Benoît Maréchal will take on the title role in the second UK and Ireland tour of hit musical The Bodyguard which is due to launch at Glasgow Theatre Royal on Monday 3 December 2019.
The French star who previously played Frank Farmer in his home country will star alongside the previously announced Alexandra Burke who will revisit the character she previously played in the West End and on the sell-out first touring production in 2015/2016.
They will be joined by Micha Richardson as Nicki Marron, Peter Landi as Bill Devaney, Craig Berry as Tony, Gary Turner as Sy Spector, Phil Atkinson as The Stalker and Simon Cotton as Ray Court. At certain performances, the role of Rachel Marron will be played by Carole Stennett.
The rest of the company includes Rosie Cava-Beale, Callum Clack, Myles Cork, Kerry Crozier, Sia Dauda, Gustav Die, Chris Edgerley, James Lee Harris, Holly Liburd, Jack Loy, Hannah Millichamp, Helen Parsons, Daniil Shmidt, Jessica Simmons, Yiota Theo and Michael Wade Peters.
Produced by Michael Harrison and David Ian, The Bodyguard will play Glasgow until Saturday 29 December before beginning the 2019 leg of the tour at the Hull New Theatre from 8-19 January. The tour is currently due to end with a run at Dublin’s Bord Gais Energy Theatre in August 2019.
Based on Laurence Kasdan’s blockbuster Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner movie, The Bodyguard musical received its world premiere in November 2012. Directed by Thea Sharrock, with a book by Oscar-winning writer Alex Dinelaris (Birdman), the original production featured Heather Headley in the extended role of Rachel Marron and Lloyd Owen as her bodyguard, Frank Farmer.
Recording artist Beverley Knight took over the central role a year later, with Burke taking over from Knight in 2014 before playing the role in the show’s first UK and Ireland tour in 2016. Knight then stepped back in to play Marron again when the show returned to the West End at the end of 2016 and into early 2017.
International productions of the show have been staged in the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Italy, Australia and China. The show can currently be seen in Stuttgart and Madrid and on tour in France and the USA.
Angela Thomas
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