Press night & review of Ghost the Musical at the WMC! Ooh this was a surprise, had no idea it was in Cardiff this year! The show is running until 8th March and there are still seats available online :D
The story is a very good one and I actually forgot how many funny bits there were in the film alongside all the heart-wrenching moments! The perfect mix of romance, suspense and supernatural intrigue, here's the plot in case you aren't familiar with it:
𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙎𝙖𝙢 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚, 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙥𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙨𝙮𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙘, 𝙎𝙖𝙢, 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙩, 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙈𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧…
Ghost even won Oscars and was such a phenomenon when it was released in 1990. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore had insane chemistry, Whoopi Goldberg stole every scene she was in and Unchained Melody made everyone emotional. But how did it translate to the stage?
For me, I'd say it wasn't a favourite, but I still had fun. Not every show has to be a masterpiece, it was still a wonderful way to spend the evening and my mum was my plus one as usual and she loved the show more than I did. But I always want to be honest, it's boring giving 5 star rave reviews to everything and not realistic! It had some really touching moments and gave me some of the biggest laughs I've had in a show in ages, and I wasn't ever bored even for a second. Excellent pacing, didn't drag at all. But it just didn't give me that feeling...the goosebump-inducing, still-thinking-about-it-the-next-day kind of feeling where the show sticks with you long after the curtain falls.
My biggest gripe was that the score wasn’t really to my taste, I found it lacking. None of the songs were memorable and I felt a lot of the slow songs just sounded the same. I think it might have actually worked better without songs at all, or if the music and lyrics were a bit stronger. I've been in such a big phase this year of listening to musical theatre soundtracks on repeat and none of the songs from Ghost will be making the playlist cut, sadly!
Star performance for me was, without a doubt Jacqui Dubois as Oda Mae Brown (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film). She really knew how to work a stage, we were in hysterics every time she was on. A joy to watch, absolute legend!
No one else massively stood out for me, though the romantic and intimate moments (that pottery scene of course) were done really well and the 2 leads had solid, believable chemistry. The dance sequences lacked a bit of oomph and were a bit routine/nothing special. On the whole, I felt the show needed something more...a little extra spark, that touch of magic that leaves you buzzing as you walk out of the theatre!
If you’re on the fence I’d say give it a try and you might be pleasantly surprised! Thank you very much for the invitation.
The show runs at the Wales Millennium Centre until Saturday, 8th March 2025 and you can check for tickets on the Wales Millennium Centre website. I was invited to the press night for this review - thank you!
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