It's Showtime: 2:22 A Ghost Story... The Lyric Theatre, London!

I absolutely wanted to live my best life whilst I was in London during that January 2023 visa trip! Keeping to the highest of standards, I booked another theatre ticket to see '2:22 A Ghost Story'. If truth be told, I had no interest regarding the show but 'Cheryl' was my motivation to book the ticket in the first place! Snatching a bargain priced ticket, I was game for it! Wey aye! 

If truth be told, I knew about '2:22' because 'Laura Whitmore' had opened the previous run of the same show over at the 'Criterion Theatre' after 'Death Drop' had wrapped up. Sure, as soon as I had clocked that former 'Girls Aloud' singer and 'X-Factor Judge', 'Cheryl' had been announced for the role as 'Jenny', I wanted to know how much those tickets would cost me? Yes! Curious as can be, I checked the 'Nimax Theatres' website the day before I was scheduled to head down to Bucks before London. Low and behold, I was able to find a cut-price ticket for the Wednesday evening performance and of course the 'Angel Of The North' would be treading the boards. Being her debut rodeo on the West End, I wanted to see if 'Cheryl' would be worth seeing because her reported £1K per show fee questioned the motive to get bums on seats. Needless to say, I don't know how I would have felt acting alongside her due to her fee towering above the West End norm? You know! To be honest, the weather was more of a concern of mine! Oh, no! 

As I stood outside in the rain, I was kindly invited to stand under the doorway outside the fire exits. I got speaking to two fellow '2:22 A Ghost Story' audience members, we had a good giggle about the prospect of seeing 'Cheryl' act for the first time! I joked that we would see a scene with her 'little hand tattoo' as the sultry album cover gimmick, it was all love! Stepping inside the Lyric Theatre was an absolute pleasure, it felt great to be dressed smartly for that show because nowadays people really let themselves down! Climbing the stairs to the Dress Circle almost had me out of breathe, to remedy that brief moment of exercise, I hit the bar! Now, being a special theatre trip I ordered myself a large glass of red wine because the sentiment of the trip felt like a celebration, I had waited for this London visit for three whole years! My red wine tasted great and better still I still had some time before the show, I didn't feel the need to neck my wine whatsoever! Sure, I did clock some fellow 'Queens' around me, we were there to see our 'Chez!' 

My cheap seat served a killer view, I wasn't disappointed at all! Was I feeling alright? I had to ask myself that because I had bought a programme and I never do that! Before that January theatre-going evening I had not bought a programme of any kind in a very long time! It was 'Cheryl' and her star power, obviously I am a fan! The stage looked like some kind of modern suburban house set-up. I had no idea how the show was going to pan out, for that I was excited to see the seemingly normal looking open-plan kitchen diner and living in one on the stage. The theatre soon filled up with many excited and probably very skeptical 'Cheryl' fans and friends of the theatre who weren't aware of Cheryl's music back-catalogue. With a loud crash and hypnotic blast of red light, the show started bang on the dot! I'm not going to sugarcoat this, I just wanted to see Cheryl and to this day I don't care what you think about that! Sure, the supporting cast and other headliners deserved respect but I knew my own thoughts. Get on with the ghost story! 

Set within a old Victorian house near London, Jenny and Sam were finding their feet after moving into their new house. Renovations kept Jenny busy before the dreaded '2:22 a.m.' chime scared her half to death and woke her new born baby. Her husband Sam maintained that keeping the window open for the baby was the best thing to do, to be honest everything he said was law because he thought he knew better than his lady wife, Jenny. Dinner and drinks were to be had with mutual friend Lauren and her new boyfriend, Ben. Strange goings on in the house had scared Jenny senseless, her fears were for her baby and rightly so, she felt conflicted to break out the crucifix that her mom had sent to her from Newcastle. To Cheryl's credit, she was acting her Geordie socks off! Honestly, her crass language sounded perfect in her soft Newcastle accent, sure she added some bite to her bark! The other people who were on stage acted well but for me Cheryl remained the leading lady, she's found herself a new career! The show was good! 

This four had made a pact to stay awake right through the night, Jenny felt like she needed other people to see what turmoil this paranormal situation was putting her through! Sam tested her patients, he had is rights read to him several times because he was being a 'Class A' prick! Lauren committed to the task in hand, opening another bottle of wine to keep herself going until '2:22!' Unhealed wounds from the past returned, a forbidden love connection between Sam and Lauren kept coming through as he showed his disdain for yet another one of her new boyfriends. Yes, a subtle seed of jealousy had been planted, Lauren couldn't deal with Jenny being a new mother after she had missed her own opportunity. Like a tennis match, serves were being hit from side to side of the the stage as if it was centre court at London's own Wimbledon. Strange things were going on, so much so that 'Ben' decided to draw from his childhood experience to call a seance. The interval had me wanting to know more, getting to second half was a blessing! 

Emotions were getting frayed and domestic outbursts were taking place! Jenny almost had a bag packed, she threatened to take the baby away from Sam because of his unreasonable behaviour! Lauren had to sober herself up, Ben really needed to stay away from Sam because tempers were at boiling point. Did the table really move? What actually happened? This was all getting to be a lot to watch and I was loving every second of the drama! I wanted to hear every line of the 'Ghost Story' as much as I had wanted to hear Cheryl's debut single, 'Fight For This Love!' As '2:22' approached, something even stranger was about to happen, what had really happened to Sam after he had stepped out? I wanted to know! Seriously? Jenny had not heard from him for two days but you know as they said to us at the theatre, don't give away the plot! So, with that said I won't spoil it for those who are yet to see '2:22 A Ghost Story' because it was well worth my time! 'Promise This', you won't want to miss 'Cheryl's debut West End run! Yes, it was a canny show! 

Fight For This... 'Ghost Story!' 

Desperately Seeking Adventure