Emily Williams and the company of The Bodyguard at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham and Touring. Picture: Paul Coltas
The Bodyguard was reviewed at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The tour continues until 7 January 2024.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
It’s that time of year again where pantomimes take over our stages, and for audiences who prefer to stick to musicals rather than yelling “oh yes it is!”, pickings can be a little slim. Fortunately, Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre has those audiences covered, offering a showtune-filled alternative each festive season. This year, it’s the turn of The Bodyguard, the jukebox musical based on the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.
The stage show delivers the film’s narrative and its iconic songs, while also including a host of Houston’s other classic hits. The film was released at the height of Houston’s popularity and power, cementing her as arguably the greatest female singer in the world at the time, and the musical attempts to honour and celebrate her incredible talent, while at the same time fleshing out the romantic thriller into a fun and lively night out.
Rachel Marron (played by Australian Idol runner-up Emily Williams for the final leg of the tour) 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 letters and a break-in, her team enlists 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 and sister Nicki (Emily-Mae Walker), 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.
The film is one of those 90s cliché-ridden-but-beloved romantic thrillers that haven’t aged brilliantly well, and translating it to stage gives it some much-needed energy and spark. It also shines a better spotlight on those incredible songs, generally only heard fleetingly in the film, but given full production numbers on the stage. Lawrence Kasdan’s original screenplay (adapted by Alexander Dinelaris) remains mostly in tact with all of the key plot points remaining, but fleshing out Nicki Marron’s role which is a big narrative improvement.
The show falters a little with an uneven tone that can’t decide if it wants to be deadly serious or wryly playful, with a few attempts at comedy not really landing and some clunky dialogue clearly only included to fill time to allow scene changes behind the curtain. But visually the show is impressive, with lighting (Mark Henderson) and video design (Duncan McLean) feeling suitably cinematic, along with some fantastic costumes (Tim Hatley, also set designer).
Although the main framing of the stage is well done, the performance space itself looks sparse at times, needing either a bit more scenery or a few more bodies to fill it. Said bodies perform Karen Bruce’s choreography brilliantly, and add real drive to up-tempo numbers, with just the right amount of raunch. Overall, director Thea Sharrock gives Whitney fans what they want, a simple unchallenging story that trots along nicely, delivers a few more menacing moments effectively, and puts the music front and centre, allowing it to speak for itself.
This tour has been running for most of 2023 and is now on its third leading lady. Following on from Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton and West End star Zoe Birkett, Australian Idol’s Emily Williams has taken on the character of Rachel Marron for the remaining venues. The role is all about The Voice, and comparisons with Houston are going to be inevitable. Stepping into those shoes is like running a marathon for any singer, and singing just one of her songs is challenging enough, let alone over a dozen, some with accompanying choreography.
Williams certainly sings it brilliantly, unafraid to aim for those big notes (and most importantly, hit them), and has an attractive assuredness and individuality to her vocals. She also doesn’t try to impersonate Houston, more to her credit, and instead puts her own spin on the flourishes and riffs. Williams isn’t the strongest actress (then neither was Houston), and her dancing looks somewhat laboured, but the voice is the first priority in this role, which she delivers. Emily-Mae as sister Nicki continues to do well, finding new layers to the character as the tour has gone on, and shows no sign of fatigue which is impressive after so many performances. Callaghan is perhaps starting to show a little “autopilot” as he nears the end of the run, but still does well as Frank, believably commanding when he needs to be and bringing the occasional glimpse of humour and personality to the character.
Certainly one of the better jukebox musicals, The Bodyguard celebrates a pop icon and turns a somewhat ploddy film into an enjoyable stage experience. Dialogue could be sharper, and Williams isn’t quite the triple threat that Birkett was which really made the production soar, but it’s a fun and feelgood excuse to hear those pop classics brought to life again, and a great alternative to pantomime this Christmas.
Rob Bartley
- Emily Williams performs the role of Rachel Marron at evening performances only
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