Ghost The Musical – Good vs Evil, Love and Betrayal and amazing acting into the afterlife

Since I saw this production two nights ago, I’ve been re-living bits of it in my mind and I just need to write it down to capture how it made me feel! I’ve written before about my love for the theatre, especially musical theatre – there is just something magical about live shows that stays with you for years to come, especially one as good as this and with stand out moments that just leave you buzzing.

Having grown up watching and loving the film ‘Ghost’ when I was younger (yes, I admit, the common crush on Patrick Swayze was also present!), it was a show that I’d always fancied seeing but had opted out a few times because some of the ‘celebrity’ cast didn’t gel with my idea of the characters and for some reason I couldn’t get past it and thought it would interrupt my enjoyment of the show. Rightly or wrongly to make those judgements, I’m glad I did, because the other night I got to experience the Kristian Thomas Companys production of Ghost The Musical with a cast so brilliant they didn’t need a ‘celeb’ line up as a pull – they were talented stars in their own right, fantastic at their craft and delivered a West End worthy performance at one of my local theatres.

Ghost, for anyone who doesn’t know, is a 1990 film by Bruce Joel Rubin, about a couple named Sam and Molly (Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore), whose lives are torn apart when Sam is murdered. Sam, while trapped in transition between this life and the next, seeks help from a phoney-come-genuine spiritual adviser and medium named Oda Mae Brown and tries to warn Molly about the danger she is in and uncover the true circumstances surrounding his death. It’s a dramatic tale and a story of love and betrayal with themes of good and evil, packed with emotion and with a ton of comedy in there too. Not forgetting the whole spirituality / ghost concept! Many of these elements make for a good adaption for live theatre as there are lots of opportunities to make the audience feel strong emotions but with some tricky concepts to bring to life, I was curious as to how this would be brought to the stage. Ghost the Musical, with music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, has been a big success on Broadway and in the West End and I was excited to finally get to see an adaptation of the show for myself.

It didn’t take me too long to buy into the relationship between Sam and Molly, played beautifully by Andrew Buxton and Anna Bond. Throughout, I found myself liking them more and more, i loved listening to their voices and found they drew me into their moments with ease. I definitely felt like I was on their journey with them. I may have even shed a tear or two at pivotal points in the show. I did take tissues and I’d have been disappointed if the show hadn’t made me need them at least once!

Oda Mae Brown, played in the film by the hilarious Whoopi Goldberg, is such a lovable character and was wonderfully brought to life in this production with humour, fantastic stage presence, musical performances and dance routines with the rest of the cast, so much so that at times, I became so engrossed in the uplifting nature and enjoyment of her presence on stage that I momentarily forgot about the drama that was to unfold – something which actually added to the intensity of the show because I was whipped in and out of different feelings. Unfortunately in all my excitement, I didn’t pick up a programme and didn’t find out who played this role but she was amazing, along with her her two spiritualist sidekicks – what a great team!

The characters of Carl and Willie were played really well too, generating a detest of them from the audience that was necessary for the story. In fact, everyone was so good in this show – it’s hard to mention them all!

However, the total highlight for me was the portrayal of the subway ghost (played in the movie by Vincent Schiavelli but here on stage by Joe Millward). It was unexpected. I hadn’t really thought of the subway ghost as a major character before. I’m not sure why because he is so memorable and actually empowers Sam with some skills that affect the story in a huge way. Plus he always scared me a bit so it was a part where I sometimes peered over the top of a cushion to watch! This all changed tonight – I immediately knew I didn’t want to miss a second of this.

Photo thanks to JC Media

This guy was an explosion of menacing energy bursting with anger and frustration and perfectly encapsulated the frenetic nature of this tormented soul. His strong physical presence on the stage was matched with passionate and purposeful delivery of lines. Every movement he made was with intent, every outburst of rage filled the room, every word from his mouth felt like he’d used the lessons in the characters rap to inspire his performance.

‘You’ve got to take all the hatred, take all the fear, Shove them in your gut, shove them down here, Your love and desire, it’s like you’re on fire, And let them implode like you’re ready to explode, now feel the tension, that’s the key factor, focus your attention like a nuclear reactor’ (Focus, Subway Ghost, Ghost The Musical)

He himself was the epitome of the words he was saying.

