Major new West End show Ghost the Musical, based on the Oscar-winning movie, starts previews on 24 June 2011 at the Piccadilly Theatre in London.

Currently playing at Manchester’s Opera House until 14 May, the show stars Richard Fleeshman (Legally Blonde, Coronation Street) as Sam, originally played on screen by the late Patrick Swayze, and hot Broadway starlet Caissie Levy (Hair, Wicked) as Molly, originally played by Demi Moore.

Joining Fleeshman and Levy is West End star Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, played in the movie by Whoopi Goldberg, and Andrew Langtree as Carl.

Ghost The Musical is directed by Matthew Warchus (Deathtrap, La Bete), with music and lyrics by legendary pop and rock writers Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (writer of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror). The show will also feature the classic song from the movie, Unchained Melody.

Ghost The Musical will be designed by Rob Howell, with illusions and stage effects by Paul Kieve (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and a script by the original Oscar-winning screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin.

Ghost is about Sam, who is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic, in the hope of saving her from his murderer.

All photos from the Manchester production.

LINKS

More news on Ghost The Musical

Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy in Ghost The Musical

Major new West End show Ghost the Musical, based on the Oscar-winning movie, opens on 24 June 2011 at the Piccadilly Theatre.

The show stars Richard Fleeshman (Legally Blonde, Coronation Street) as Sam, originally played on screen by the late Patrick Swayze, and hot Broadway starlet Caissie Levy (Hair, Wicked) as Molly, originally played by Demi Moore.

Joining Fleeshman and Levy is West End star Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, played in the movie by Whoopi Goldberg, and Andrew Langtree as Carl.

Ghost The Musical is directed by Matthew Warchus (Deathtrap, La Bete), with music and lyrics by legendary pop and rock writers Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (writer of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror). The show will also feature the classic song from the movie, Unchained Melody.

Ghost The Musical will be designed by Rob Howell, with illusions and stage effects by Paul Kieve (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and a script by the original Oscar-winning screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin.

Ghost is about Sam, who is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic, in the hope of saving her from his murderer.

The opening night for the show is set for Tuesday 19 July. The show will try out first at the Opera House, Manchester from 28 March to 14 May 2011. Other cast members include Ivan de Freitas, Adebayo Bolaji, Mark Pearce, Lisa Davina Phillip and Jenny Fitzpatrick.

Grease is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, closing on 30 April 2011 to make way for Ghost The Musical.

LINKS

Book tickets to Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre

More news on Ghost The Musical

Richard Fleeshman

Major new West End show Ghost the Musical, based on the Oscar-winning movie, has announced its full cast line-up.

Fresh from playing Warner in Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, Richard Fleeshman (Coronation Street) is to take the lead as Sam in the musical, originally played on screen in the Oscar-winning  movie by the late Patrick Swayze.

Playing the Demi Moore role of Molly will be hot Broadway starlet Caissie Levy, who recently appeared in Hair in London and in New York and has also featured in Hairspray, Rent and Wicked.

The show, which opens at the Piccadilly Theatre from 22 June 2011, will be directed by Matthew Warchus, who is enjoying current success in London with his new production of Deathtrap, and on Broadway with La Bete.

Joining Fleeshman and Levy will be West End star Sharon D Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, played in the movie by Whoopi Goldberg, and Andrew Langtree as Carl.

Caissie Levy

Music and lyrics for the show have been composed by legendary pop and rock writers Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (writer of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror). The show will also feature the classic song from the movie, Unchained Melody. Ghost The Musical will be designed by Rob Howell, with illusions and stage effects by Paul Kieve (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and a script by the original Oscar-winning screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin.

Ghost is about Sam, who is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic, in the hope of saving her from his murderer.

The opening night for the show is set for Tuesday 19 July. The show will try out first at the Opera House, Manchester from 28 March to 14 May 2011. Other cast members include Ivan de Freitas, Adebayo Bolaji, Mark Pearce, Lisa Davina Phillip and Jenny Fitzpatrick.

Grease is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, closing on 30 April 2011 to make way for Ghost The Musical.

VIDEO: Watch a trailer for Ghost The Musical

BOOK TICKETS to see Ghost The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

MORE ABOUT THE CAST

Richard Fleeshman
Richard has most recently been seen on stage playing Warner Huntington III opposite Sheridan Smith in Legally Blonde The Musical. He is best known on television for his roles in Coronation Street in which he played Craig Harris for four years and, more recently, Debbie Horsfield’s All the Small Things for the BBC. As a musician Fleeshman was the youngest contestant to win ITV’s Stars in Their Eyes Celebrity Special. Later, in 2006, he won ITV’s Soapstar Superstar. In 2008 he accompanied Elton John on his Summer Stadium and Red Piano tours. His album Neon was released in 2007 followed by singles Coming Down, Hold Me Close, Back Here and Can You Hear Me?

Caissie Levy
Caissie has most recently been seen on stage on Broadway and in the West End in the leading role of Sheila in the New York Public Theatre Cameron Mackintosh production of Hair. Levy made her Broadway debut as Penny Pingleton in Hairspray, a role she recreated on tour in the US. She went on to play Maureen Johnson in the US tour of Rent and in 2008 starred as Elphaba in the Los Angeles production of Wicked.

