The Bodyguard, UK Tour

I wasn’t expecting to be writing a blog this week until Saturday however when a last minute email came through inviting me to the UK tour of The Bodyguard (the musical) I couldn’t exactly say no so me and one of my closest friends, Emma aka Notta, went to Norwich Theatre Royal on Wednesday (26^th May 2016) evening in a mad rush to go watch it and I am so glad we did. It didn’t feel like a touring version of a musical and while sat in the auditorium I could have quite easily been sat in the West End. The music and lyrics are obviously well known for obvious reasons; however the acting, voices, staging, costumes and special effects made the night – absolutely amazing. The drive home was filled with Whitney classics and musical renditions which were lovely and I still have a sore throat now, which made another long drive difficult as I listened to the wonderful Elaine Paige on Sunday.

The musical is based on the 1992 smash hit film of the same name starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. It tells the story of Rachel Marron, the new music sensation in America. However a chilling stalker is in love with her and will stop at nothing to get her. She needs the help of the top bodyguard in the country to protect her. Apart from the thriller storyline there is of course a love triangle in the musical with Rachel’s sister, Nicki, having a much bigger role in the musical than the film. Other divas were considered for the role of Rachel including Barbara Streisand and Diana Ross; imagine if one of those had taken up the role the film would have been extremely different as would the musical. The Bodyguard originally opened in the West End at the end of 2012 at the Adelphi Theatre, starring Heather Headley as Rachel and Lloyd Owen as the Bodyguard (Frank Farmer). The musical had two super replacements, Beverley Knight who is reprising her role again, returning to the West End at the Dominion Theatre this summer for a limited run (I have tickets). The other replacement, Alexandra Burke, reprises her role in the UK tour, before she takes up her place in the Nunnery as Delores in the Sister Act the musical UK tour.

The West End production won the whatsonstage.com 2013 Award for Best New Musical, being nominated for 5 others. In the same year it was nominated for four Olivier Awards however winning none which is a total shame. Headley lost out to Imelda Staunton for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal as Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd (can’t expect to win against Staunton). The Best Musical award that year went to Irvin Berlin’s Top Hat which was a West End storm apparently. The following year Beverley Knight was nominated for Best Takeover from Whatsonstage.com Awards (that sounds an amazing award as so many leading roles are replaced by some amazing stars). I hope the Dominion production of the Bodyguard is nominated for some Olivier’s next year.

The Bodyguard is a jukebox musical of one of the greatest stars of all time, Whitney Houston. Mike Dixon was production musical supervisor and oversaw vocal arrangements alongside Richard Beadle; with Chris Egan in charge of orchestrations and additional music. The musical features classics such as ‘Greatest Love of All’, ‘How Will I Know’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’, ‘One Moment in Time’, ‘Queen of the Night’, ‘Run to You’, ‘So Emotional’ and the Dolly Parton classic ‘I Will Always Love You’; I actually panicked when the first rendition of this song happens as it is a bit poor (it is meant to be don’t worry), however it is belted out at the end proper Whitney style, you’ll be pleased to know. The music gives you tingly sensations throughout both Acts and really pays a positive and wonderful tribute to the legend that is Whitney Houston, as well as allowing the stars on stage to shine as individuals, it is beautifully crafted.

The show stars Alexandra Burke, who won the fifth series of the X factor. I watched this series and thought burke was a great singer although I never get really into an X Factor winner. Since winning she has sang some good songs including her winning song ‘Hallelujah’, ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Broken Heels’ being the ones I remember and enjoyed. I never saw her in the West End version and was looking forward to seeing her in Sister Act later in the year. I am now in love with Burke and think she is a phenomenal singer, dancer and actress. She won me over from the first electrifying sing of the night. I felt like I was at a concert with all the pyrotechnics, staging and hot costumes. She was amazing and I cannot fault anything about her stage presence that night. She pays a wonderful tribute to Whitney, adding her own style to the songs, and gives the audience so much emotion it’s unbelievable. I really was not expecting that from her. She even looked right in my direction during the curtain call, unfortunately I was hot and sweaty as I got down to the Whitney songs.

I also thought Rachel John who plays Nicki Marron was wonderful. When she sings her first song I thought it was Alexandra still. As I was watching I thought, although I am loving Burke’s voice I hope other people sing as I would have not liked that. I can confirm there are other singers. John’s voice is so soulful and powerful it gave me just as many tingles as the leading lady herself. Stuart Reid plays Frank Farmer and I recognised him but still can’t remember from where and nothing triggers a memory from reading his bio in the programme. The whole cast were great and the ensemble are amazing with their dance routines which was like being at a real live concert accompanying Burke on stage, thanks to Karen Bruce for her amazing choreography. The stalker, played by Matthew Stathers, was scary and macabre yet totally gorgeous. There was one other little star on that stage, Josiah Choto who plays Rachel’s son Fletcher. There are six little guys who are playing Fletcher and they must all be amazing. Choto had some killer moves on that stage and I want him to teach me how to break dance.

I loved the set design by Tim Hatley from beginning to end; Hatley was also costume designer. The set starts off with a spooky title of ‘The Bodyguard’ with smoke trailing from it floating to the top of the curtains. My favourite aspect of the set design was the use of stage cropping. It felt like a motion picture with the effects of zooming out. It allowed the audience to be pin pointed to one moment in time (WhitneyJ), adding loads of tension and allowed seamless stage transitions and costume changes. Talking about costumes, Burke’s concert outfits were modern, sexy and the best of the night. The curtain call costumes were also fantastic, lots of glitz and glamour which is always a winner for a musical finale. I also didn’t mind the lack of costume for the stalker the most of the way through. The staging also uses modern technology throughout the production; modernising the film. It may be Duncan McLean as video designer who was in charge of this. Sometimes too much technology in a musical can feel out of place however within The Bodyguard it adds a third dimension to the storyline. It allows you to see two points at one time without halving the stage. It was really effective and also added to the celebrity status of Rachel Marron.

The UK tour is coming up to its final venues. It is at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday 4^th June and only two dates have tickets left, matinees on Wednesday June 1^st and Saturday June 4^th. Often tickets become available so ring the box office if you need to find out. I have a feeling Alexandra Burke is not appearing at any matinee performances, however I am sure Carole Stennett will be amazing. After Norwich The Bodyguard visits Eastbourne. There is a US tour starting however that is a long way to go. The Bodyguard takes up residence at the Dominion Theatre from 15 July selling until January 2017 starring Beverley Knight and Ben Richards as Frank. It really cannot be missed this sensational show. It will leave you feeling high yet low with its constant changing story line, laughing and tense, anxious and warm, The Bodyguard is one musical not to be missed.