Photo Credit – JC Media

The lighting and effects during his time on stage just enhanced things to their maximum. I was mesmerised, transfixed, drawn in. I probably, embarrassingly, had my mouth wide open in shock and awe. I know it may sound over the top but I think if you like going to the theatre, if you appreciate how it can affect you and just let it, then you can have moments where something grabs you and you can’t forget it. I really wish I could experience it again because it was one of those moments. I’ve resolved to simply treasure this performance in my head and heart as one of my all time favourites.

Photo thanks to JC Media

The sets, lighting and effects in this show were fantastic at creating and enhancing atmosphere. The lighting was used really well to capture the demonic and angelic openings to the afterlife – something which I couldn’t imagine working so well on stage before seeing the show. A number of blackouts were used cleverly as well. The musical is full of great songs and music and flowed so smoothly that the story felt seamless.

I really enjoyed the journey I was taken on watching this show. When I go to a performance, I want it evoke emotions, to make me ‘feel’. I want to be transported into the characters, into the show and lose myself for a couple of hours. I want to leave feeling exhausted through interest, focus and emotional impact but on a high having had the experience. Kristian Thomas Company production of Ghost The musical definitely achieved this for me and I also have a subway ghost to lock in my most beloved character collection too!

Angela xXx

If you’re lucky enough to have tickets for this sell out show, lucky you!

For upcoming shows by this theatre comapny visit their website http://www.kristianthomascompany.com

For a lovely local theatre, visit http://www.duchess-theatre.com

Photo Credit – Photo of flyer / Kristian Thomas Company

Photo Credit – JC Media for the amazing Subway Ghost shots.

All sorts of loveliness from the Algarve

We visited Portugal in October, towards the end of the holiday season, in the hope of some last minute sunshine and time to relax before the winter and crazy pre-Christmas excitement was to begin! It was our first time visiting Portugal and we opted for the Algarve region, staying in a small place called Olhos de Agua, located between the larger resorts of Vilamoura and Albufeira. It is safe to say we all had a great time! Here’s what we loved about our trip.

Olhos de Agua

This laid back little village was a pleasant surprise. We’d picked somewhere a little quieter than the most well-known resorts and I knew there was a small village centre and a beach about 10 minutes walk from where our hotel was located. It was a nice length stroll from our hotel past some restaurants and shops (and the village police station!), leading to a tiny village square and on the beach and a little hub of eating places that had a relaxed atmosphere in the evening. There is everything you need but it felt more authentic than some of the neighbouring resorts.

Yum

Olhos de Agua translates to ‘Eyes of the water’ which I think sums the place up, especially in this photo looking through the rocks onto the sea! Although I believe the name is associated with the spouts in the sand exposing natural spring water. At low tide, these bubbling springs are so cool to watch and feel. The sand is soft and at the time of year we visited, the beach was pretty empty – just what I like! We enjoyed morning walks and a evening sunsets down here – we all loved it.

Artwork at the beach

Place to ourselves!

I sat on this beach for so long just starring at the sea and watching the sun go down. Get such head space at the beach 🙂

The Beaches

The Algarve is well known for its beautiful beaches and we didn’t have to go far to experience this for ourselves. As well as the lovely beach at Olhos, we were only a few minutes further away from Falesia Beach, regarded as one of the most beautiful in Portugal. There was a few nice beach cafes and restaurants overlooking the sea and in high season I can imagine the beaches to be a lot busier but at the end of the season when we went it was very peaceful.

After scrambling some rocks at low tide from the beach at Olhos de Agua, we were on the expansive Falesia Beach

Long walks / Happy Days

Pretty perfect ice cream parlour!

One day we decided to get the bus to Vilamoura to have a look around but mainly to do the walk from there along the beach right back to Olhos de Agua. The bus journey took around 20 minutes and dropped us at one end of Vilamoura marina. We enjoyed looking at the boats and indulging in some massive delicious ice creams as we walked along. This place is full of shops and restaurants and has a modern feel to it so if that’s your thing then this is a lovely place to spend your time. I did notice some really pretty stands and eateries. I’m not one for shopping really, especially designer brands so didn’t really spend much time here but it was nice to come and see it. The main part of our day was the long walk down Falesia Beach – an expanse of golden sand stretching on for miles and set against a backdrop of imposing red cliffs. Again, it was empty and we only passed a handful of people throughout our whole walk (which took a pretty long time!). The kids loved the freedom to run wild, jump off sand dunes and go in and out of the sea.

