Heather Latter
You may remember them as “Sandy” and “Danny” from last year’s production of “Grease.”
Now Anne Jean and Andrew Eldridge are returning to the stage to star in Fort Frances High School’s rendition of “Ghost: The Musical,” which opens tonight and runs through Saturday at the Townshend Theatre here.
It’s a production that the two senior students, who play “Molly Jensen” and “Sam Wheat,” are calling more challenging than most.
“It’s so much harder,” Jean exclaimed when asked how it compares to other musicals she’s been a part of, which include “Little Women” (2013), “The Sound of Music” (2014), and “Grease.”
“The whole singing, acting, dancing thing all at once, full-blown, it’s new for us,” she noted.
“It’s full-blown all the way through.”
Eldridge returned for a “victory lap” primarily to be a part of this year’s musical.
He has applied to the Randolph Academy of the Performing Arts in Toronto while Jean will be attending Western University in London, Ont. in the fall to study vocal performance and education.
Eldridge agreed this production has been a lot more work.
“There will be three people singing and an entire scene going on off to the side,” he explained, referring to some of the challenging aspects.
“The set alone and managing all of the illusions that are supposed to happen,” echoed Jean.
“There’s weird choreography for pulling off magic stuff.”
“The sound effects, the lighting, everything,” Eldridge added.
“It’s definitely trumped anything that we’ve ever done in the past.”
Musical director Lisa Loney agreed it’s probably the most technical Fort High has taken on.
“Even aside from technical, the acting and the music is twice as hard as anything I’ve ever done here,” Jean stressed.
“With the music, the range and the variety is huge,” she noted.
“The vocal range is really taxing on these guys,” Loney noted.
“Whether you’re male or female, it’s a lot of work.”
And unlike the past few musicals at Fort High, this one was much less-known by the students—meaning they had to learn all of the music from scratch.
“It was definitely challenging to learn a brand new musical,” Eldridge remarked.
For Jean, she said the roles are more challenging overall.
“Having that much pressure on you and doing it in a short amount of time,” she said, noting there is more stress and more preparation.
“Any chance you get to perform in front of people is always helpful to get more comfortable; know your limits,” she reasoned.
“Ghost: The Musical,” with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, is based on the hit 1990 romantic drama film of the same name.
The musical had its world premiere at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester, England in March, 2011, followed by U.K. and North American tours that concluded in 2014.
Jean indicated the plot revolves around “Molly” and “Sam.”
“They are just moving in together ready to start their life,” she explained.
“They are super in love but he just can’t say it yet.
“He’s a banker, she’s an artist so they are pretty different people, but they work really well as a couple,” Jean added.
“They complement each other very well.”
Jean explained they have a friend Carl (Jaykob Ryll), who is a little jealous of Sam.
“One day when Sam and Molly are out for a date, Carl hires a mugger to get Sam’s access codes from his wallet and he ends up killing Sam before Sam gets a chance to say I love you,” Jean noted.
“Then the rest of the story is Sam learning how to be a ghost. He’s trying to protect Molly from being harmed.”
“In the beginning, he doesn’t know why he was killed, but then he slowly starts to figure it out,” Eldridge said.
A medium, Oda Mae Brown (Ana Stopa), helps Sam to get in touch with Molly to warn her that she’s in danger.
And while the movie is more on the mature side, Fort High changed the production a little bit to be more family-friendly.
“People don’t have to be worried about bringing their children,” Jean said.
“We’ve altered quite a few lines in the play,” Eldridge noted.
“There was some vulgar language but not anymore.”
Eldridge added the audience is sure to be impressed by the set and props.
“There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes,” he remarked, noting a huge thanks goes out to FFHS art teacher Dany Michaud and the art students who helped with the set and props, as well as the tech crew and the orchestra.
Despite missing yesterday’s dress rehearsal due to strike action by local secondary school teachers, the cast was ready for opening night.
“It’s all coming together,” Eldridge said. “I’m confident by the first show night everything should be good.
“I can say that the Act 1 finale is awesome,” he hinted. “It’s going to be amazing.
“The audience will be surprised,” he added. “It’s a whole cast thing. It’s really neat.”
“This show is not something people are super familiar with but they are going to fall in love with it, for sure,” Jean said.
“It’s such a good story.”
The curtain rises at 7:30 p.m. each day.
Tickets, which cost $10 for adults and $8 for students/seniors, are available at Northwoods Gallery & Gifts and at the door.
