All eyes were on Manchester last night as the city hosted the world premiere of Ghost The Musical.
An audience at the Opera House were the first to see the glitzy production – which was staged in the city before it goes to London’s West End.
The show stars ex-Coronation Street favourite Richard Fleeshman, who steps into Patrick Swayze’s shoes as Sam Wheat.
The musical features numbers from pop legend Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Grammy-winning producer Glen Ballard. The Opera House, on Quay Street, was closed for eight weeks while preparations took place for the show.
The power supply to the venue had to be increased to supply £4m of lighting, sound and video equipment.
The musical is based on the Oscar-winning film and features the famous scene where Sam and girlfriend Molly make a vase on a potter’s wheel.
Leading lady Caissie Levy, who plays Molly – as well as her two understudies – have had to learn to throw pots for the scene.
Some of the props have been flown in from New York to keep the stage show authentic – including 300 empty pizza boxes from Brooklyn.
Ghost The Musical is directed by Matthew Warchus, with illusions by expert Paul Kieve, who worked on the Harry Potter movies.
A spokesman for the Opera House said: "The Opera House is so proud to host the world premiere of Ghost The Musical, giving our audiences the chance to see this spectacular new show before London and the rest of the world."
The show runs in Manchester until May 14.
‘Astonishing’ show is a scream says opening night audience
Audience members gave a big thumbs up to the premiere.
Karen Williams, 51, attended the show with her daughter, Chelsea Evans, 22. They travelled from Chester to be there.
Karen said: "We laughed and we cried. It's absolutely unbelievable. The special effects are astonishing and you just don't know what's going to happen next."
David Holden, 42, travelled from Leigh, near Wigan.
He said: "I’m quite a big fan of Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and he’s written most of the lyrics. It's really good." Tracey Heath, 36, was given tickets to the premiere by her mum, Cath Morfitt.
Tracey was serving in Afghanistan as a nurse and her mum missed her birthday in November. She said: "It's an absolutely fantastic birthday present, very emotional, and I've been crying."
Couple Catherine and Martin Bailey, both 34, from Salford, also enjoyed the show.
Catherine said: "We're really big theatre fans and we both love the film, so it's a really good night out."
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Wat ghost? I couldn't see it last night! Wonder if Phil Spectre wrote the music or was it Paul Tergyst?
Did they do the Monster Mash?
It was a brilliant night going to see the World Premier Performance of Ghost the Musical...
Terrific show which had everything, Great heart felt music and Lyrics, Illusions and special effects live on stage, It had Humour, Sadness, Drama and much more ... A great cast, too good to miss We felt that this spectacilar new age of theatre show has raised the bar on every other musical ever produced and directed live on stage. Its going to be a great challenge for all future musical productions to equal or better.
On top of a great evening, Richard Fleeshman signed my seat ticket and my sisters program after the show.
Thanks for a most enjoyable experience... Aaron (13) Marissa (19)
I went to the show last night and I had a great time, but I was really put off when the director came out on stage before the show and said "please bear in mind that this is a preview show" so that they can "iron out any problems" before the show moves to London. He said to expect it to be "a bit rough around the edges" and said that if anything goes wrong they'll try to carry on regardless, but they might have to stop the show to try and fix it. At this point I could see everybody in the audience looking at each other like "I thought we paid fifty quid a pop to come to the "World Premiere", not a glorified rehearsal".
In the event, everything went perfectly as far as I could tell, and everybody had a brilliant night, but it's obvious that the director thinks non-London audiences aren't worth making an effort for.
I got the ticket for my 5oth birthday and went with friends . Its one of my best films and the show was fantistic, we all enjoyed and wont to go again .
It Was Excellent, top class, Glitzy, Slick, funny, fast, touching, and the music was fabulous. I can't wait to see it again!
What a fantastic show. Throughly enjoyed the evening from start to finish.
I went to see the show on the premiere as well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Coming all the way from Denmark my expectations were very high, so therefore I felt that they needed to do something spectacular, and they sure did. The show was absolutely terrific, top class, extremely funny, moving, and I simply loved the music.
I can strongly recommend this show to anyone with the slightest interest in musicals or music in general. This play is in my Top 2 at the moment; and I sure have seen a lot of shows all over the world!!!
Donovan, we are very happy for your production, and wish we could see it with you!
Love you, Uncle David and Bev
I saw the second preview last night and loved the show! It was an emotional rollercoaster ride from beginning to end. The story in a musical version was really strong and I was completely engaged.
The set and lighting looked incredible and the videos worked really well. I was really surprised at how good the illusions were, never seen anything like that in the theatre!
The cast were absolutely brilliant, I love Sharon D Clarke as Ode Mae she was very funny and a great character in the show as in the film.
A great show and great to see it starting in Manchester. For theatre goers it is certainly one of the top shows to see this year!
I saw the premiere of Ghost and loved the show! It was a roller-coaster ride of tears and laughter, and the end was incredibly uplifting.
The music was great, a very rock feel to some songs and more classically musical numbers in others, with a really great cast with fantastic characters!
The set and lighting looked amazing, and the video worked really well within the whole collaboration. I was surprised by how well the illusions worked, i've never seen effects like that in theatre before.
I really enjoyed seeing Ghost, and was really glad to have it here in Manchester first. For all theatre goers this is one of the top shows to see this year!
I saw Ghost yesterday and thought it was truly AMAZING!!! The songs, special effects and acting were second to none - Richard Fleeshman was fantastic. It is the first time I have ever cried during a show - very emotional - loved it!! If you haven't bought a ticket - buy one now as it's not to be missed.