2023 will probably go down in the annals of the wonderful Grand Theatre as the year of the adapted screen musicals. We have already had Sister Act and Dirty Dancing with The Commitments and Strictly Ballroom still to come. So far the ones I have seen remained true to the original but The Bodyguard seems to have turned into a Whitney Houston tribute act. I haven’t seen the film but my research shows that only five songs were sung by Ms Houston on the soundtrack, whereas the show contains sixteen performances of her recordings.
A few months ago there were a couple of incidents in theatres when the police had to be called to quell audience members who had taken it upon themselves to join in with some of these numbers. I in no way condone the actions of those involved, I abhor boorish behaviour anywhere, let alone in the theatre, but, now that I have seen the show, I can understand why people who are not regulars could be confused. The press reports at the time condemned the patrons for treating the show like a concert rather than a dramatic work but there was very little drama and most of the songs were delivered as if in a cabaret club or concert setting; some for good reason and some just for the heck of it.
This is the bit where I usually spend a few paragraphs on the synopsis so here goes.
Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer and John Macaulay as Bill Devaney. Photograph by Paul Coltas
Frank Farmer, an ex-secret service agent, played by Ayden Callaghan, is recruited by Bill Devany, the manager of singing superstar Rachel Marron, to act as her bodyguard after she has had some threatening letters from a stalker who has also gained access to her dressing room during a show and stolen one of her dresses. He refuses until he is told that Ms Marron has a ten year-old son, Fletcher. Realising that the child might also be in danger he agrees to the job.
Melody Thornton as Rachel Marron. Photograph by Matt Crocket
Frank and Rachel fall in love which affects his ability to concentrate on the job in hand – the bodyguard bit – so he breaks up with her but they get back together when he takes her and her sister Nikki, along with Fletcher, to his late father’s hunting lodge where he feels they will be safe. They aren’t as The Stalker, played by Mario Nicolaides, catches up with them.
Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer
There is a bit of sibling rivalry between the sisters as Nikki, being the elder, is jealous of Rachel as she had joined Nikki’s singing group and become the star. Nikki is also carrying a torch for Frank which doesn’t help when he hooks up with Rachel.
That’s it really except that obviously Frank kills The Stalker in a shoot out at the Oscar Ceremony where Rachel is performing one of the nominated songs.
They all live happily ever after, well, at least some of them do.
Rachel is played by Melody Thornton, the ex-Pussycat Doll, and handles the singing well, she also is pretty adept at quick costume changes, one of which is done on stage with only the lights dimmed to protect her modesty.
Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer and Emily-Mae as Nikki Marron. Photograph by Paul Coltas
It was Emily-Mae as Nikki Marron, who I thought was the better singer and actress which, ironically, reinforced her on-stage grudge against little sister.
I found Ayden Callaghan, who bore more than a passing resemblance to Kevin Costner, to be a bit wooden in his acting. I realise that, as a Secret Service operative he needed to have a detached air, but he never loosened up even during the downtime at the hunting lodge or the more intimate scenes with his leading lady.
THE song of the show, I Will Always Love You, was a revelation in that I never realised its significance in the story. It is first sung by Frank Farmer in the minimalist style of its composer Dolly Parton. When Rachel asked why he was singing it he replied that it was his late mother’s favourite. What more fitting a tribute to her memory could there be than taking her low-key romantic love song and belting it out at a decibel level approaching that of a pneumatic drill, embellish it by hitting every note in the scale at least three times each and have it produced to within an inch of its life – or even beyond – I was almost overcome by emotion!
THE SONG!!!! Photograph by Matt Crockett
The other main characters in the piece; James Groom as publicist Sy Spector and bumbling security manager Tony Scibelli played by Graham Elwell were more caricatures than characters whilst Reneo Kusi-Appauh who played Fletcher in this performance, there are three others on the rota, overdid the cute factor somewhat, but I think that that is what kids in American shows are supposed to do. The aforementioned John Macaulay handled his character well and Marios Nicolaides was chilling as The Stalker, earning pantomime villain boos at the curtain call. Jack Hardwick ably stood in as Ray Court an associate of Frank who did the background research on The Stalker.
My last carp, honest, concerns the lighting, by Associate Lighting Designer Stuart Cross. As I have said, most of the songs were performed as though in a concert, which obviously needs the appropriate lighting effects. Most of these worked except when a couple of banks of spotlights at the side of the stage and at the back were turned on. They didn’t light the singer but were pointing straight into the audience. One or two of them shone directly into my eyes, meaning that I had to shut them. This caused me to miss a vital part of the little action there was when The Stalker made his first appearance in close proximity to Rachel after strolling onto the stage during a song. Sadly I didn’t see what happened, in fact I didn’t see much at all for a few minutes after having my retinae fried.
On to the positives. There were some good special effects, mainly involving loud bangs or the sudden unexpected appearance of The Stalker, and clever projections, of both scenery and film clips, onto the back curtain.
The band was on top form under Musical Director and Keyboard, Sam Hall. How six musicians could replicate the over-the-top Whitney arrangements was baffling, or not!
The Big Finish. Photograph Matt Crockett
A colleague in the press corps, to whom I spoke at the interval in order to gauge the effect the show had on someone many years my junior, said that she thought it was wonderful and hit the spot with her. The thing about tribute acts is that it depends on the personal memories the music evokes and hers must have been far more pleasant than mine!
The bottom line is that, if you are a Whitney fan and want to see and hear her greatest hits performed with the minimum interruption from a story, then this is for you.
The Bodyguard runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until 17th June. To get your tickets, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/bodyguard-2023/
To see what else is in the pipeline it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/?theatre=leeds-grand-theatre
As a postscript, the publicity surrounding the previous problems at this show, combined with a pre-performance announcement and posters in the foyer asking the audience not to join in, worked possibly a little too well. At the end there is the obligatory song and dance number from the cast where people would normally get up and boogie, but tonight everyone’s bum stayed glued to their seats until specifically instructed to sing along and throw some shapes.
Tyke It To The Limit 