From HAMLET To CASPER, From Scary To Sexy; A Sampling Of Theatre's Ghost Stories
By: Michael Dale Oct. 30, 2015
Broadway loves a good ghost story, but not all ghost stories are alike. Some are scary, some are funny, some are terribly romantic and others are downright sexy. Let's take a look at the variety of ghost stories the stage has to offer.
Shakespeare came up with a doozy of a ghost story with HAMLET, where the ghost of the Prince of Denmark's father tells his son that he was murdered by the Queen's new husband, Claudius, and that Hamlet must avenge his death.
In 1964 Richard Burton brought HAMLET to Broadway, with director John Gielgud providing the voice of the ghost.
One of English literature's greatest ghost stories was, in fact, written for a different holiday. Patrick Stewart has brought his Olivier-winning one-man A CHRISTMAS CAROL to Broadway four times, playing the misery Ebenezer Scrooge, the ghost of his deceased partner. Jacob Marley, the ghosts of Christmases past, present and yet to come and everyone in between.
His solo performance has been so popular that the great Broadway clown Jackie Hoffman spoofed it Off-Broadway in A CHANUKAH CAROL, where Hoffman herself is visited by the ghost of Yiddish Theatre great Molly Picon.
When Noel Coward writes a ghost story you know it'll be loaded with fizzy charm and high comedy. BLITHE SPIRIT involves a novelist, now in his second marriage, who invites a daffy medium to his home to hold a séance, hoping to gather up insight for his next book. The medium accidentally brings back the ghost of his first wife, who only he can see, who is bent on finding a way for the two of them to once again be together forever.
BLITHE SPIRIT was last seen on Broadway in 2009 in a production starring Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson, Angela Lansbury (her 5th Tony Award) and the elegantly ghostly presence of Christine Ebersole.
Based on the hit 1990 film of a murdered man who tries to warn his living girlfriend that she's in danger, GHOST: THE MUSICAL was aimed at those who like their ghost stories romantic and sexy. After a hit West End production, GHOST opened on Broadway and dazzled audiences with its high tech special effects.
When CHITA RIVERA starred in a 2001 tour of CASPER: THE FRIENDLY MUSICAL, based on the beloved cartoon character, the show was considered more of a confection for kids than a potential Broadway vehicle. Rivera played a glamorous media celebrity who encounters Casper while taping a reality show in a haunted house.
Nicol Williamson played the ghost of John Barrymore, advising a young actor in I HATE HAMLET. Norbert Leo Butz played a ghost seeking revenge on his killers in THOU SHALT NOT. THE ADDAMS FAMILY featured a whole chorus of singing and dancing ghosts. What's your favorite theatre ghost story?
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