Monday, May 14, 2012

Theater Review: Ghost

Richard Fleishman, Cassie Levy and  Da'Vine Joy Randolph . Photo: Joan Marcus  
Technology Creates Ghostly Effects, but Goes a Little Too Extra on the Sensory
By Lauren Yarger
A hit movie that starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and won an Oscar for Whoopi Goldberg is the latest story to transfer from the big screen to the little stage -- only Ghost does it big. Suspend your belief, the slogan urges us to do (like the characters in the story) and we can believe that a 20-year-old blockbuster movie can have an afterlife on Broadway. And it does. After a hit run in London's West End.

With unmemorable music and sometimes weak lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard (Grammy-winning Pop music backgrounds) this version relies on amazing special effects rather than star power as its medium to the story of lovers separated by his untimely murder (designer, Rob Howell, illusions by Paul Kieve, amazing lighting by Hugh Vanstone, video and projection design by Jon Driscoll.) From the appearance of specters to their walking through doors and walls it's all stunning, very well done and executed on a scale larger than anything we've seen on Broadway. Director Mathew Warchus fails to rein in the creative team, however, and those projection effects run wild creating an assault on the senses.

There are dancing shadows, which follow along with actors doing Ashley Wallen's choreography, moving street shots and even walls of dancing crabs. The sequence on the subway cars also is overdone. It's all way too much and has you wishing you had brought a supply of Dramamine to the theater. (It reminded me of presentations in Power Point where the designer uses every single graphic transition, just because they can).

A lack of equilibrium makes it difficult to concentrate, but if you know the story from the movie, you'll be able to follow along. For the book, Bruce Joel Rubin (who also wrote lyrics) adapts his Academy-Award-winning screenplay and follows pretty closely -- most of your favorite scenes are in there and a little of "Unchained Melody" too.

For those of you who somehow missed the movie, banker Sam Wheat (Richard Fleishman) is murdered, but refuses to leave his love, Molly Jensen (Cassie Levy) to cross over into the light. She doesn't know that the one responsible for the murder is close by -- Sam's best friend Carl Bruner (Bryce Pinkham), who needs to find Sam's password to retrieve stolen money from an account. Sam enlists the help of phony spiritualist Oda Mae Brown (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) who finds she really can hear Sam's spirit, to communicate with Molly. (Fleishman and Levy reprise their west end roles).

Randolph is outrageously funny as the reluctant medium. Vocals are good (and I'll pretend it didn't annoy me that Levy has longer blond, curly hair instead of that cute little cut Demi Moore made famous).

Ghost suspends belief at the Lunt-Fontaine Theatre, 205 West 46th St., NYC. Tickets:  800-745-3000.

Christians might also like to know:
-- Language
-- God's name taken in vain
-- Theological issues: obviously we're talking ghosts here, ability to communicate with the dead, possession of a body by a spirit; implied that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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