Article:9923; Posted: July 2, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.

“Ghost the Musical” is among a long line of musicals adapted from films that weren’t musicals—including Legally Blonde, Carrie, and Kinky Boots, to name a few. And in the alchemy necessary to turn a straight film into a musical, the worst can happen, especially when the original film is mediocre at best.

However, “Ghost,” the current production at The Barn, offers a surprising improvement upon the schmaltzy Academy Award winning 1990 film starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze. It features many scenes from the movie, perhaps because Bruce Joel Rubin authored both the screenplay and the book, and its plot is identical. Part love story, part thriller, part metaphysical drama, the show follows Sam and Molly, a young New York couple whose relationship continues after Sam is murdered, partly with the aid of a medium who helps Sam communicate with Molly as he slips between worlds.

Because of a solid cast and really interesting technical choices and effects, The Barn’s “Ghost” provides an entertaining evening that doesn’t kill the audience with sentimentality.

Jamey Grisham is a terrifically likable Sam, a good guy who does good despite having bad things happen to him. He’s a lovely singer and even better dancer who does especially impressive work with his choreography for the ensemble cast, all of whom are quite excellent in their own right.

He and Brooke Evans, who plays Molly, don’t have much time to establish a terribly compelling romance before the script kills him off, but Evans embodies bereavement beautifully. Costuming choices, such as her wearing a white dress shirt and jeans as a leitmotif representing Sam, help, and her hauntingly expressive and beautiful voice captures grief elegantly. She shines in “Three Little Words” and “With You.”

Though most of the score is made up of forgettable pop songs by Dave Stewart, of the Eurythmics, and Glen Ballard, who co-wrote songs with Alanis Morissette, the few that borrow from Blues, Gospel, and Hip-Hop, including “Are You a Believer,” “You Gotta Let Go Now,” and “Focus” shake things up for the better. And when Jamey Grisham, Brooke Evans, and Michael Tuck as Carl sing together in “Suspend my Disbelief/I Had a Life” at the end of Act II, it’s downright riveting.

But the real star of this show is Shinnerrie Jackson who plays the hilariously off-color shyster psychic Oda Mae Brown who sparkles and lights up the stage in Carly Heathcote’s wonderful costumes. Her energy is infectious, and her character has a grounding effect on what could otherwise become saccharine melodrama. She’s laugh-out-loud funny and has a tremendous voice.

And perhaps even more compelling than the story or characters or music are the effective technical effects. Shy Iverson’s set looks deceptively simple. But with its removable panels, the design seamlessly creates a wide variety of private and public spaces, the most astounding of which is a subway car in transit. With lighting, sound, and careful movements from the actors, it legitimately feels like a ride on the MTA.

Likewise, because of Andrew Carson’s lights and Corey Boughton’s sound design, the shifts between worlds and Sam’s struggle to move through them come alive. His presence on stage that the audience sees (but other characters don’t) also makes for dynamic scenes.

The characters sing about “suspended disbelief” but this production manages to create it in a way that the film “Ghost” never does. Though the show contains the often-mocked scene with the pottery wheel and repeated notes and lyrics of “Unchained Melody,” all of it reads with greater subtlety and reality than in the film. In this regard, the Barn’s production is better than the original.

SHOW DETAILS:
Ghost the Musical
Barn Theatre
13351 West M-96, Augusta
June 30–July 12; Tuesday through Friday at 8:00 pm, Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sunday at 5:00 p.m. 2015
$37.00
269.731.4121
www.barntheatreschool.org