HopeFM & The Bizhear Podcast
HOPE FM BEST BITS - Ghost: The Musical
This is Hope FM. [Music] Yeah, that is, of course, the sound of the righteous brothers and unchanged melody which, of course, soundtracks, one of the most iconic scenes in 90s cinema. I am, of course, talking about a ghost and there's a brand new stage production of the film turned into a musical and it's going to be right here in Bournemouth this week. Ghost the Musical comes to the pavilion and it's on until the 14th and I'm delighted to say one of the stars of the show is with us on Hope FM. Today, Josh St. Clair, Josh, welcome to Hope FM. Hello, thank you for having me. Brilliant to have you here. You, of course, will be playing the role on stage. It was made famous, of course, by the great Patrick Swayze. First question I've got to ask you, how are your pottery skills? Minimal. But that's okay because I don't actually have to make anything. My co-star, Rebecca Lowens, she's actually very good and she can make all sorts. Parts, vases, and then I come sit behind her and basically just mess it up. So, luckily, my pottery skills don't have to be that great. So, you've been, it's three weeks into this tour. Now, where have you been before you've come to, well, I was about to say sunny, Bournemouth's not quite sunny, but where have you been? I'm hoping it's going to be sunny. I've told people I'm going to go in the city. We've done Ailesbury, we were then up in Sunderland, we were then across the Liverpool, now we've come all the way down. All the way down to Bournemouth. And yeah, it's been a good ride so far, like audiences have been really receptive to the show. I think lots of people do connect with the story, whether that's because they're a fan of the film or the themes of the show. I think lots of people connect that idea of grief and of loss. Saying that, I should probably explain with the story. Yeah, tell us, because not everyone, people might know the pottery scene. They'll know the writers, brothers and stuff, but they might not have seen the film. Tell us in a nutshell, what's it about? Yeah, sure, there was no sport is there, by the way, it's kind of like a well-known thing. It's called Ghost, so we know that someone's dead in it, so yeah. Bolly and Sam are a very in love couple and on their walk home one night in a tragic accident, what appears to be an accident, Sam is killed. And he essentially becomes stuck between the human world and the afterlife, kind of like stuck in limbo. And it appears that his death is not as accidental as they once thought. And then essentially he is put on a mission to warn Molly and save Molly of these coming dangers. So it's funny, because I think lots of people do have the film down. People who maybe haven't seen it have it down, it's kind of like almost like a rom-com or, you know, it's maybe, yeah, it's a bit schmoozy, whatever, but actually the truth is, it's kind of a supernatural thriller. It's got all these different elements of it. So, you know, Sam chasing people on and off trains, and all these kind of like twists and turns that you kind of don't see coming with certain characters. And yeah, it's definitely like a fun, it's a fun watch. And how do you see in the film, I guess you're probably familiar with the film before you got the part, but had you seen the film before you got the part? No. I somehow managed to blag my way to the show before I'd even seen the film, but I have watched it, I've watched it since, I'll call it research. And again, even I was really pleasantly surprised by it, like I really enjoyed it. I thought it was, yeah, a very clever film, very emotional, but also, like I said, has those thriller elements of it, like it's exciting, like you don't know what's going to happen. And what's nice is actually kind of juxtaposed to the thriller elements, you also have this great comic character called Oda Mae Brown, which is a role that was made famous by Whoopi Goldberg in the film. And she went on to actually win the Oscar to play in that part. So she is this, well, at first kind of phony psychic, you know, who's been calling people out of money, but then it turns out she can hear Sam. So Sam then enlists her help to try and connect with Molly to warn her about what's happening. So what's nice is despite kind of maybe the kind of darker elements of the show, you have this great comic relief of these scenes between Sam and Oda Mae. With an iconic film, like Ghost People are going to go with preconceived expectations, especially they're a fan of the film. They don't want to see it completely rewritten or done in a really crazy way. They want some sort of element of synergy with the film. It's leeway if you got in terms of your own take on it and how carefully you to borrow parts from Patrick Swayze or not borrow other parts. Well, it's like he is brilliant and he's brilliant in the film. So I definitely think there's a big part of me that has stayed quite loyal to what he does. But I'd say the show is pretty loyal because the script writer for the musical was also the screenwriter for the movie. OK. So a lot of it dialogue wise is very similar, if not identical. And I would say that is one thing about the show that it does well, it stays very loyal to the film. Obviously, you know, we break into song, which they tell us about the music. It's not a