Ghost The Musical - U.K. Tour 2024/5

Yes, that was the production I saw. 

Was disappointed with the score. I expected something a bit edgier and less cheesy/typical "21st century Broadway" sound, coming from the likes of Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. 

This production is unbelievably bad, but when it's Kenwright I don't know what we expected.

Good for the cast, wish they weren't having to tour such a dire production.

Bring back Mark Evans and Paul Ayres who did a great job as second run cast in the original London show (the Molly actress didn't race out and sign programmes as Mark and Paul did so forgotten who she was).
Know there are several ghosts featured so presume Les Dennis is one of those cannot not think of any other main role he could be, what ever you think of him he does keep working the boards.

Having last seen GTM during its original 2011 Manchester run and thought it was a 5 star show thanks to its cast and brilliant staging, I paid a trip to the Liverpool Empire last night to see how this latest version faired.

Having a read of reviews from bloggers and critics of this tour, there is much praise for this cast and from my viewing I would certainly agree with this. As Molly and Sam, Rebekah Lowings and Josh St. Clair made for a really great watch with some great chemistry on display that came across really well both in the acting and vocals of the pair. Their relationship arc was a believable and highly emotional one that as an audience member you could invest in over the 2 hours and 20 minutes run time. As the villain of the piece, James Mateo-Salt's increasingly frantic portrayal as banker Carl was another good watch. However, I did feel that the early reveal of Carl as the villain maybe could of been stretched out longer to have a bigger impact in the plot. The comedy of the piece was brilliantly brought to life by the wonderful Jacqui Dubois as Oda Mae Brown. For me Jacqui was the standout here and had the audience in the palm of her hand in every scene she was in. Her big Act 2 number went down really well with the audience. No Les Denis last night, though to be honest I really didn't miss him. 

As a score Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard's score holds up remarkably well upon a second listen to. "With You" still has the big emotional punch it had when I first heard it performed thanks to Rebekah's heart-breaking vocals. Of course, with Ghost, there really is only one song that everyone was waiting in that scene with the potters wheel. It certainly gets a good run out over the course of the show and got a big cheer when it turns up. With a 7 piece band bringing the score to life, sound mixing was fine with no issues hearing either the band or the cast vocals.

Whilst this version still retains the heart and soul of the original production, in terms of staging, whilst fine and there was plenty to like about it, there certainly wasn't the wow factor for me that was present from the Manchester production. The magic / special effects have been diluted here and been replaced in the main by a lighting design from Nick Richings which I will say was very effective, particularly in the closing scene in Act 2 seeing Sam move from Limbo to heaven which worked really well to end the show. 

Having a chance to chew over my thoughts, if given the option to rewatch  either the 2011 or 2024 version, I'd go with the 2011 version which for me was the complete theatrical package. I would say that there was plenty to like about the 2024 version and worth a watch on a cheap ticket. 

Does anyone have a running time for this as I'm seeing it in Late November matinee and have to be somewhere by 6pm?

Slightly less when I saw it I think, nearer 2hrs 35.