I'm not much of a musical person -- though I own the soundtrack to the musicals of Scrubs, The Producers and Spamalot -- but when I saw that Ghost the Musical was coming to the Saenger, I was downright giddy.
Jenna and Joe have season tickets, and with Joe having no interest in a non-Patrick Swayze Ghost, it was me accompanying Jenna to the theatre.
Did I enjoy the play? You damn right I did. There are two key ingredients to any Ghost production. 1) the love story being stronger than death and 2) the comedic relief of psychic Oda Mae.
On the second point, Tuesday's show was a success. Even though I already knew the lines, Carla Stewart's performance stole the show. The best two scenes in the show were Oda Mae at the bank and Oda Mae first convincing Molly that Sam was there as a ghost. "Tell her ditto" might have made me cry.
On the first point, the show was a moderate success. The first couple of scenes were good, and the two leads had good chemistry in showing the undying, if not fully expressed, love of Sam and Molly. As well, the happy ending before Sam leaves for heaven was heartwarming.
It was just the middle that lacked. More on that in a second.
The show was also more of a special effects display than a love story at times, and that was distracting, especially when the crazy blinking lights on stage went right in my eyes.
Overall, I loved it and really enjoyed my trip to the new theatre. Here are some photos of the inside.
But enough praise. Here are the top five things I didn't like about my experience:
5) I couldn't see the real ghost. You know, Patrick Swayze. Too soon?
4) The people behind us wouldn't shut up. They had a conversation about how one of them never saw the movie (Whaaaat?). They laughed during the emotional ending when Molly can see Sam and they kiss. Some people, I tell ya.
3) The musical follows the movie like gospel as the screenwriter of the movie adapted it for the stage. But it left out two of my favorite parts. A) The guy that teaches Sam to move things doesn't say "What I wouldn't give for one drag." B) Sam doesn't move a penny up the door to convince Molly that he is there. Instead Oda Mae recited a letter. Booo!
2) The snack stand didn't have popcorn. Jenna said they probably don't want to deal with the mess, but dammit, I wanted popcorn. Would have gone well with the second act. They did, however, have four types of Zapps because you know, chips don't make noise and bother those around you trying to hear the play.
1) The middle of the play ruined the chemistry of our love birds. The two leads didn't share a scene for what seemed like an eternity. What really did it was that Molly had three solo songs that were meant to show her suffering after losing the love of her life.
Instead, she came off as whiny. The actress also wasn't a strong singer, which didn't help. So I started to cheer for Carl to kill her. Well, only a little.
I would have cut out all three songs. She just had too many scenes without Sam. Their separation made me forget how much they loved -- or dittoed -- each other.
Anyway, see Ghost the Musical. And then we can have this conversation.
Me: I loved it.
You: Ditto.
THE TINA CURSING CORNER
My mom gave me a shower stand for my 30th birthday. We put it together the other day. I'm reading the steps and point out two typos. I tell mom I'm going to write a letter to the company. "Really? It's fucking instructions."
I didn't answer the door right away when she came over. "You got the TV so loud, and I'm ringing the fucking doorbell."
Mom notices that her ticket for speeding in a school zone was written before school lets out. "That motherfucker jumped the gun."
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