jukebox musical, is it? It's all original compositions and original brand new songs. Yeah, original brand new songs. You do get some maintain melody in there. So if you come and speak to hear that, you will get to hear it. But no, all the additional music is by Dave Stewart and Glenn Ballard. Dave Stewart is in the Eurythmics, so him and Ali Lennox are the Eurythmics. So he's written, yeah, a lot of the music, well, all the music. And then there was additional lyrics put in there by Bruce Shaw Reuben, who was the guy who wrote the movie and the script of the film as well. So you kind of got like a mix of styles in there. It's like it's a pop rock score, which does kind of really suit, I think, like the vibe of the film. And yeah, it's a challenge. Like I do have to, I do have to wail quite a bit. And then if I'm not wailing singing and then wailing, you know, in anguish or in pain or the situation that I found myself in. So the characters on a mission. Absolutely. Well, we're so looking forward to, we've had some brilliant productions at the Pavilion over the summer, of course, we're into September. Weather hasn't been brilliant. So I can only apologize, really, Josh, for coming down to sunny Bournemouth and just, you know, grey skies and the rain and all of that. Have you been to Bournemouth before? Have you performed in Bournemouth? I've never performed in Bournemouth. I'm convinced though, because I used to hold it there with my mum and my brother when I was a kid, like a few years, like, in a row. And I was convinced that I saw a production of Greased at the Pavilion. And I would say late 90s, like maybe like a 1999 UK talk. So I remember having a programme. So I've never performed at the Pavilion, but I'm pretty sure I've seen Greased the musical there. So were you a fan of musical theatre at that point before you saw Greased or is Bournemouth the epicenter then, for you, Josh, to think that? It must have been definitely one of the first things that I saw. But, you know, I was very lucky, like, my parents used to take me and my brother. That was kind of like a treat, like, as a birthday thing or a Christmas thing, like, take us to either London to see a show or like something that was maybe touring regionally. So I'm very lucky to grow up, like, watching a lot of theatre. And I'm excited for Bournemouth, in particularly because I've not been there since I was a kid. And I always remember, as a kid, there was a train at the back of the beach. And as a six-year-old, who was kind into, like, you know, anything with wheels, I was like, "Ooh, train, mummy, take me on the train." Which literally goes from one end of the beach to the other and back again. And I've never been on that train since I was about, yeah, six, seven years old. So I'm excited to return, hopefully, if it's still running. The good news is it's still there. So you went on that for the first time when you were six, because you hold up. Right. I mean, I've lived in Bournemouth, and they're in and around for most of my life. I went on that train for the first time about three months ago as a 30-something-year-old. Yeah. I'm also now a 30. I'm also now a 30-something. I'm not sure it'll be the same, like, exactly. No, it's thrilling. It's thrilling. And you get a thrill of waving to people as well, and people wave to you, and it's a jolly good time. So I highly recommend it. It is running this week. I'm sure it will. I think the nostalgia level will be really high if I get to make it onto the train. Yeah, nostalgia absolutely everywhere. For one of the biggest, most loved film in the '90s, and also the Bournemouth Land Train as well. Good stuff. All combined. Well, I know you're going absolutely everywhere after Bournemouth. You've got loads of dates ahead of you. When's the show running? When's this current tour running till? So we're running until December, the start of December. We then have a lovely Christmas break, because all you regional theatres will have your hand to mind. And people have asked me, they're going, "You can do it, find some money." No, no, no. I'm going to lie down. And then we restart the tour mid-January in Bromley. So some nice London venues, so all my London friends can come. And then we run through until the end of May 2025. So plenty of opportunity for people absolutely everywhere to get along and see this. What do you hope audiences take away from this production then, Josh? For me, I really hope audiences take away this idea of the time is now to tell someone that you love them. It's Sam's mission. Not only is it to save Molly, but it's this idea that if he just had the opportunity to tell her that he loved her one more time, what lengths would you go to to tell somebody that you loved them? And that's kind of what I hope audiences take away. And especially, like I said, it deals with these ideas of loss and grief. And I hope people, and that's something that we can all resonate with, right? I think that is something that we've all experienced on some level. And so when people do leave the show, I hope they feel a bit more connected to their loved ones, whether they are still with us or have departed. And that, yeah, they feel slightly closer to them than they did when they walked in the theatre. And I think that's a very rewarding thing to feel that you've given someone. This is Hope FM.