Last night one of writers here at CelebMix was lucky enough to attend the press night for “The Bodyguard musical” starring Alexandra Burke at The Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The Bodyguard the musical is a stage adaptation of the much loved film starring the late Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.
The stage version sees X Factor alumni and winner Alexandra Burke take on the lead role of Rachel Marron in her musical theatre début.
The role of Frank Famer is taken on by Stuart Reid. Stuart is a stage veteran and has starred in many productions such as Aladdin,Guys and Dolls,Grease and Mama Mia.
The story centres around world famous superstar Rachel Marron who is at the height of her success and is nominated for an Oscar. Rachel appears to have an unknown stalker who has a nasty habit of sending her letters and sneaking in to her dressing room and stealing her costumes. Naturally her team want to protect her so they hire Ex Secret Service agent Frank Farmer to protect her and her ten year old son Fletcher. Rachel and Frank both like to be in charge and constantly argue, what they don’t expect is to fall in love.
The musical remains faithful to the movie. The cast are all great in the roles which they play. Alexandra makes a very convincing Rachel,particularly in the scenes in which Rachel is angrily taking on Frank. Alexandra comes in to her own when singing. Her vocals throughout the whole show are fantastic, you often forget you are watching theatre show and feel as if you are watching Rachel put on a concert. You wouldn’t know that this was Alexandra Burkes first musical theatre début from the performance she puts on, you’d think she had been doing it for many years.
Melissa James who plays the role of Nicki Marron, Rachel’s very much over shadowed sister,is very well cast and her and Alexandra pull off a very believable sibling relationship.
Stuart Reid has great chemistry with both Alexandra and Melissa and is a delight to watch as Frank.
The stand out moment is of course Rachel belting out the iconic “I Will Always Love You.” the performance was sensational and left me with goosebumps.
The show is fantastic from start to finish. It has all the Whitney Houston songs that everyone knows and loves. The story keeps you gripped and you cannot take your eyes off the stage. From the shock opening to the finale which will leave you wanting to dance in the aisles. The costumes and sets were designed by Tim Hatley and they are exquisite and so detailed. And the cast were sensational and expertly cast by Beth Eden. This production is truly a delight to watch.
Alexandra Burke is not scheduled to perform at all performances. midweek and Saturday matinees the role of Rachel Marron is played by Zoe Birkett who at the age of 16 came in the final four on the UK’s Pop Idol. She has since starred in Thriller Live and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert to name just a few of her theatre credits.
For tickets and more info on the show click here.
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