Yowsa. When the AP is the only one with something positive to say, you know you’re in trouble. Deemed by reviewers to be an unimaginative, boilerplate and overly-sappy musical with a whole lot of video and special effects thrown on top to try to hide the boring mess underneath, Ghost had better garner some fan love if it’s going to survive longer than a week. It seems the critics would not have it so…
NEW YORK TIMES
“Generally speaking, I don’t believe in ghosts. But I’m convinced that the spirits of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne have taken up temporary residence in the wings of the Broadway theater that bears their names, where the new musical adapted from the popular movie “Ghost” opened on Monday night.”
USA TODAY
“During the second act, a strange noise was heard, and the stage manager announced that the performance would be halted temporarily to resolve a technical problem. (The show’s representatives had no official comment on what the issue was.)”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The musical based on the film “Ghost” that just opened on Broadway is said to have originated in London. But it seems to have come from somewhere else: the future.”
BACKSTAGE
“Someone needs to tell “Ghost” that it’s not a movie anymore. No, not the 1990 film of the same name, which starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, and Whoopi Goldberg. I’m talking about the identically named musical version, which director Matthew Warchus attempts to give cinematic qualities through the use of stage illusions, recorded videos, and film sequences. Film, however, has the luxury of yelling “Cut!” In the theater the show must go on, even if the expensive stage technology fails.”
AM NEW YORK
“The pottery wheel has been carried over. Same goes for the hit song “Unchained Melody,” which is sung countless times. But that hardly helps “Ghost the Musical,” a faithful but unmoving and overblown adaptation of the 1990 Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore romantic fantasy that has become an iconic chick flick.”