So much fun with my boy here! Although no one can beat this move!

I have a gorgeous memory of my girl from the beach as for the majority of the walk she was telling me in lots of detail about a book she would like to write. We did have a couple of surprises along the way – we met two giant jellyfish! (Thankfully just saw them and didn’t stand on them!). They are fascinating creatures – I’m a bit fearful of them after experiencing some in Thailand years ago but equally as mesmerised with them.

Our second surprise was a dark cloud and few spots of rain that rapidly replaced the blazing sunshine that than quickly turned into an imposing thunderstorm behind us and over the sea. The children were a little afraid the storm was going to catch up with us, although it was going out to sea not along the beach – nevertheless, it did mean we all got a bit more exercise as we jogged up the beach a bit! There’s something about extreme weather that is simultaneously captivating and terrifying. But before long, the storm had passed and the sunny weather resumed for the home stretch back to the hotel. Almost eight miles later, we treated ourselves to drinks and a quick swim back at the hotel before dinner.

Water Slides!!

I think one day the kids actually spent a solid 4 hours going on the same four water slides on repeat. They just couldn’t get enough of them. What was really nice was that the slides were perfect for both of them so they spent a lot of time getting along nicely on holiday together and enjoying sharing the fun. It was very strange for me and hubby as for that time we got to do what we see many other people doing….relaxing!! I actually got to read my books and listen to music whilst drinking mocktails! Very surreal. Normally I would be restless but the surroundings were great, I could see the kids having fun and everyone was happy and you know what, it really did us all good!

All Inclusive No stress

We stayed at the 3HB Clube Humbria – one of a handful of 3HB hotels in the area. It was a great base for our holiday.

I am going to admit that we haven’t been on an All Inclusive holiday since before we had before we had children and I’m ashamed to admit that I may have become a little snobby over them – let me explain! I usually like to explore places, I’m fussy with food and I get agitated witnessing extreme greed and entitlement by some fellow holidaymakers! Shock horror, I know, how judgemental of me. Not that any of the All Inclusive holidays we have been on have actually been like that (apart from one where a couple complained about the half hour out of 24 hours that they were not able to get any food and insisted they needed to hire a car to go buy doughnuts!!??) but I have friends who have enjoyed All Inclusive but during the conversation it has slipped in that the food wasn’t great quality, that All Inclusive guests didn’t have the same options as other guests and that people are drunk at breakfast, you know, just because they can be! So in all honesty, we’ve just avoided it. I also felt that we didn’t need to have everything covered because we like to go out and about and All Inclusive felt to me like you don’t leave the hotel. However, I hold my hands up, I admit when I’m wrong – it really does depend on the actual place and the aims of the holiday! On this occasion, we wanted to relax and I relaxed more because hubby relaxed more knowing there’d be no buying meals for the kids that they then didn’t eat! Because the kids were happy in the water park it meant we could enjoy drinks around the pool – I was at my hot chocolate again!! And the mocktails, which were great for the children too. The food was really enjoyable whilst we were there and even fussy eater like me and my son found things every night to enjoy. We still went out most days, even if sometimes it was just for a walk down to the beach for a bit but I think because we all wanted a more relaxed holiday, the all inclusive worked well for us this time.

The 3HB Clube Humbria hotel had a lovely pool as well as the kids splash pool and water slides and the grounds were really nicely looked after. We found the room suited us and there was a choice of activities if you wanted to join in but no pressure if not. Even though we didn’t take part so much, I did notice how friendly the entertainment team were – my kids appreciated the high energy of one of the guys in particular who always tried to make them giggle on passing by! That man could dance too!! It was lovely chatting to one of the members of staff who was at the snack bar as he was telling us about life in the village and his interests on his days off. It’s probably one of my favourite parts of any holiday, chatting to local people. Reuben, one of the managers, was fantastic at greeting guests on an evening, always taking that bit of time to ask how you were, engaging with the kids (letting them test out all their ‘high five’ tricks on him) and seeing if you’d had a nice day. Things like that are really memorable on holidays. Also, Ana, another manager – what a truly lovely, warm person to stop and speak to each day when we passed through the lobby. They both add so much to a stay at this hotel. There was unfortunately one niggle while we stayed there which I did raise that I feel needed addressing (and attempts were made to rectify it at the time) but I am genuinely hoping that a longer term solution is taken on board and changes made to make this a completely family friendly hotel as other than that, this was such a lovely base. However, I did appreciate how this was dealt with. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner were all great. My kids especially loved the pancakes on a morning and we loved the effort at the themed dinner nights.

