BY SARAH SHARPE
Based on the beloved ‘90s movie starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost the Musical is haunting Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts from now until May 11, 2014.
Ghost tells the story of banker Sam Wheat (Steven Grant Douglas), who is tragically murdered in a robbery one night, and his fight to protect his girlfriend Molly (Katie Postotnik) in the afterlife. Sam meets psychic Oda Mae Brown (Carla R. Stewart) who can hear ghosts and helps him to save Molly from meeting the same fate as her boyfriend.
Playing Sam’s murderer, Willie Lopez, is the incredibly talented Fernando Contreras. Contreras was the last actor to join the cast, being casted just two days before rehearsals for the tour began.
“It’s really interesting and definitely unheard of in the Broadway world to be cast so late in the process,” Contreras said. “However, after auditioning twice, once for the casting director and once for the creative team, I suddenly heard ‘Great, you got it! You start on Monday!’”
This show is unlike anything else, creating multiple illusions live onstage, including objects and actors levitating. For Contreras, learning how to perform alongside the magic was difficult, but definitely worth it.
“We had nothing in the rehearsal room, no lights, no sets, no props,” Contreras said. “The effects are created by a lot of the different teams working together. In tech rehearsals, we spent ten long days fine-tuning the show. The end product is really like a magic show and leaves audiences wondering how it all happens.”
The most impressive feat in the entire show, however, is towards the end of act one when Douglas passes through a solid wood door.
“I see it every night and it’s mind-blowing,” Contreras said.
Written by Eurythmics member Dave Stewart, songwriter, lyricist, and record producer Glen Ballard, and screenwriter of the original movie, Bruce Joel Rubin, this new stage production features a beautiful score that accompanies the story perfectly. However, Ghost, in any form, wouldn’t be complete without the famous number from the movie, Unchained Melody, which is fantastically sung by Douglas as he strums a guitar and is featured multiple times throughout the show.
For a show that relies highly on it’s technical aspects, though, the musical is a feast for the eyes. Images projected on several moving screens fly the audience over New York City, bring them down into the hectic underground of an NY subway station, display the manic lifestyle of Wall Street, and literally takes the audience through Heaven and Hell. The Broadway production was able to utilize three LED screens and even have a moving treadmill onstage. Obviously, most theaters nationwide aren’t able to accommodate for such features, but it doesn’t take anything away from how impressive the show truly is.
“Our creative team worked with the show in the West End and on Broadway,” Contreras said. “Luckily, we were able to keep it as close as possible to the original production and 90% of the Broadway show made it on tour.”
The quality of the cast is definitely included in that 90%. The cast performs the show with such ease and beauty, and Douglas is flawless as Sam. His vocals are impeccable and the emotions he expresses are so raw and real. Postotnik is a powerhouse as Molly. Her two ballads in the show are standouts and during the final scene, she brought the majority of the audience to tears. Stewart is absolutely hilarious as Oda Mae. Every single one of her lines is hysterical and the scenes between her and Sam are, without a doubt, the best moments in the show. The last of the leads is Robby Haltiwanger as Sam’s best friend, Carl Bruner. Not much can be said about his character without giving away spoilers (unless you’ve seen the movie already), but Haltiwanger is absolutely stunning in this role.
Ghost the Musical is the perfect end to the Broadway season at the Broward Center. It’s message is timeless and the songs will surely be stuck in your head until the musical production of Annie takes the stage on October 7, 2014.
“Sam’s final line is very true: ‘the love inside, you take it with you’,” Contreras said. “For us on tour, we’re not with our family and friends, so we take the love we have for them with us, just like Sam takes his love for Molly into the afterlife. It’s always a good thing to miss somebody because the love you have for that person grows so much stronger.”