Sharon D Clarke
Sharon has most recently been seen on stage in the West End as Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre. She has played Charity in Mother Goose at the Hackney Empire, Mama Morton in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre, Killer Queen in We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre and Rafiki in The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre as well as roles in The Vagina Monologues at the Hackney Empire and Once on This Island for Nottingham Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and the Hackney Empire. Clarke was a judge on the BBC’s The Last Choir Standing and has performed regularly as Lola Griffin on Holby City also for the BBC.

Andrew Langtree
Andrew has previously been seen on stage in the leading role of Sky in the original London production of Mamma Mia! He has worked extensively at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre in productions including The Glass Menagerie, London Assurance and Six Degrees of Separation. At the National Theatre he has been seen in The Rose Tattoo, at Glasgow Citizens Theatre in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and in the West End in Blood Brothers and Fame. On television his credits include Doctors, Heartbeat, Cutting It and Coronation Street and he has most recently been seen playing Justin Gallagher on Emmerdale. On film he has been seen in De Lovely.

BOOK TICKETS to see Ghost The Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

Patina Miller and Simon Webbe in Sister Act

Patina Miller, Simon Webbe and Sally Dexter will perform for the last time tonight, Saturday 30 October, at the London Palladium as a packed house will cheer out Sister Act after 17 months in town.

The hit musical, based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, opened on 2 June 2009 with Patina Miller as nightclub singer Deloris van Cartier and Sheila Hancock as Mother Superior. Whoopi Goldberg also played the role of Mother Superior for short stints in August and October this year, alongside regular Superior – Sally Dexter.

The show will vacate the Palladium leaving a three month gap before The Wizard of Oz opens at the theatre in February 2011.

Sister Act will move to Broadway following its London closure, with Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks (The Addams Family) taking the director helm. The show will open at the Broadway Theatre on 20 April 2011.

Kate Monster and Cassidy Janson in Avenue Q

And over at the Wyndham’s Theatre, cult Broadway show Avenue Q will also bow out of London today, after opening on 1 June 2006 at the Noel Coward Theatre.

The musical had been scheduled to close at the Noel Coward in March 2009 but a surprise surge in bookings led producer Cameron Mackintosh to keep it going, transferring the show to the Gielgud Theatre. It made a further move to the Wyndham’s Theatre, its current home, in March this year.

The show won three Tony Awards on Broadway and continues to run off-Broadway in New York. The London cast saying farewell tonight include Delroy Atkinson, Cassidy Janson, Rachel Jerram, Sion Lloyd, Tom Parsons, Paul Spicer, Jacqueline Tate, Irene Alano-Rhodes, Alan Pearson, Amanda Posener, Jaygann Ayeh, Sam Harrison and Maria Lawson.

LINKS

Book tickets to Broadway shows

It’s one thing for a star name to be jettisoned into a musical to liven things up and provide some celebrity “tits and ass”. But what about celebrities simply endorsing a show because, well, they can?

Bette Midler performing at Caesars Palace

This comes after news that the Divine Miss M, Bette Midler, will act as a “producer” on the new Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre in New York, running from 28 February.

Midler is joining a growing list of celebs on both sides of the Atlantic who are investing their time and money in shows without feeling the need to haul themselves on stage, from Elton John bank-rolling gay play Next Fall, to Will Smith and Jay-Z  injecting a million dollars into Fela! – which is coming to the National Theatre next month.

And in the UK let’s not forget Whoopi Goldberg’s involvement in Sister Act, providing money and showbiz face-time, but with minimal artistic input from the lady herself (not counting the few days she actually starred in it).

Michael Ball has also recently lent his cash and name to the Chichester transfer of new musical Love Story, which opens at the Duchess Theatre next month.

All this is nothing new in TV land, where getting an executive producer credit on a show is contracted as part of the deal and relates to getting some extra dollars. It’s the stuff of a million US dramas where the headline star is given an Exec Producer credit.

Michael Ball and the cast of Love Story

But in the UK, is there still an expectation that anyone with Producer in their title should actually do just that, and even carry the can for the production?

You only need to look back to “executive producers” Ant & Dec and the TV phone voting scandal to see how wrong it can go, and how the title does carry some responsibility for the way the show is made and marketed.

So is this the way that theatre is going? Musicals have become a big, global business with millions of dollars at stake, so attaching a star name like Bette Midler, Michael Ball and Whoopi Goldberg to a project – especially a project without any onstage star names – seems like a clever marketing ploy.

It could also be a genuine way for the celebrity endorser to broaden their career in entertainment and become engaged and active in the business of putting on shows rather than just starring in them – something that Michael Ball seems to be doing.

And despite Bette Midler pumping a rumoured “significant” amount of money into Priscilla, she has also met with the director of the show, Simon Phillips, and given him extensive notes on his new production, and plans to attend rehearsals ahead of the pre-Broadway try-out in Toronto next week to add her thoughts (we’d love to know what Simon Phillips thinks of this input!)

