ROB MILLS TO STAR AS SAM
After several years in limbo, it has finally been confirmed that Broadway and West End musical Ghost The Musical, adapted from the Academy Award-winning 1990 film, will run in Australia next year, opening in Adelaide on 8 January before touring nationally – to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
Furthermore, the lead role of Sam – made famous by Patrick Swayze – will be played by Rob Mills. Mills has built quite an impressive resume in Australian musical theatre with stand out roles in Wicked, Grease and Legally Blonde. He is currently touring his one-man cabaret show Rob Mills is ‘Surprisingly Good’.
Set in modern day New York City, Ghost The Musical is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Walking back to their apartment one night after a romantic dinner, Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen are mugged, leaving Sam dead on a dark street. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next and unable to leave Molly, whom he learns is in grave danger. With the help of Oda Mae Brown, a phony storefront psychic, Sam tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving and protecting her.
Ghost The Musical will be directed by Tony Award-winner Matthew Warchus who has most recently brought Matilda to the stage in Australia and choreographed by Ashley Wallen (The X Factor, Kylie Minogue, Seal, Madonna’s film WE). Illusions are created by leading stage and film illusionist, Paul Kieve (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Matilda the Musical).
The original 1990 film starred Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg.
Story and lyrics by Academy Award winner Bruce Joel Rubin and original music and lyrics by a team of Grammy Award-winners, including Dave Stewart (The Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard (Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror, Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill). The score also includes the iconic song “Unchained Melody” performed in the film by The Righteous Brothers.
To portray the supernatural love story, special effects never before seen in an on-stage musical are used in Ghost The Musical – Sam, as a ghost, walks through a solid door, inanimate objects take on a life of their own while spirits ascend to the heavens and subway passengers are thrown in the air and people disappear and reappear right before your eyes.
Tickets On Sale Monday 21 September for Adelaide, Sydney & Melbourne shows. There is a waitlist for Perth at this stage.
The Australian production of Ghost The Musical is presented by Ambassador Theatre Group, GWB Entertainment, Red Live, Colin Ingram. Hello Entertainment and Paramount Pictures.
