Ghost: The Musical
Theater West End, Sanford, FL
Book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin
Music and Lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard
Based on a film by written by Bruce Joel Rubin
Directed by Derek Critzer
Musical Director Heather Langs
Choreography by Amanda Warren
Starring Lea Marinelli and Preston Ellis
You can never make too much money, and if you can steal it that’s even better. Sam Wheat (Ellis) came into a big wad of cash on his job on Wall street, and his assistant Carl (Kyle McDonald) wants a slice of it. Carl knows a bit about computers and a bigger bit about thugs and by tune #3 Sam is dead and haunting his now X-GF Molly (Marinelli). The dead know all, at least on Broadway, and Sam struggles to warn Molly to change her locks. But he can only communicate via the reluctant psychic Oda Mae Brown (Desiree Montes), and she would much rather be out throwing tarot for tourists and advising lovelorn teens. But she does allow Sam to channel through her, and while it’s an intermittent channel, it’s got enough bandwidth to block the bad guys and repair this badly damaged relation.
Our visit to New York comes through a complex set of projectors, one of which made some of the lights look as if they were made of brick. Jarring, but kind of fun after I figured out where the projections came from. Sam was earnest and angsty, and his “buddy” Carl was pleasantly incompetent as a criminal. Marinelli drew my sympathy; she was the nice person who consistently gets the bad end of the trades. But while Carl’s thievery fails him, it was Ms. Montes who stole the scene whenever she got on stage in her reluctant messenger role. Music was consistently solid with the West End Orchestra tuck somewhere back there between the brick wall and the set. Carl and Sam sold me on the romantic “More”, and “Suspend My Disbelief / I Had a Life” gave the first act a solid landing. As romances go, this is an odd ball. It’s clear our favorite couple is going to have a long dry period, but we still cheer for them, and you should run up and catch this lovely romance. And remember Sanford parking is much easier than Orlando Parking. I rolled in with 5 minutes to curtain and got a spot right in front of the theater. It may be a small town, but it’s got a big show house with a great performance just waiting for more people to discover it.
