite simply, a very underwhelming, poorly performed and utterly disappointing shadow of what has come before. 

Yet with Harding’s now infamous performance at the helm, one wonders if it may end up becoming almost an Ed Wood of sorts in musical theatre history, a real Hindenburg of a show which actually, for all the wrong reasons and purely as an oddity all of it’s own, you could almost say is a must-see.

RATING - ★★
 

Tickets: 0844 871 3011  / Official Website: click