Regional Reviews: St. Louis Ghost: The Musical
Understudy Andrea Rouch was outstanding in the Demi Moore role (as Molly), with a beautiful voice and manner, as she worked her way through the grief of losing her lover (the excellent Steven Grant Douglas). Molly is normally to be played by Katie Postotnik in this traveling production. As even wraiths and spirits must know by now, Sam (Mr. Douglas) and Molly are separated when he's killed in a late night mugging. He then tries to communicate his love and to protect her as he follows her around in a ghostly blue wash. Until, of course, he can enlist the help of a crooked psychic (Carla R. Stewart, as Oda Mae Brown). Along with all the beautifully sung and acted ballads (including the emblematic "Unchained Melody" by Hy Zaret and Alex North), it's Ms. Stewart's performance (in "the Whoopi Goldberg role") that helps make the production come fully alive. She gets three rousing comedy numbers, greatly relieving the (beautiful, but) mournful and murderous drama. In fact, her first song is made triply hilarious with the help of back-up singers Lydia Warr and Evette Maria White. Later, in "I'm Outta Here," Ms. Stewart deliriously "runs the table" in the casino of life. Robby Haltiwanger is perfect as Sam's charming, duplicitous friend at a huge New York bank, and his own sad solo in "Life Turns on a Dime" is surprisingly beautiful as well. Fernando Contreras brings the danger as Willie, and Brandon Curry is very fine as an anguished "subway ghost" in a couple of impressive action sequences with Mr. Douglas on the train. He later teaches Sam how he manages to endure an eternity trapped down here in the world of the living. A surprisingly strong show from beginning to end. And even though the multitude of highly polished animated projections might sound overbearing or distracting, they are all used very smoothly to enhance the story and (I must grudgingly admit) to elegantly merge the elements of cinema and live theater in a very respectable way. (And, finally, two very small tech notes to the crew: when pulling ropes to remove rolling set pieces, always try to keep the ropes as low to the stage floor as possible, to avoid distracting the audience. Also, there were two noticeably late light cues on opening night, in an otherwise complex and dazzling evening. Probably just a stubborn computer, based on my own limited experience.) Through March 30, 2014, at the Peabody Opera House. For more information, visit www.peabodyoperahouse.com. For more information on the tour, visit www.ghostontour.com. Cast The Ensemble Swings Dance Captain: Susan Leilani Gearou Assistant Dance Captain: Tony Johnson Crew Orchestra Music Technology: Phil Adams
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