Despite its amateur status and modest budget, NK Theatre Arts’ production of Ghost at the Romiley Forum Theatre soared with emotion and technical flair, proving that passion and ingenuity can rival West End polish. Ian Cheeseman reviews…
THE professional version of the musical Ghost, which is based on the 1990 film starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg, had it’s World Premiere at Manchester’s Opera House in 2011, with Richard Fleeshman as Sam Wheat.
The show had amazing special effects and music written by Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics) and Grammy Award winning Glen Ballard, who co-wrote Back to the Future the Musical. It ran for a year in the West End and also on Broadway.
What a challenge then for NK Theatre Arts, who’re based at Romiley Forum Theatre, to pull this show off with a minute budget and an amateur cast, but boy did they succeed! The four principals, with Matthew McGoldrick as Sam, Holly Murphy as Molly, Jocelyn Knight playing Oda Mae and Steven Cheeseman as Carl were excellent. There was loads of emotion in their performances, great singing voices and loads of brilliantly timed comedy.
I’d interviewed a couple of cast members for my radio show, Break-a-Leg, and wondered how the technicalities of Sam turning into a ghost and the other special effects would be pulled off. I was so impressed by the clever lighting techniques used by David Jarvis, who was in charge of lighting design and operation and Gareth Cole who ran visual and special effects.
It certainly reminded me how important the creatives behind the scenes are. It takes a lot more than just the talented actors you see on stage to pull off such a visual treat for the audience.
NK Theatre Arts used an LED video wall to great effect, particularly during the finale when there was hardly a dry eye in the house (including me)! Director Kerry Day and Musical Director Dominic Stannage created a wonderful, heartfelt, rich telling of a much-loved story and the actors made me forget I was in a theatre. I was fully invested in the heart of the story, which of course was what their aim was.
By the time you read this review, you’ll have missed your opportunity to see this stunning version of Ghost, but you should look out for Fame Jr from 10th – 12th July and Little Shop pf Horrors 24th – 27th September also by NK Theatre Arts, they never disappoint.
Visit: https://nktheatre.co.uk/