The Bodyguard At Bournemouth Pavillion Theatre Review

Reviewed by Anita Connor

We had tickets to go to this musical on Tuesday 8th August.

Car parking in Bournemouth during the summer months is expensive which affects both tourists and locals. The nearest car parks to the theatre are Pavilion and Westover Gardens. The costs in the summer are as follows: up to 3 hours £9.90 and up to 4 hours £13.20. We parked at the Winter Gardens car park which was £4.20 for up to 3 hours and £5.20 for up to 4 hours and is a 10-minute walk through the gardens to the theatre.

Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre is an art deco concert hall which opened in 1929 so it is nearly 100 years old. The seats are quite small with limited leg room. There seemed to be an adequate number of toilets and they were still clean at the end of the performance. Refreshments were available in the bar and in a little café, hidden away under the stairs.

It states on the website that this production is suitable for age 10 years and above. There is a warning that pyrotechnics, theatrical fire, loud sound effects including gunshots, and lighting effects are to be expected. Nobody in the audience was expecting gunfire at the beginning of the performance!

The show ran from 7.30 to about 8.30 and there was an interval of about 20 minutes. The show finished at approximately 9.50.

The Bodyguard musical has won many awards and received acclaimed reviews in past productions. In this show, Zoe Birkett (from Moulin Rouge and the Great British Bake Off Musical) plays the role of Rachel Marron and Ayden Callaghan (from Emmerdale and Hollyoaks) plays the role of Frank Farmer. Rachel is a famous singer, and she hires Frank, an ex-secret service agent, to be her bodyguard to protect her and her son from an unknown stalker. They both expect to be the one in charge of the situation, but they do not expect to fall in love with each other.

Rachel is obviously the star of the show and Zoe had a very powerful and beautiful voice which conveyed the emotion of the songs she was singing. Her 10 year old son, Fletcher, was played by Rio Appadu – his singing and dancing were admired by the audience and apparently it was his stage debut. The supporting singers were good, and their dancing was very energetic and acrobatic.

There are many of Whitney Houston’s well-known songs in this show. They include One Moment in Time, Run to You, Queen of the Night, I Have Nothing, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and the iconic I Will Always Love You.

The show held the audience’s attention throughout, and you could have heard a pin drop during the singing of “I Will Always Love You”. At the end of the performance, the audience were up on their feet, singing and dancing along to “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. It was a brilliant show, which I recommend people going to see.

The Pavilion Theatre is in Westover Road, Bournemouth, BH21 2BU.

This production runs from 7th – 12th August.

Tickets range from £24.25 – £58.25 with a £5 reduction for seniors apart from off the premium tickets. There is an optional ticket protection scheme for £2.85 and a transaction fee of £3.

Rating: 5/5.

For more information or to book tickets please visit The Bodyguard – The Musical | Bournemouth Pavilion | Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre