REVIEW: The Bodyguard Bristol Hippodrome
The Bodyguard Bristol Hippodrome Review:
27/03/2019 at 19.30pm
It was an explosive start to The Bodyguard, at The Bristol Hippodrome, with a hail of bullets grabbing the audience’s attention from the start.
The nineties’ nostalgia piece is based on the ’92 Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston thriller romance, though not a slave to it.
Clever set design by Tim Hatley alongside direction from Thea Sharrock, focused the audience’s attention in all the right places. It created clear shots and a cinematic effect. Mark Henderson’s pop concert lighting was exceptional.
Alexandra Burke reprises her role as high maintenance pop star Rachel Marron. She shows us her superstar qualities from the flame filled banging version of Queen of the Night to the iconic I will Always Love You.
It would be easy to think this is a cynical piece of stunt casting, but Alexandra is the business, with a cracking, well-rounded performance from start to finish.
Benoît Maréchal was a brooding presence on stage as the laconic bodyguard Frank Farmer.
The cast as a whole was energetic, with brilliant backing dancers filling the big numbers. The best was saved for last with I Wanna Dance With Somebody, allowing the entire cast to let loose and show what they can really do.
With the show as a whole, I concluded that you can either frustrate yourself at the lack of complexities in the book, or just enjoy it as a wine and popcorn piece of theatre.
Dramatic moments felt clunky and iconic moments made people laugh when they shouldn’t have done. Most of the supporting characters felt a little two dimensional, the fault of the book rather than the acting.
Despite best efforts, I felt it would have been nice to have more time and space for both Farmer and Marron to build a simmering relationship.
However, an enthusiastic standing ovation proved the show was a real crowd-pleaser. The lady next to me was in her element singing along and playing a Where’s Wally version of The Stalker, who aesthetically she apparently found extremely pleasing.
The Bodyguard The Musical is at The Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 06 April 2019: atgtickets.com/Bristol
For more information about the UK tour, visit:https://thebodyguardmusical.com/
