Can it really be 23 years since Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze made pottery the most sensual thing about 1990 – and Whoopi Goldberg victoriously left the Academy Awards with a Best Supporting Actress Oscar?
The storyline of the film – which also won Best Original Screenplay – has dated a little (the early 1990s rap segment being the most brutally obvious moment) but this musical re-boot does add some vitality and magic which can only be experienced through the immediacy of live theatre.
Befitting its musical status, the re-working of Unchained Melody as a motif throughout the show worked well, but especially so when Sam Wheat (the titular character, played by an impressive Stewart Clarke) sang the minor reprise. Other stand-out songs were few and far between, but the ensemble harmonies in You Gotta Let Go were striking, while the Gospel-inspired Are You A Believer? provided the laughs in Act One.
Rebecca Trehearn as heartbroken Molly Jensen captures the emptiness of loss and her Mountview-trained voice is certainly worthy of her solo recordings. Sometimes the discordant sections of the score and interplay with the orchestra made her sound a touch flat, but the jarring note was mostly short-lived.
The romantic leads aside, the real success of the show lies in the marvellous staging: video projection, goosebump-inducing illusions and some pretty edgy choreography married with truly slick lighting and stage management. A final nod should go to understudy Karlene Wray who filled Goldberg's shoes as psychic Oda Mae Brown.
Until June 1 at Edinburgh Playhouse and from October 1-19 at King's Theatre, Glasgow.
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