The “showmance” is a term that has become a part of our cultural lexicon – and, as big fans of our local community theater scene, we of course enjoy the gossip we get out of each new playbill that we are handed while walking into a show to find out who calls out each other in their bios, and then take guesses as to which show they connected during.  Real feelings from the real relationships happening between actors can bleed into their characters on stage, sometimes for the better and sometimes to the detriment of their performances. 

In the case of “Ghost the Musical”, currently playing at Peninsula Community Theatre, our two leads, Amanda and Andrew Christensen, get to bring their real-life marriage to the stage (a “reverse showmance”, if you will) and re-live that awkward pre-marriage time where there is tons of chemistry, lots to talk about and learn about each other, and a surprising difficulty (on one side) in saying those three little words which everyone wants to hear when they are in a relationship.  Andrew’s character, Sam, is a banker who must be financially supporting Amanda’s character, Molly, an artist, and the show begins with them moving into a Brooklyn apartment with a great view that they just purchased.  We are also introduced to Sam’s coworker and best friend, Carl, played by Robert Walters, who appears harmless at first but comes out swinging and with an edge when we see him making deals at his job in his introductory number “More”. 

And then, of course, for the spoiler which is in the title – Sam is killed in a mugging gone wrong (committed by, in a remnant of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, the only Hispanic character in the show, Willie Lopez, played in intimidating fashion by A. J. White), making him the titular ghost.  Sam is quickly introduced to the afterlife by Adam Smith’s callous and resigned Hospital Ghost (a role which I can’t help but note, as a former economics major and with apologies to Mr. Smith, would include having a canonically invisible hand), and then the powerful but scarily unhinged Subway Ghost (a role filled by Jahi Mendes, who commands the stage and all who share it with his unnerving character). 

But that is all just prologue to the real show, which begins when we meet Oda Mae Brown, your run-of-the-mill scam artist fortune teller, who, as she finds out in a chance encounter with ghost Sam, does have “the gift” of being able to talk with the spirits around her (the other remnant of the time, the “Magical Negro” trope).  Taking on this role made famous in an Oscar-winning performance by the one and only Whoopi Goldberg is the talented, over-the-top, and funny Charity Robinson.  Robinson is wonderful as she reluctantly helps out Sam, while trying not to seem totally crazy to her still-alive and rightfully skeptical counterparts.  Her delivery of lines like “if you’d think I’d come all the way down to Brooklyn as a joke, you are out of your mind” is spot on.  Her singing is top-notch, with Robinson’s clear and powerful belt flanked by the talent of two HRACT award winners in Rhondée Caldwell and Chasida Taylor during two separate incredibly fun numbers.  And her banter with Sam (staged cleverly by director Kristin Mazzocca, considering Sam is unseen by anyone alive, and the characters other than Oda Mae are only hearing Oda Mae’s side of the conversation) is consistently hilarious. 

As the show progressed, I found myself impressed at the effort and emotional toll it must take for Amanda Christensen to have to mourn her husband’s death three times a weekend for almost a month of shows (and even more rehearsals), with song after song yearning for one more moment with him.  Seeing her make decisions as to what possessions of his to keep and what to throw away was particularly devastating – watching her decide to keep the every day life items like a bottle of Tums was funny but sad, and reminded the audience to value the ordinary days and time we have with each other, for it is fleeting.

On a lighter note – it also reminded me that I should have some sort of safe word to let my wife know that it is actually me trying to communicate with her as a ghost.  I came up with some good ones, but can’t publish them here, for obvious reasons (what if the scammer version of Oda Mae in real life is a big HRACT Award review fan)?  Oh – and listen to those security trainings at work which tell you never to share your passwords.  If you know you know.