Ghost reincarnated as musical – in pictures

The 1990 film Ghost starred the late Patrick Swayze as Sam, the murdered banker turned phantom; and an inconceivably youthful Demi Moore as Molly, his potter lover. Pulses raced at that sex scene, in which the couple make tender love all over their New York loft apartment after shaping a pot together. Never has liquid clay looked so disturbingly phallic; never has a couples’ arts and crafts workshop seemed so appealing Photograph: Paramount / Everett / Rex

Bruce Joel Rubin, the writer behind the film, has adapted his own screenplay for the stage; the potter’s wheel scene, and several other elements of the film, have been retained (pity the poor stage managers who have to clean up afterwards). The director is Matthew Warchus, whose impressive career spans theatre, film and musicals; his 2008 production of Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow at the Old Vic, for one, starred Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum, and was utterly electrifying. Photograph: Allstar / Cinetext / Paramount

The big number is Unchained Melody, don’t you know. Whether this stage rendering will reach the giddy heights achieved by Robson Green and Jerome Flynn’s heart-stopping 1995 version remains as yet tantalisingly unclear. The rest of the music is by Dave Stewart, formerly one half of the Eurythmics, and Grammy-winning songwriter producer Glen Ballard. It took them five years to write – so either it’s absolutely brilliant, or they both have an impressive capacity for procrastination Photograph: Tristram Kenton

You may recognise the fresh, sparkle-toothed leads, Richard Fleeshman (Sam) and Caissie Levy (Molly). Fleeshman’s talents know no end: he played the pasty-faced goth Craig Harris in Coronation Street for four years; has just finished a run opposite the brilliant Sheridan Smith in the West End version of Legally Blonde; won the 2006 TV talent show Soapstar Superstar; and has toured with Elton John.
Levy’s curriculum vitae is slightly shorter – she arrives fresh from roles in Hair and Wicked – but she certainly manages to look good even in a pair of potter’s dungarees Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Sharon D Clarke of Holby City fame steps into Whoopi Goldberg’s not inconsiderably-sized shoes as the con artist and medium, Oda Mae Brown, with whom Sam can communicate
Photograph: Tristram Kenton

The Mancunians among you may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu: the show has actually already run at the Manchester Opera House, between March and May. Several members of the Coronation Street cast were in the audience for the gala performance, and they lost no time in tweeting their hyperbolic admiration for their former cast-mate, Fleeshman. Chris Fountain, aka Tommy Duckworth, tweeted: “Wow, Ghost is the best musical I have EVER seen”. There’s nothing like playing to a sympathetic audience Photograph: Tristram Kenton

The critics have been allowed in to the Piccadilly Theatre since last Friday, with their official pronouncements embargoed until Wednesday 20 July.
Reviews of the Manchester run were mixed: City Life’s Alan Hulme liked the “gripping, edge-of-your-seat storyline”, but was unimpressed by the dancing ghosts; while Glenn Meads for whatsonstage.com admired Levy and Clarke’s performances, but called some scenes (including that at the potter’s wheel) “perfunctory”.
So which line will the London critics take: Legally Blonde-style smash hit or Spider-Manly embarrassment? For that, we’ll just have to wait and see ... Photograph: Tristram Kenton