The Bodyguard Theatre Review at New Wimbledon Theatre – Three Stars

The Bodyguard musical, adapted by Alexander Dinelaris from the hit 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, premiered in 2012 at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End. Since then, it has gone on to achieve international fame, with seasons in Utrecht, Cologne, Seoul, Australia, the US, Japan, and China, among other places. The show has seen multiple UK tours and was last seen in the West End in 2017. This year, a new tour of The Bodyguard is making its way around the UK and Ireland and visiting the New Wimbledon Theatre for one week only.

The story follows former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, as he is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker. Each expects to be in charge, but they don’t expect to fall in love. While the film portrays both Frank and Rachel as unlikable characters, Dinelaris’s musical puts Rachel in the forefront and expands on the characters, giving them more emotional depth and fleshing out the story. The musical features the movie soundtrack, including “One Moment in Time,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Run To You,” “I Have Nothing,” and “I Will Always Love You,” and uses Houston’s back catalogue to include favorites like “How Will I Know,” “Greatest Love Of All,” “Saving All My Love for You,” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

The cast of this new UK Tour is led by Grammy-nominated and former Pussycat Doll, Melody Thornton, as Rachel Marron and Emmerdale and Hollyoaks star Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer. Joining them are 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 as Ray Court. The supporting ensemble includes Alexandros Beshonges, Kayne Gordon, Jack Hardwick, Kalisha Johnson, James Lee Harris, Samantha Mbolekwa, Abbie Quinnen, Kellie Rhianne, Charlotte Scally, Yiota Theo, and Marco Venturini. The role of Rachel’s son Fletcher is shared by Kaylenn Aires Fonseca, Iesa Miller, Frankie Keita, and Reneo Kusi-Appauh.

Melody Thornton as Rachel Marron brings her pop vocals to Whitney’s iconic songs and makes the part her own as our Queen Of The Night. While Thornton gives a competent performance as Rachel, it’s hard not to compare her vocally to Whitney Houston, especially in a theatrical climate where we have some very strong jukebox musical performances. While Alexander Dinelaris’s book for the musical fleshes out Rachel’s character with more heart than the film, Thornton’s performance lacked emotional nuance, and as a result, the chemistry between her and Ayden Callaghan’s Frank seemed somewhat labored. Despite this, Callaghan gave a solid performance as our Bodyguard Frank Farmer. Callaghan’s ability to show strength and vulnerability simultaneously makes his Farmer identifiable and charming, and he brings the audience on his side immediately. With a powerful vocal performance, confident character work, and nuanced emotional depth, Emily-Mae as Rachel’s sister Nicki Marron was the standout performance of the evening. Emily-Mae’s renditions of “Saving All My Love for You” and “All At Once” were absolutely beautiful, and she gave an outstanding performance throughout.

While all elements of this production came together sufficiently, it felt somewhat dated. Slow transitions and constant scene changes behind a main curtain plagued the set design, while the costumes gave little wow factor and seemed in a constant battle with the modern age.