If celebrity endorsement of shows is the shape of things to come, and is sold to us as something more than just an investment and a credit above the title, we will need to hear from the celebrities themselves about why they want to be involved. Bette’s Priscilla press release quote about her participation simply confirms our worst suspicions: “A new star on Broadway and her name is PRISCILLA!! So much fun, it’s practically illegal!!  In fact, it IS illegal in four states!!”

Current Sister Act stars Patina Miller and Simon Webbe

Sister Act, based on the hit film, is moving to Broadway following its closure at the London Palladium on 30 October.

The Broadway version will get a new director, with Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks (The Addams Family) taking the helm. He is set to make substantial changes to the show and has immediately brought in Douglas Carter van Beane (Xanadu) to write a new book (and new jokes!) for the musical.

Stage Entertainment, owned by Dutch entertainment billionaire Joop van den Ende, will produce the show on the Great White Way, alongside the original star of the film Whoopi Goldberg.

Sister Act will open at the Broadway Theatre on 20 April 2011. Casting is yet to be announced. The New York theatre is currently home to Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.

In London the show currently stars Patina Miller, Simon Webbe and Sally Dexter. It will vacate the Palladium in October, leaving a three month gap before The Wizard of Oz opens at the theatre in February 2011.

Book tickets to Sister Act at the London Palladium

Book tickets to Broadway shows

Sharon D Clarke, star of Ghost The Musical

A major new musical adaptation of the multi-award winning movie Ghost will premiere next summer in the West End.

Ghost The Musical, which will try out at the Opera House in Manchester in March 2011, will start previews at the Piccadilly Theatre in London on 22 June 2011, with its opening night on 19 July.

Casting so far includes musicals star Sharon D. Clarke as Oda Mae Brown, in a part originally played by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie.  No further casting details have been announced.

Based on the movie starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, Ghost is about Sam, who is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next trying to communicate with girlfriend Molly through a phoney psychic, in the hope of saving her from his murderer.

The romantic musical features a heavy-weight creative team including direction by Matthew Warchus (Deathtrap, La Bete) and music and lyrics by legendary pop and rock writers Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (writer of Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror). The show will also feature the classic song penned for the movie, Unchained Melody. Ghost The Musical will be designed by Rob Howell, with illusions and stage effects by Paul Kieve (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) and a script by the original Oscar-winning screenplay writer Bruce Joel Rubin.

Grease is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre, closing on 30 April 2011 to make way for Ghost The Musical.

Book tickets to Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

Sally Dexter in Bad Girls

The multi-talented actress will join the cast of the show following Whoopi Goldberg’s current run in the role.

Dexter, who has appeared in numerous plays and musicals including Billy Elliot and Bad Girls, was last at the Palladium playing Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s 1994 production of Oliver!

The show is slated to end at the London Palladium on 30 October 2010, earlier than its original 1 January closing date. It will make way for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big-budget new production of The Wizard of Oz. Sister Act is expected to go on to Broadway.

The part of Mother Superior was originated by Sheila Hancock in the musical, which is based on the hit movie.

Special offer: Save £24 on tickets to Sister Act at the London Palladium

Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act The Musical

Stars were out in force to support the performer, who starred in the original movie and has now taken over from Sheila Hancock as Mother Superior in the show.

Pop singer Mika said: “Sister Act was brilliant. Whoopi was excellent, so humble and at one with the rest of the cast. I could not stop smiling”.

Whoopi told the Daily Mail before the curtain went up last night that she was nervous about performing in the show: “It’s a big deal. It’s The Palladium and it’s London, and it’s my first stage production here that I’m in.”

Fellow co-star Patina Miller who plays Deloris van Cartier, the role that Whoopi originated in the hit movie, said that she was, “blessed to be onstage with her” last night. Simon Webbe, from boyband Blue and who plays Shank in the show called Goldberg a “true star”.

Whoopi stars in the show for only 23 performances from 10 to 31 August at the London Palladium.

Actress, singer-songwriter, political activist and talk show host, Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar in 1990 for her part in Ghost, and has appeared in numerous films including The Color Purple, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Soapdish, as well as her comedy stand-up work and appearance on US TV’s The View.

Book tickets to Sister Act at the London Palladium

PICTURES

Daily Mail – Sister Act

Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act The Musical

The Hollywood movie star has co-produced the West End show, based on the 1990s film in which she starred.

The Oscar-winner takes over from Sheila Hancock in the role of Mother Superior for 23 performances only from 10 to 31 August at the London Palladium. The show also stars Patina Miller as Deloris van Cartier, in the role that Whoopi originated in the hit movie.

Sheila Hancock left the show on 31 July, with her co-star Patina Miller paying tribute to the star on Twitter: “I’ve learned so much from her, it’s gonna be tough to see her leave”.

Actress, singer-songwriter, political activist and talk show host, Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar in 1990 for her part in Ghost, and has appeared in numerous films including The Color Purple, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Soapdish, as well as her comedy stand-up work and appearance on US TV’s The View.

Book tickets to Sister Act at the London Palladium