‘The Bodyguard’ has turned into a mega-hit of a musical, featuring the music of Whitney Houston, a
thrilling and engaging storyline. Plus, the greatest love of all… well kind of. 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. This jukebox musical is playing the Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 25th February 2023.
Melody Thornton is a phenomenal as Rachel Marron. Her voice is stronger than the actresses that have featured in this musical before her. She really does justice to the songs that many believed only Whitney could sing. The audience truly see the presence of Rachel Marron as a pop diva, however perhaps in terms of the acting performance their could be more fluidity as although there is some nuance featured, there is some comic cues and sass sadly lacking. This is a more troubled and sad Rachel than the quirky diva we’ve seen before. Perhaps further in the musical’s tour Melody will re-introduce those qualities to us.
Ayden Callaghan delivers a strait-laced and comedic interpretation of Frank Farmer. The intense figure is very much still prominent; however he is laced with a sweet comic nuance which opens the character to the audience.
Emily-Mae is incredible as Nicki Marron. Emily’s vocals are simply stunning, each number is performed flawlessly, and the portrayal Emily-Mae gives to Nicki breathes fresh air into the character. There’s less malice and more so a soul who is lost in the shadow of her sister’s fame. One of the highlights of Emily-Mae’s performance is her rendition of ‘Saving All My Love for You’, it is simply sublime. This is an actress to lookout for in future musical theatre productions.
Frankie Keita as Fletcher brings energy, innocence and youth into Rachel’s bright son.
James Groom as Sy Spector, John Macaulay as Bill Devaney, Graham Elwell as Tony Scibelli and Fergal
Coghlan as Ray Court, all do well in portraying the supporting characters of this musical with a hint of
comedy while also amplifying the thrill of the storyline.
The ensemble for this musical lap up all of the tricky choreography and radiate nothing but pure energy for each scene they feature in. The ensemble for this production are as follows; Alexandros Beshonges, Kayne Gordon, Jack Hardwick, James-Lee Haris (Swing/Dance Captain), Kalisha Johnson, Kellie Rhianne, Oliver Roll (Swing), Charlotte Scally, Emma Jane Smith, Yiota Theo (Swing/Dance Captain) & Marco Verturini (Swing).
Marios Nicolaides is terrifying as the stalker. The insidious and obsessed stalker of Rachel Marron is
portrayed in such a hauntingly militant way. The regiment in terms of movement really works well,
everything is so precise that you see an unhinged physicality to the stalker. Marios breathes fresh
villainy into this character.
Alexander Dinelaris’ book for ‘The Bodyguard’ does well in completing the impossible task of transposing a thriller to stage. You feel tense the moment the curtain shoots up (literally). However at points there is a lack of depth and character to the main players of this thriller. Thea Sharrock & Frank Thomson’s direction of this musical is contemporary, quick and tense, everything you want a thriller to be. With Karen Bruce’s choreography energising each musical number with slick movement.
Tim Hatley’s set and costume design also lifts this production by bringing glamour and pretty high budget to this thrilling production. Mark Henderson helps to amplify the mood and atmosphere of each scene and musical number with dazzling lighting design.
‘The Bodyguard’ is a triumph of a jukebox musical, which features a tense plot line, thrilling effects and musical numbers to die for.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Get tickets for ‘The Bodyguard’ here:
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-bodyguard/edinburgh-playhouse/
Theatre Scotland 
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