Start your night off with a bang..literally! The international, award-winning smash-hit musical The
Bodyguard is back! Starring Pussycat Doll, and multi-platinum Grammy nominated Melody Thornton* as
Rachel Marron and Ayden Callaghan (Emmerdale, Hollyoaks) as Frank Farmer. Former Secret Service
agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown
stalker. Each expects to be in charge–what they don’t expect is to fall in love.
Melody Thornton starring as Rachel Marron is an absolute phenomenon. Thornton’s vocal range
stretches perfectly to the all time Whitney Houston classics. Taking on the hits of such an established
artist is never an easy feat especially when the audiences have such high expectations – Thornton shares
Houston’s ability to go from her lower register to her highest seamlessly. Her use of riffs allow her to climb
the scales almost effortlessly. Thornton portrays a wonderful vulnerability within her character
relationships, altering her guard between each character, everyone she conversed with got a different
version of Rachel which brought a real authenticity to the role. Her energy throughout the show is
impeccable and the stardom you witness on stage is that of a real world class performer.
Ayden Callaghan as Frank Farmer is a real strong and silent type. Callaghan does a fantastic job of using
subtle moments to bring humour to what is a somewhat stiffly written character. Callaghan portrays his
character’s need to protect almost instinctively, animalistically built into his core. Callaghans more
vulnerable moments are still played in a very old fashioned masculine way – to share his feelings is like
pulling out teeth; this brings more depth to these moments as you feel let in on something so personal
that you shouldn’t be hearing it. The romantic relationship between Farmer and Marron takes some time
to build due to the nature of this character and the writing – their could be more passion and romanticism
around their relationship slightly earlier than what is currently being portrayed.
Emily-Mae as Nicki Marron adds such complexity to the story. The character relationship between Nicki
and Rachel is one of the most focal points of the story bringing an unbreakable sisterly bond, with more
than a few subtle cracks in the foundation of their relationship. Emily-Mae has a softer tone to her voice
which contrasts to her stage sister’s powerhouse vocal a ‘stronger’ sound. Emily-Maes rendition of Saving
All My Love For You is beautiful. From an acting standpoint one of Mae’s best on stage relationships was
that with her nephew Fletcher, there was such an innocence and playfulness in their interactions on
stage.
James Groom as Sy Spector had fantastic energy, however, due to the nature of his character his
presence on stage was almost dreaded. Harmless as the character may be, the typical, money hungry
agent is an all too familiar character on screen and stage. Groom played a wonderful depiction of this
trope as we know it and had a well rounded character. He played the characters mistimed interjections
and missed social cues well in a humorous way. Due to the delivery of some of the lines, jokes went over
the audience’s head or did not land, however, this is due to the factual, business-like manner in which
they were delivered as the lines which did well were more emotive.
John MacAulay as Bill Devaney had such a warm tone to their character. Their presence on stage was
welcoming, despite being played as quite a stern character Bill had a father like role. MacAulay allowed
their to be a tenderness to the character which brought more interest to his character on stage. Graham
Elwell as Tony Scibelli had a great character arc which ultimately made him more likable as the show
continued. Elwell used smart creative choices to prevent Tony from becoming at all dull or uninteresting.
Fergal Coghlan as Ray Court played his role well in creating tension to the storyline, he had a real
authoritative role which gave off the impression of real prior training perhaps viewing his character as ex
forces. The portrayal of this character allowed the tension to build and insight real fear for Rachel and
Frank Farmer.
Marios Nicolaides as the stalker instilled real fear into the audience. His somewhat subtle portrayal of the
stalker was eerie. His performance is one of the best I have seen in terms of creating that real fear in
audiences, his physical movement was calculated. Each movement he made seemed intentional which
brought a real life uneasiness for the viewer.
Kaylenn Aires Fonseca was a joy to watch. Fonseca brought a lovely innocence, playfulness and fun to
the show. The presence of this young performer on stage really spoke to the audience in the need to
protect our children and the driving force behind the motivations of Rachel Marron. Fonseca is a young
star to watch as his talent shone through making him a stand out in this wonderful performance.
The ensemble as a whole were incredibly impressive, their energy was fantastic throughout the
performance. This show hosted some of the most creative ensemble work in terms of acting, a
masterclass which created real stories within the world of the play. There were times the audience were
following the storylines behind the scenes on some of the less important parts of dialogue between the
main cast – truly impressive, hilarious work by the ensemble which really adds to this production.
Directors Mark Hedges and Thea Sharrock have created a wonderful show. The sinister moments of the
production really hit home and insight fear which is such a difficult task in such large theatre spaces. The
use of screens and projections of the ‘stalker’ create a real documentary-esque feel to the performance
before the main action begins. Our first glimpse of the stalker is topless and ripped, this holds up a mirror
to society as prolific serial killers are being romanticized and portrayed as attractive. Despite all the
sinister moments working well, there’s a lovely balance of childlike innocence, protection and
lightheartedness to the performance.
Tim Hatley is such a visionary in his use of set and costume design for this production. The use of the
curtains and drapes to create different shapes of the rooms within the mansion is extraordinary. The lodge
in which they reside as Frank Farmers house is exactly as the audience would imagine, however, the
lodge has a classiness to it despite its middle of nowhere rough quirk. The set is cleverly designed to
create performance spaces with ease. Clare Freeman as Head of Wardrobe in this production brings
Hatleys vision to life extremely well using costumes to add wow factor to the performance aspects of the
show and more subtle home/casual wear in their more vulnerable moments. Mark Henderson’s lighting
design also added to Hatley’s vision like a perfect pairing, one of the most creative uses of lighting was
the portrayal of windows using a grid like light which was beautifully simulated.
Sam Hall and Karen Bruce bring all the fun to Houston’s hits. Houston’s music portrays her own journey in
its own way. Houston would sing what she knew and as we followed her journey we see her youthfulness,
her heartbreak and her journey into motherhood. The music brought so much to the production as it is
smash hit after smash hit portrayed wonderfully. The choreography for Rachel Marron was kept relatively
subtle to allow her vocals to shine, however, the ensemble’s choreography more than exceeded my
expectations bringing lifts and technical skills to heighten moments around Marron to give added wow
factor.
Overall The Bodyguard is an absolute must-see show. The performances and creative decisions in this
production will leave you on the edge of your seat yearning for more. The use of the projections,
almost like a movie montage near the end of the performance may be interpreted as somewhat cheesy,
however, given this production’s screen history I thought it was near perfect. An excellent story line, that
gives wonderful life to the late Whitney Houston’s smash hits, performed to a wonderfully high standard.
Get your tickets for the tour below:
Theatre Scotland 
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