The Bodyguard The Musical Review Sunderland Empire Theatre

The Bodyguard, the musical is back with a BANG. Quite literally. With a new cast and new stars, it certainly is a popular with the people of the North East.

Having grew up watching the The Bodyguard and being a 80’s child, I’m a lover of Whitney the queen. However, with The Bodyguard the musical, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

On arrival, the theatre was packed out with people you could tell were 80’s music lovers and clearly huge fans of the movie.

Based on the 1992 Oscar-nominated movie, starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. The Bodyguard had a world premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End in 2012, was nominated for 4 Olivier awards and has played to over 3.6 million people across 15 countries.

If you haven’t seen the movie, The Bodyguard is a romantic thriller musical about superstar singer Rachel Marron (played by Melody Thornton) and former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer (played by Ayden Callaghan). Frank Farmer is hired as Rachel’s bodyguard to protect her from an unknown stalker, who will stop at nothing to get to Rachel. From the start of their working relationship, they are constantly at war, each trying to be in charge… until Rachel finally realises Frank is just trying to do the best for her and her family. Oh and perhaps, the falling in love part helps her in relenting too. From start to finish, there is plenty to keep you on the edge of your seat.

The BodyGuard-The Cast

Former Pussycat doll Melody Thornton is an absolute class act in her role as Rachel Marron. Whitney Houston is a hard act to perfect, but boy did she do it. She had no difficulty in belting out the classics, including One Moment in Time, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and I Will Always Love You. You couldn’t help but sing along. It was quite emotional singing along to the Whitney classics. Remembering one of the best singers of all times and how much of a miss she is to the music industry now. Melody had hard shoes to fill but sang her socks off and stole the show.

Co-star Ayden Callaghan was a perfect fit for the Frank Farmer role. His manly stance certainly dominated the stage and his acting skills were great. He has ability to stay straight faced showed through his previous work as seen on many shows on our TV’s.

Also, She is an amazing dancer, not surprising giving her success in the famous pussycat dolls. Having Melody play the main part brought so much energy to the stage helping to lighten up the dark nature of the play.

Having watched the show, and LOVED it. I came straight back in from the show and put on the movie. I have to admit that it really does follow it. There are some shows that you sit there and think “that’s not right and that’s not right”. Having the two to compare in all in one night, I can safely say that this show is not one of them.

I really do recommend grabbing yourself some tickets and getting down there… and get your singing voices prepped. The show is running at Sunderland Empire until 18th of February 2023. Tickets are available from the box office or here (https://www.thebodyguardmusical.com/#tour-dates*)

*Booking and transaction fees may apply

Gifted tickets