Zoe Birkett will return to the role of Rachel Marron for evening performances when the current touring production of hit musical The Bodyguard arrives at the Hawth Theatre in Crawley.
Currently appearing in The Great British Bake Off Musical in the West End, the actress and singer who first found fame as a teenager in the first series of Pop Idol first took on the role during the production’s 2015 tour.
She will join Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer, Emily-Mae as Nicki Marron, John Macaulay as Bill Devaney, Graham Elwell as Tony, James Groom as Sy Spector, Marios Nicolaides as Stalker and Fergal Coghlan (For King and Country, Southwark Playhouse) as Ray Court. Aires Fonseca, Iesa Miller, Frankie Keita and Reneo Kusi-Appauh share the role of Fletcher.
The cast is completed by Alexandros Beshonges, Kayne Gordon, Jack Hardwick, Kalisha Johnson, James Lee Harris, Samantha Mbolekwa, Abbie Quinnen, Kellie Rhianne, Charlotte Scally, Yiota Theo and Marco Venturini.
Produced by Michael Harrison and David Ian, the production will play the Hawth Theatre, Crawley (24-29 July), Bournemouth Pavilion (7-12 August), Newcastle Theatre Royal (15-19 August), Cheltenham Everyman Theatre (21-26 August) and Norwich Theatre Royal (28 August-2 September).
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 Tony Award-winner Heather Headley in the extended role of Rachel Marron and Lloyd Owen as her bodyguard, Frank Farmer.
Recording artist and 2023 Olivier Award-winner Beverley Knight took over the central role a year later, with former X Factor champion Alexandra Burke taking over from Knight in 2014 before playing the role in the show’s first UK and Ireland tour in 2016. Knight stepped back in to play Marron again when the show returned to the West End at the end of 2016 and in to early 2017, while Burke returned to headline the second UK and Ireland tour in 2018.
The Bodyguard has played to over 3.6 million people in 15 countries including the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Italy, Australia, Spain, France, the US, Austria and Japan.
Angela Thomas
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