On A Clear Day You Can See Forever is a strange, quirky musical about ESP, past-life regression and reincarnation. A real oddity. But this beautifully staged new adaptation from Squabbalogic makes for intriguing, captivating theatre.

Featuring book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Burton Lane, the show premiered on Broadway in 1965, and was adapted into a 1970 film starring Barbra Streisand.

The original plot centres on Daisy Gamble, whose unusual gifts include knowing when the phone is about to ring and making flowers grow remarkably quickly. Her fiancé Warren wants her to stop smoking as he fears it will ruin a future job opportunity, so she goes to a psychiatrist called Dr Mark Bruckner.

Under hypnosis, Dr Bruckner discovers a woman from a previous life called Melinda Wells and quickly becomes smitten with her, inviting Daisy back so he can keep entering her past life, without revealing what he’s doing.

Jay James-Moody and the cast of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Squabbalogic, 2023. Photo © David Hooley.

The plot is problematic for audiences today, so in 2011 Michael Mayer directed a Broadway production...