A musical interpretation of a modern classic – further stagings are not simply encouraged but are a necessity.
I was invited to attend a workshop production of Penny Faith and Carmel Dean’s The Ghost and Mrs Muir, based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Josephine Leslie. It surprises me that this story has never been made into a musical before, it is an absolutely perfect candidate to adapt to stage. Set in 1910, the story follows the eponymous Mrs Muir, a recent widow as she moves to Gull Cottage with her children and maid. The show follows her as she asserts her independence and her relationship with the ghost of the sea captain who was the previous inhabitant of the house and whose death was mistakenly identified as suicide.
What Faith and Dean have done is taken the source material and more explicitly made it a celebration of female strength and independence without losing the love story at its core. The writers update the story in a way that feels realistic, though I’d have enjoyed it if there were a few more moments with Lucy and Miles to make the betrayal feel more stark and if Martha had gotten angrier.
Even though it was a workshop performance that was put together in 10 days, it was polished, professional and just a wonderful show. There wasn’t a weak link among the cast, all of them incredibly strong singers and actors. Obioma Ugoala and Laura Pitt-Pulford who play the titular ghost and Mrs Muir have incredible chemistry and are excellent leads for the show. Preeya Khalidas brings the character of Martha to life and grants her a level of internality that is not always present in supporting characters in this type of period piece. Rowan Macpherson and Conor Ewing who play Anna and Cyril Muir respectively add a wonderful humour to the show, and were able to let me get past my general aversion to having adults play children.
Above all else, the score was tremendous. Carmel Dean has written something that is simultaneously timeless and period appropriate. It contains hints of Sondheim, with some pacy lyrics and beautiful harmonies (particularly in the seaside song). Invisible is a standout in my view. The music is catchy, without being cloying, as the audience filtered out people were humming several of the recurring motifs. If played with a full orchestra, or even with a band I can imagine the impact would be huge, though there was something utterly charming about the
It will be interesting to see how future productions of the show tackle some of the more difficult technical aspects. The stage directions are ambitious and include bringing portraits to life, many changes in scene and setting and various ghostly hijinks. There will be a fine line in terms of the staging and tech, to bring this to life without straying into the cheesy and undercutting the emotional core story.
The Ghost and Mrs Muir is an uncynical show, with a fantastic score. It is exactly the sort of show that families would enjoy.