It’s impossible to think of “Ghost” without hearing the Righteous Brothers’ cover of “Unchained Melody” that served as backdrop to Sam and Molly’s sensual pottery wheel scene.
Director Mark Danni happily reports that the “Unchained Melody” will be part of TheatreZone’s upcoming production of “Ghost the Musical.”
“You have to have the license for the ‘Unchained Melody.’ That’s Sam and Molly’s song. There are moments in there when you hear Sam sing that to her. He comes back, they sing a duet. It’s a sign that he’s in the room at times, so they did have to have permission to use that song in the show and so we licensed the show, so we get to use the song as well.”
The movie’s supernatural special effects were recreated on Broadway through an imaginative combination of projections, set design and theatrical devices. It’s another reason to see the stage version of “Ghost.”
“The Broadway show had … projections that took you to different areas, and you’re able to license these projections to use in your production as well. When things are happening that are supernatural or what have you, the projection behind you can change where you’re no longer in an apartment but morphing into another area and stuff like that.”
Danni says people will just have to see the show to find out how he and his creative team staged the scenes in which demons cart the damned off to hell. He also promises that audiences will love the music, co-written by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, and performed live by a seven-piece orchestra that’s heard but not seen.
“[The music] goes between great beautiful ballads and then some really driving sort of rock moments. A lot of the intense stuff, the deaths of some of these people getting carried to hell, and the subway ghost stuff is pretty intense. He’s an intense character, the ghost that lives in the subway. That music underneath it is pretty cool and driving.”
While it’s hard to imagine replacing Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, Danni says that Anthony Nuccio, Kara Konken and Jasmine Vizena are more than up to the task. So don’t ghost this production. “Ghost” is onstage at TheatreZone June 5 to 16.
TheatreZone presents musical performances in the 250-seat G&L Theatre in Naples at 13275 Livingston Road, between Pine Ridge and Vanderbilt Beach roads, on the campus of the Community School of Naples.
For tickets, visit www.Theatre.Zone.com or telephone 888-966-3352.
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Like the movie, the musical is set in New York City and tells the story of a couple, Molly, a sculptor and pottery maker, and Sam, who’s in finance on Wall Street. When Sam is tragically murdered, he becomes trapped as a ghost between this world and the next. Determined to protect Molly from danger, he enlists the help of a phony storefront psychic named Oda Mae Brown who never expected to communicate with the beyond, as well as a crotchety subway ghost who teaches Sam the art of telekinesis. So equipped, Sam fights to expose his murderer and save the woman he loves.
“When I pick a season, I try to find shows that I think audiences would be attracted to,” said Danni. “I felt that the movie was so popular that there’s a demographic here that knows and appreciates the movie and will similarly appreciate a beautiful musical version of the film.”
Danni expects audiences to be swept away by the powerful original score written by Grammy winner David Allan Stewart and Glen Ballard.
“Stewart used to write and play for Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics so it’s got a nice pop sound to it. And the show, originally, on Broadway, was huge.”
Stewart, born Sept. 9, 1952. is an English musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for Eurythmics, his successful professional partnership with Annie Lennox. Sometimes credited as David A. Stewart, he won Best British Producer at the 1986, 1987 and 1990 Brit Awards. Stewart (along with Lennox) was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. Outside of Eurythmics, Stewart has written and produced songs for artists such as Ringo Starr, Stevie Nicks, Mick Jagger and Tom Petty.
One reason Danni chose “Ghost the Musical” for TheatreZone’s summer show is the fact that it calls for a modestly sized cast.
“The creators very smartly created a version that only uses ten performers,” observed Danni, which makes it doable by small community theaters like TheatreZone. “So when [the stage version] came out, I started perusing it. It is beautifully written and will work beautifully in our theater.”
In addition to creating a manageable 10-member cast for the stage show, the creators limited the orchestra to seven musicians.
“So you have your piano/conductor and you have your bass and your drum and your guitarist,” Danni noted, “But there’s also a cello, a viola and a violin. So it allows you to have those sort of rock moments, but then also these beautiful string moments for the gorgeous lyrical stuff. So the orchestration’s very beautiful for this, as well. And we always use a live orchestra, so I’m really thrilled [for audiences] to be able to hear this orchestration.”
Inhabiting the character of Sam Wheatley is Anthony Nuccio.
“He’s no stranger to TheatreZone, but for a chunk of time he was out on a big anniversary tour of ‘Rock of Ages,’” noted Danni.
Nuccio played the lead, Drew, in “Rock of Ages” 10-month 10th anniversary tour, where he received praise as a dynamic, high-energy rock and musical theater singer and performer.
