Ghost the Musical

Between projects, we are always looking ahead to what may be happening next in the American theatre.  Looks like, if Andrew Gans at Playbill is right, the British will be sending their musical adaptation of the 1990 Oscar-winning (Whoopi Goldberg for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Joel Rubin for Screenplay) film, Ghost, to Broadway in the Spring of 2012.

The show has released a trailer on Youtube (see below).  Yes, savvy productions now offer trailers online much like their Hollywood counterparts.  I have mixed feelings based on the snippets provided.  I enjoyed the movie.  Maybe not as much as my mom did (she worshipped it for weeks… years even) but I thought that the premise was fun and pulled at the right emotions without becoming overly sappy.

I’m mixed because while it visually looks stunning and has high-energy music, it doesn’t “feel” like the film… at least not until the end of the trailer where we see Molly (played by Demi Moore in the film and Caissie Levy in the London production) listening to the The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody”.  This moment really captures the flavor of the film – the loss, the longing.  If the show comes to NYC I will be thrilled to see it.  I’ve never been one to poo-poo a movie-to-musical and think that the genre enhances the market by drawing tourists to known properties and gives them a tremendous reason to visit the city and take in the theatre.  And if they happen to venture out and see something they are not already familiar with, so be it.  So, barring my initial reservations, I welcome you Ghost, with open arms.  ”God speed your love to me!”