Ghost

Once again LODS have taken the decision to tackle a technically demanding show and they did it very well indeed.  I had my reservations, not about the performers, I was confident that they were going to be good.  But about all the illusions that I knew were an important part of this show, but more of that later.

The two main Principals, Molly (played by Jenny Peoples) and Sam (played by Stuart Woolner) were both outstanding.  Their emotional involvement in the story was highly charged and very real.  They both have beautiful singing voices and each did full justice to their songs and to the role, singly and together.  I noted that they were both still very emotional for the walk down, a sure sign that they had put their hearts and souls into their performances.

Helen Sharpe (Oda Mae Brown) showed just what a talented actress she is, I never tire of watching her perform and in this role she was superb.  All of her performance was eminently watchable but I particularly liked the subtle way she got taller when she invited Sam to occupy her physical body.  Now that displays a highly experienced actress with an understanding of the subtleties of performance.

Zoe Berry (the Hospital Ghost) was excellent; Zoe has great stage presence and a lovely singing voice.  Neil Lands (Willie Lopez) proved his versatility in the role and Lawrence Harp (Subway ghost) was terrific, although he spoke rather fast and I had some difficulty in understanding some of his dialogue.  However the subway scene was highly charged and full of energy which is exactly as it should be.   The other main parts were played by Lewis Sheldrake (Carl) Emma Elliott (Clara) and Tori Williams (Louise).

Having seen the professional production in the West End, I was surprised at the amount of dancing that Director Peter Brown and Choreographer Gemma Cohen had introduced into the show.  I thought some of it was excellent and appropriate.  However there were one or two dance numbers that might have been better left just as songs.  I rather got the impression that the company had been sent on to dance to liven up the show.  It really didn’t need it all the time!  However the ensemble worked very hard and the dancing was extremely well drilled and creative.

LODS chose, quite rightly, to have a lot of the scenery done by projection and they have a very fine Visual Effects guru, Andrew Seal, who has clearly worked very hard with the production team to pull off the various special scenes that the script requires.  I particularly liked the subway scene when Sam was thrown about, seemingly, by the Subway Ghost.  The lighting complimented the production and the whole technical aspect of the show was timed to perfection.

Costumes were modern day and, in the main, absolutely fine.  It is not my favourite type of show but LODS, undoubtedly, produced a terrific production which the audience clearly appreciated.

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