piccadilly | Theatre Breaks

The Musical version of Ghost, London Theatre Breaks

The stage musical version of Ghost, is scheduled to open at London’s Piccadilly Theatre on June 22 and is booking initially until January 28 so that holiday period theatre breaks to see Ghost can be booked well in advance. This is going to be a very popular show for all sorts of theatre goers including hen party theatre breaks, romantic theatre breaks and anniversaries. Directed by multi-award-winning Matthew Warchus, Ghost will feature music by Dave Stewart (of Eurythmics fame) and Glen Ballard, writer of Michael Jackson’s hit Man in the Mirror. The production will be designed by Rob Howell, and will feature extraordinary, magical stage effects by Paul Kieve, illusionist for the hit film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Bruce Joel Rubin has adapted his Oscar-winning screenplay for the stage show which will also feature the unforgettable Righteous Brothers song, Unchained Melody, which featured in the film’s iconic love scene at a potter’s wheel. A story about the power of love, Ghost revolves around a man called Sam, trapped as a ghost between this world and the next. He tries to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic, Oda Mae Brown, in the hope of saving her from his murderer. Richard Fleeshman, recently seen on the London stage playing Warner Huntington III opposite Sheridan Smith in Legally Blonde The Musical, will play Sam in the stage musical. Fleeshman is best known on television for his roles in Coronation Street, in which he played Craig Harris for four years and, more recently, Debbie Horsfield’s All the Small Things for the BBC. Caissie Levy will play Molly. She has most recently been seen on stage on Broadway and in the West End in the leading role of Sheila in the New York Public Theatre Cameron Mackintosh production of Hair. Levy made her Broadway debut as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, a role she recreated on tour in the US. She went on to play Maureen Johnson in the US tour of Rent and in 2008 starred as the green witch Elphaba in the Los Angeles production of Wicked. Sharon D Clarke, who will play Oda Mae Brown, has most recently been seen on stage in the West End as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre. She has played Mama Morton in Chicago at London’s Adelphi and Killer Queen in We Will Rock You at the Dominion. Ghost, the highest grossing film in the UK in 1990, was directed by Jerry Zucker.

March 25 2011, 7:13am | Comments »

Mamma Mia! London

I went to see Mamma Mia! the London stage show last night at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Piccadilly and enjoyed the show immensely. Jessie May as Sophie was captivating right from the opening scene and as soon as she opened her mouth the most beautiful sound came out, which then continued perfectly throughout the show. Having already seen the film version with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosman, Julie Walters et al, the rather fanciful plot held no surprises but the London stage version portrayed the younger characters much more sympathetically than the slightly annoying americanised teenagers in the film. The set is very appealing in a rustic Mediterranean sort of way but it’s not the colours and lights that transport you to a Greek island, it’s the acting and the costumes. Coming out of the theatre I was totally surprised to be dumped back into a somewhat chilly spring night on the dazzling streets of London Theatreland.

So I’d definitely recommend Mamma Mia for theatre breaks, and not just for single sex groups or Abba fans either. Anybody who remembers the 1970s or has dreamed of running away to a Greek Island, will have a great time at this so called “feel good show” that really lives live up to the promises. a

April 13 2010, 9:39am | Comments »

Theatre Breaks

The Musical version of Ghost, London Theatre Breaks

Mamma Mia! London

Theatre Breaks Links

Popular Tags

Search