Nuccio said he’s wanted to play Sam Wheatley since seeing the movie and the show on Broadway 10 years ago. The musical features pop-rock music, his forte as a singer.
“Sam,” Nuccio said, “is a great lesson for people, especially in the high intensity Wall Street culture. It’s about spirituality and the perseverance of love.”
The Frederick, Maryland, actor is a graduate of the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.) where he studied music education and theater arts. Soon after graduating, he appeared as Protean in TheatreZone’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” with Kara Konken, who will play opposite him in “Ghost.” She plays Molly in Ghost.
Nuccio also appeared in TheatreZone’s “Tonya & Nancy: A Rock Opera” as Shane Stant.
In addition to his role in “Rock of Ages,” Nuccio has been featured in “The Last Match,” a pro-wrestling rock experience, and in rock operas like “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which paved the path for his musical theater career in national and regional theaters throughout the country.
Anthony is also the writer and singer for the hard rock band Animal Ion and the front man for the '80s band The Reagan Years.
Nuccio hopes his performance will remind audiences “to live in the moment and appreciate the people around you, because you never know when it will be too late.”
Kara Konken is making her 17th appearance on TheatreZone’s stage with her role in “Ghost: The Musical.” Audiences will remember her in “Gypsy” (Dainty June), “9 to 5” (Doralee), “Into the Woods” (Cinderella), and “Aida” (Amneris).
The busy performer graduated with a musical theater degree from Baldwin-Wallace University, has been dancing and singing since early childhood, and was a competitive figure skater. Her credits also include roles in “The American Girl’s Revue” at The American Girl Place in Chicago. Other highlights of her career are singing the national anthem at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field and performing at the Easter Egg Roll at the White House.
To prepare for “Ghost,” Konken took a six-week pottery class to more fully inhabit her role as Molly, a potter. She also does daily vocal warm-ups for what she terms a “challenging vocal role.” Her affinity for “Ghost” includes seeing the musical twice on Broadway and watching the movie with her family as one of her first “non-kid” movies.
Konken sees Molly as a passionate artist who is living her best life in New York City with her boyfriend, Sam. She is moved by Molly’s transition from joy to grief, and her rediscovery of her true self in the face of her grief. Konken said she is thrilled to be “tackling this role that I have wanted to play for a while for its depiction of love and grief.” A favorite lyric from a song in Ghost lends a hopeful message for Kara: “Because the world keeps turning. And I guess it always will. I can choose to turn around or I can choose to just stand still. Either way, nothing stops another day."
“Oda Mae was a great find,” said Danni. “She actually was a former student of mine. Graduated back in 2007, went on the Savannah College of Arts, and then has been in Los Angeles for many years. She just happened to come back into the area this past fall, just when I was doing auditions and so perfect for Oda Mae.”
Jasmine Vizena is a graduate of Community School of Naples. She earned a master of fine arts in performance and dance from the American Musical and Dance Academy. Her journey into the world of dance and performance began at just 3 years old and continued with singing for nine years with the Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorale.
Vizena has played a role that Whoopi Goldberg has made iconic once before. She portrayed Dolores in the musical “Sister Act.”
Her extensive stage credits include roles in “Chicago” (Velma), “Footloose” (Rusty), “Guys and Dolls” (Hot Box Doll), “The Importance of Being Ernest” (Cecily) and “Annie” (Star to Be).
Vizena has an affinity for comedic musical theater and said that her role as Oda Mae Brown requires comedic timing because the character is humorously "reacting to things she cannot see." Oda Mae, Vizena elaborated, "is a con woman with a heart of gold whose real psychic abilities emerge in the story." Vizena will draw on her own experiences with psychics and mediums in her “Ghost” role and believes that some people do have an extrasensory gift. “Ghost: The Musical,” she said, "reminds us that with love, anything is possible."
Vizena is based in Naples and teaches dance movement therapy at Youth Haven.
The script and characters don’t just resonate with the cast. Danni is also extremely fond of the story.
“I start thinking about why do we like that movie? And why do we like the show? And I think most people like to think there’s some ability to communicate with people we’ve lost or, if nothing else, there’s people looking out for us and helping us. And both of those [elements] are in this story. While it’s so sad that [Molly] has lost what probably would have been her future husband, so young, for us to watch him help her and contact her, and then move on at the end, I think is a story that people hope is what really happens.”
“Ghost” has also been labeled a supernatural morality story. Danni agrees.
“We all want for the good to overcome the evil in our lives and for the bad guy to get caught, so we look for that justification and it’s a very satisfying story in that way. We like to see stories like that. We hope that’s what happens in real life.”
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.