I liked the art work in the restaurant of the local area

Again, nice touch in the restaurant

The hotel also have a sports court that you can book – something we took advantage of to have a bit of active family time. My son was keen to do some basketball practice to keep up with training as well as a bit of football so we all joined in. Even in October, an hour of running around in the sun made us head to pool bar afterwards to cool down with a drink!

The People

A big part of any holiday for us is the people we meet. Here, from the greeting from reception at our hotel, to the staff we spoke with each day, to the woman who braided my daughters hair in the old town, or the man who I asked directions from, the taxi driver, the old men chatting in the street…..everyone was so friendly. I definitely need to work on some more of my Portuguese though – I really struggled this time with pronouncing things and I hate not being able to at least make some conversation. I’m sure we will visit the area again so hopefully I’ll improve for next time.

Albufeira Old Town

Most people have heard of Alburfeira but I think this is perhaps a place of two halves. There is a lively, 24 hour party ‘strip’ and there’s the old town. We completely avoided the strip as I had no interest in eating McDonalds, getting an impromptu tattoo or peircing and didn’t feel like partying until 5am (not this time!)- although I have been told if you do fancy these things that it’s a great place to go and is a very popular spot! We opted to skip this and headed straight for the old town, which is actually pretty big and is still quite lively with lots of shops, masses of places to eat and some fun street entertainers. The cobbled streets were like a maze and to be honest, it was easy to get lost between the many tourist shops and ice cream parlours but that was part of the charm. I quite like getting lost within a set boundary, if you know what I mean!

Tiles….gorgeous tiles everywhere! On lovely houses, in little alleyways and in the shops!

And lots of pretty pottery too!

A little out of the main streets of the old town were some quieter streets that to me were so quaint, cute and pretty – how I’d imagined it to be. I thought the street signs were really pretty too!

My kind of wonderful

Beautiful

This corner was the cutest! Apols to the guy in my photo – you timed your entrance just as I snapped my pic!

After a good walk around and a bite to eat we headed from the old town onto the beautiful beach. The beach here is quite big with lots going on if you want to do some activities. Equally if you want a quieter spot just keep walking and towards the end you can have the beach more or less to yourself. I’m really glad we visited the old town and the beach but I was pleased we were staying in a quieter part of the Algarve.

Lie ins, lazy days and late Nights

Yep, we did get a bit lazy! But I think we all needed some time out! Slow down to a late breakfast, pool time, stroll down to the local beach, mooching at the hotel, dinner and staying up playing games or seeing some entertainment. A highlight for me (actually for us all) was this band, The Bottles, who did a great set of mainly Beatles covers but including some others too. They were a really good live band and even got me and my girl up dancing! Growing up I used to spend every penny I had going to gigs because I love the buzz you get from live music and I didn’t notice but over time I’d kind of stopped doing this – this band made me realise again how much I love live music! Also, they played lots of Beatles songs so that’s a winner with me too. Check them out, they’re on Facebook. We also saw a traditional dance group from Olhos D’Agua – wow, they can dance fast! They were very entertaining and my husband can vouch for their energy levels as he got pulled up to take part in a dance and could barely move his feet fast enough! My daughter was also chosen to take part in a magic show which she enjoyed a lot!

Overall we had a very relaxing first trip to Portugal but we want to go back to explore more. We usually hire a car and do a few long road trips and there was definitely some places along the full stretch of the coastline of the Algarve and inland that we were interested in visiting but we just didn’t do it this time around. Having said that, I think we did exactly what we needed to do during our time there and Portugal, Olhos de Agua and the 3HB Clube Humbria were perfect for us on this occasion.

I am hopeful to visit again soon in the not too distant future!

Angela xXx