It's taken us a while to catch up with The Bodyguard, the stage musical of the acclaimed 1992 movie. It debuted in London in 2012 and has been on several UK tours since then. However we finally managed to catch the current touring production at the Regent Theatre, Stoke.
To jog everyone's memory, the show - as in the movie - is about 'the biggest star on the planet' Rachel Marron, pop idol supreme. However her cosy world of topping charts and Oscar nominations is rocked when she recieves threatening letters from a mysterious stalker. Enter Frank Farmer, former secret agent and now bodyguard to the queen of pop. They don't hit it off initially, Rachel acting the full diva as Frank tries his best to protect her from the clutches of her stalker. Meanwhile, Rachel's lesser gifted sister has developed the hots for Frank, but so too has Rachel. Sure enough the stalker comes out of the shadows and the race is on to catch him before he causes harm to Rachel and her family.
Now this show is a melodrama. There is nothing subtle about it. You get a fairly corny story with a little bit of thriller but basically its all about the music. And what music. The catalogue of the late great Whitney Houston is exploited to the full. Wall to wall pop classics including 'Greatest Love Of All', 'I'm Every Woman', 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', 'One Moment In Time' and of course the immortal Dolly Parton anthem 'I Will Always Love You.'
The current touring cast are more than up to the task of delivering the show to a packed house in Stoke. The billed Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton was absent on the opening night (filming duties for The National Lottery At The Musicals provided a schedule clash) and whilst hardcore Pussycat Doll fans may have been gutted, the rest of us took great pleasure in welcoming Samantha Mbolekwa to the stage as Rachel. Samantha made the most of the lacklustre script but unleashed a powerful soul voice on the big numbers, dancing up a storm in the process. Emily-Mae as Nicki Marron equalled her for the vocal complexities, both ladies the bright shining core of the show. The ensemble were no slouches either, James Groom as Sy Spector, John Maculay as Bill Devaney and Marios Nicolaides as the Stalker all worked hard in bringing the story to life.
Set and Costume designer Tim Hatley has provided a visual feast for the show, which has to travel from small nightclub to a big theatrical event to out of town log cabin. A series of enormous curtains helping change the scene with the minimum of fuss throughout the evening. Mark Henderson's lighting design helps keep the mood at optimum level, as the routines are delivered with energetic relish.
Director Thea Sharrock delivers all the beats in the show, and it will undoubtedly be a crowd pleasing attraction as it makes its away around the country. This is a superior touring show which does what it says on the tin. If you are a fan of the original movie or indeed just love a bit of Whitney Houston, this is the show for you. You might even get to dance with somebody at the end.
Rob Cope
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