Ghost The Musical at Lyceum Sheffield Review

DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

I’d be very surprised if there are many people (possibly over 30) that aren’t aware of Ghost as an iconic Oscar winning film with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. Having just looked up when the film came out, I now officially feel old as it was released in 1990! It’s one of those films I have seen more than once, although not for many years. I was excited to see how it would play out on a stage rather than in a film. The musical version showcased in the West End in 2011 and has been on several tours since.

The storyline remains true to the film’s storyline, with the love story turned tragedy of Sam (Josh St Clair) and Molly (Rebekah Lowings) as the main characters. This includes the pottery wheel making a few appearances for Molly to work some clay magic on. However, there are several new songs in this musical version, to aid the plot along. I found these a little hit and miss but really enjoyed ‘Are you a believer’ with Oda Mae and her sisters and ‘With You’ which Molly sang. Unchained Melody featured a few times (it would have been remiss of it not to), often with a little burst rather than the full track. Sam’s guitar version certainly provided a slightly different take on it.

I wasn’t quite sure how anyone could compare to Whoopi Goldberg’s version of Oda Mae Brown in the film, so was pleasantly surprised by Jacqui Dubois’ portrayal, along with her sisters Clara (Tanisha Butterfield) and Louise (Keiahna Jackson-Jones). They brought some welcome light hearted comedy to the story.

The stage setting regularly changed round for different scenes in different places, with several different backdrops and buildings deftly moved around the stage as well as various props being wheeled on and off stage to enable smooth switching between Sam and Molly’s new flat in Brooklyn, to Sam and Carl’s (James Mateo-Salt) workplace, to the streets of Brooklyn, the train station, Oda Mae Brown’s psychic reading shop and more.

Josh St Clair and Rebekah Lowings harmonised really well as Sam and Molly and had great chemistry on stage together.

I loved the train scenes, when the subway ghost (Garry Lee) showcased his ability to affect the living, which is shown in slow motion.

I was also impressed with how, when someone died, the extra person who was the dead body seemed to magically appear in place while the now dead character walked away from the scene. There was similar impressive trickery when dead people possessed Oda Mae Brown to speak through her.

Outfits remained true to the 90s style in the original film, with many of Molly’s outfits nearly exactly the same as had been worn in the film, think lots of denim, oversized white shirt. The bankers wore full power suits. There was the more modern addition of mobile phones in this production though, including Molly, Sam and Carl taking a selfie when first in the flat.

The Lyceum is in the centre of Sheffield and is easy to find. If you park in the Charles Street Q Park, remember to get a voucher from the theatre for the first hour free.

I had forgotten some of the storyline from the film with having not watched it for such a long time, but it all came flooding back. This musical is a great stage adaptation of the film, which I think die hard film fans will love. Some of the themes are quite dark, so it’s possibly not one to take younger viewers to.

Rating: 4/5

Tickets cost from £15 to £56.50

Ghost The Musical is on at the Sheffield Lyceum between Tuesday 11th and Saturday 15th March 2025.

For more information or to book tickets visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000.

Sheffield Theatres, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA