The Bodyguard At Theatre Royal, Nottingham Review

I was super excited to be provided with the chance to review one of my all time favourite films The Bodyguard in a musical theatre production at Nottingham Royal Theatre.  

I thought long and hard who to take along with me and I decided there was no one better to than my long term school friend of many years. Thinking about attending brought back memories for us both, of those days we used to sit of the couch watching the film numerous times over. We knew before we ever attended the musical performance had a lot to live up to. Therefore our expectations were high.

I read up a little before we attended to gauge what to expect. I became aware that the musical performance had already been a double sell out in both the UK and Ireland. It was now touring again for the third time. This alone told me that we were in for a great treat.

The Bodyguard was first preformed at the Adelphi on the Westend in 2012. Receiving rave reviews. With Grammy award winner Heather Headley playing Rachel Marron.  The Bodyguard continued to preform in the Westend for a further to years with switches in cast. Many powerful singers such as Beverley Knight and Alexandra Burke have stepped in the the role of Rachel Marron over the course of time. The tour continued to be strong touring the UK, Ireland and Monaco during 2015 and 2016. In 2016-2017 the Westend saw a rival of The Bodyguard and the tour then continued in strength touring UK, Ireland and Japan during 2018-2019.  Today the musical is on its third tour of UK and Ireland. The Musical is definitely an all favourite of many. The decade of tours along with the highly rated reviews speak volumes. 

Monday 3rd July 2023 arrived. My friend and I attended Nottingham Theatre Royal on the opening night of Bodyguard the Musical. There was a great vibe inside the theatre and it was busy with many here to watch. We took to our seats in anticipation. 

The performance started with and loud and abrupt gunshot which grabbed everyone’s attention. Then the next thing you see is Frank played by Ayden Callaghan (former star of Emmerdale and Hollyoaks)  struggling to protect someone from the gunshot then the lights fade. 

The opening number commenced with eye catching sexy males dancing on stage showing off their six packs. Then multi-platinum Grammy nominated Melody Thornton (playing Rachel Marron) joined the stage with her amazing energy,  powerful voice which filled the theatre. Her singing, dancing and presence set a remarkable atmosphere amongst the audience for the evening ahead. From the offset you knew you were in for a great evening. The theatre seem to be filled with joy. Looking around you could see the pleasure on everyone’s face with people swaying in there seats! 

The first few stage performances had great effects with fire blowing immediately in front of the stage which created a concert vibe got everyone. This was very well thought out, well choreographed and was a great opening to set the tone for the performance.

Following the high energy opening numbers things slowed down a bit and the story started evolve.  There were numerous key scenes from film acted out with American scents. The actors did a fantastic job you were able to spot the awkward moments between Rachel and Frank as well as being able to feel the chemistry. You soon became immersed in the emotion of Rachel and Frank struggling to cope with their burning desire for one another. Along the way there were of those well known top hit songs.

All of the hit songs were performed with strong note prefect vocals. Whitney is such a huge star and I did wonder just how anyone would be able to match her vocal range? However, Melody has an amazing powerhouse voice which sends tingles down your spine. She is the ideal one to step into Whitney’s shoes for the performance.  The ultimate iconic song ‘I will always love you’  was a knock out and everyone in the audience gave her a huge very well deserved cheer. 

One element I did notice is that Melody does her upmost to performance in the manner of Rachel Marron and you definitely can see that she has studied the original movie and taken notes. I particularly like the fact that there were certain phrases which Rachel said in the original which has been carried out to the musical. The musical is absolutely outstanding from the opening number to the very final number. 

My favourite scene which scared the life out of my friend and I as well as most of the audience was when Rachel’s stalker appeared out of the darkness to be stood behind the door in a very sudden beam of light. The sharp triangle ding added to the scary impact.  This followed by the very dramatic and emotional scene in which Nicki was stabbed by the frightening stalker. 

Nicki was played by Emily-Mae. She sang so with soul and as in the film displayed emotion within  acting abilities from her jealously, tearful exchanges and joy. 

Our evening was full with ups and downs and highs and lows. 

The evening was drawing to an end and before the final curtain closed the audience had the opportunity to dance and sing to the notorious well know song I wanna dance with somebody. 

We definitely has the most fantastic evening and we’re not disappointed. It is an amazing musical what gave full tribute to the film. It was that good we both would of happily watched it again and just like the film it would be difficult not to enjoy. The musical is five star plus. Get those tickets book for an amazing fun filled emotional night.

The show is on from Monday 3rd July 2023 until Saturday 8th July 2023

Tickets cost from £23.50

For more information or to book tickets please visit The Bodyguard, Theatre Royal, Nottingham (trch.co.uk)

Rating: 5/5