The Bodyguard
Milton Keynes Theatre
29th May 2023
The Whitney Houston jukebox musical ‘The Bodyguard’ hit the headlines recently for being the latest victim of bad audience behaviour, when a drunken minority caused one performance in Manchester to be cut-short before its finale. The situation made the national news, and highlights a growing concern in disturbances (the recent ‘Jersey Boys’ tour regularly saw similar incidents). For genuine fans of musical theatre, this is deeply saddening, as 99% of the audience have come to hear these legendary songs performed by highly-trained professionals, not Karen from down the street who’s snuck a bottle of Prosecco in her handbag and thinks she can sing like Whitney. The problem comes when some audience members think they’re coming to a concert, and not a piece of theatre, and unlike pantomime, audience participation is not required.
For the overwhelmingly well-behaved portion of the audience, ‘The Bodyguard’ brings the 1992 film of the same name to the stage, delivering the iconic songs from its soundtrack along with all of Houston’s other timeless hits. Still a romantic thriller at its core, the show celebrates one of the greatest singers of all time, a formidable and unique talent who became an idol to millions and set a new standard for female vocalists. The musical has been enjoying a UK for the last couple of months, and plays this week at the Milton Keynes theatre, with Melody Thornton (formerly of the Pussycat Dolls) stepping into Houston’s shoes.
Rachel Marron (Thornton) is one of the biggest superstars on the planet, idolised by millions of fans worldwide, and finds herself the target of an obsessed stalker (Marios Nicolaides). After a series of threatening incidents, her team enlist the protection of stone-faced bodyguard Frank Farmer (Ayden Callaghan), who vows to never let her out of his sight. Fearing also for the safety of her son Fletcher (Kaylenn Aires Fonseca) and sister Nicki (Emily-Mae), Rachel reluctantly goes along with Frank’s tough restrictions on her lifestyle. With an Oscar campaign in full swing by her PR Manager Cy (James Groom), and the stalker inching ever closer, tensions run high as Rachel and Frank’s romantic feelings for each other threaten to put her in mortal danger.
Translating the film to the stage has worked well, as the musical maintains a much better pace than the somewhat ploddy film, and has a much livelier tone which suits the score. The incredible songs are given a much bigger focus, which are given full production numbers here rather than only heard fleetingly in the film. The book (adapted by Alexander Dinelaris from Lawrence Kasdan’s original screenplay) retains all of the key story moments, and also broadens Nicki Marron’s role which is a real narrative improvement and gives Nicki much more purpose to the story. The show does suffer from an uneven tone and sometimes feels like it’s unsure whether it wants to be a serious thriller or something lighter, with a few attempts at comedy not really landing (though this may be down to the performers as well), and also some clumsy dialogue which feels like it’s been quickly thrown in to fill time while scenes are reset or to allow for costume changes. While it’s obvious most audience members will only have come to hear the music and will forgive things like dialogue or character development, it does feel a slight shame to think of how much sharper and edgier the show could be.
However, the show looks great, with video design (Duncan McLean) and lighting (Mark Henderson) making the show feel cinematic when it needs to and also like a concert at the right times, along with some fantastic costumes for Rachel (Tim Hatley, also set designer). Karen Bruce’s choreography is delivered brilliantly by a talented ensemble, who really drive the dancier numbers. Overall, director Thea Sharrock gets the balance just right between tension and fun, delivering some menacing moments effectively, and celebrating Whitney Houston in the best possible way.
Anyone taking on the role of Rachel Marron should be commended for even trying, especially someone from a pop group who wasn’t even the lead singer, and Melody Thornton does well here. Comparisons with Houston are inevitable and Thornton doesn’t match up, but it’s a solid try and she delivers some really good moments. She certainly dances the role brilliantly and does a decent acting job too (Houston wasn’t the strongest actress either). Vocally however, Thornton almost tries too hard, making it look like a strain at times, unlike Houston’s effortlessness. Some of the notes do lie outside of Thornton’s range, and she attempts to compensate for this by overplaying with other notes, relying too regularly on riffs and trills and ironically becoming more Mariah than Whitney. Emily-Mae as sister Nicki is arguably the better singer, shown particularly when the two of them sing together. Relying less on flourishes and tricks, she delivers simpler but top-class vocals and makes it look effortless. Ayden Callaghan is restricted by the limited role of super-serious Frank with little room to make it his own, but he still does well, effectively bringing glimpses of the bodyguard’s underlying personality and humour while remaining commanding when he needs to be.
As jukebox musicals go, ‘The Bodyguard’ is certainly one of the better ones, celebrating a pop superstar who left us too soon, and improving on its film counterpart. Rewriting the book with a sharper pen would turn it into something more creatively substantial, but Whitney fans won’t care. While Thornton doesn’t quite match Houston’s impossible vocal standard, ‘The Bodyguard’ lets its audience enjoy those classic pop hits once more. But whatever you do, don’t sing along, or you’ll need to find a bodyguard of your own.
‘The Bodyguard’ runs at the Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 3rd June 2023 before continuing on its UK tour.
Performance runtime 2 hours 25 minutes
Cast Note – Melody Thornton performs the role of Rachel Marron at evening performances only.
