GHOST - The Musical

I saw a post on the first previews but not a thread for the show in general.

I saw it for the first preview and again last night and I have to say it's one of the most touching and beautiful shows I've seen in a while. I wasn't a fan of the cast album before I saw the show but the songs in context amplify it significantly. The special effects make the show completely magical. For someone who has recently gone through losing someone very special, the show really hit home for me. I can't wait to see it again. And if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. It will surely tug at your heart.

Saw it tonight from the mezzanine...I came out humming the LED's.

I'm one of those rare people that did not see the movie, so I came in with no preconceived notions of what it should or shouldn't be.

I found the group numbers to be over amplified to the extreme and they need to have a musical rehearsal, to get EVERYONE enunciating, the openings of both Act I and Act II could have been sung in (insert any foreign language) because I understood nothing of either of them. The ballads, duets and trios were slightly better, but still at times, unintelligible. The orchestra needs to be the support, not the star of these numbers.

I wish I could say I thought the two leads were great...but...I think they served the script and that was about it. Neither was terribly charismatic to me, and Molly in particular left me cold. She did do a lovely job with the ballad near the end of Act I, but up to that point I wasn't buying what she was selling.

Oda Mae...hmmmmm. Disappointing vocally, for me. She has two rousing numbers one being the 11 o'clock number...which should have stopped the show. It didn't. I thought she was pretty good in the scenes and got all the comedy out of them. But again, not a spectacular performance.

The set and effects steal the show and not always in a good way. One effect in particular distracted me so much that I found myself not paying attention to the scene that followed it, because I was still trying to figure out how it was done. The set seems to be in nearly constant motion...and the use of the LED's is pretty amazing, and nicely synchronized with the live action, for the most part. But there are times, it is more of a distraction than an asset.

For me the most memorable song on the evening was "WITH YOU" - it was simply sung and has some lovely lyrics. But the rest seemed mediocre at best.

Choreography....the less said the better. It's truly mundane stuff.

All in all...if I were ranking it...I'd give it a 6.75 out of 10. Not the worst thing I've ever seen...but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone...especially at full price. Wait until it's at TKTS.

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Wait until it's at TKTS.

Try discount code BBOX3B. Several previously full-priced seats are now discounted. [And some of the premium seats are now regular price.]


p.s. FMEZZ Row A was still available for tonight (Wednesday), at discount.

JustAGuy, I'm assuming you saw Da'vine Joy Randolf last night? Seeing it later this week and after seeing Moya Angela who for me made the whole show worthwhile, I'm curious to see how she compares.

"I found the group numbers to be over amplified to the extreme and they need to have a musical rehearsal, to get EVERYONE enunciating, the openings of both Act I and Act II could have been sung in (insert any foreign language) because I understood nothing of either of them."

HA! I felt the same way when I saw the show last night.

JustAGuy, I'm assuming you saw Da'vine Joy Randolf last night?

Yes, to my knowledge there were no understudies or swings on last night.

I'll repeat, I didn't think she was awful..it's just that the part is written to be a tour de force, and the "force" didn't happen.

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I was in the center mezz house left section. The only part of the stage that I did not have a clear view of was the far upstage right corner. I didn't feel that I missed any of the FX, but that's really hard to say for sure, since I don't know what they look like from any other seat location.

I personally think a close seat location would be visually overwhelming. The LED's are hardly ever at rest...and many times, for me, they were a distraction...which may have been the plan all along!

For me at least, the technical aspects of the show are the true stars of the evening.

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