"The Bodyguard"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

I’m sure that there aren’t many people who have not seen the film of the same name which starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, it's been on the TV enough times, but the story is basically the same.

Former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker. Each expects to be in charge – what they don’t expect is to fall in love.

The musical is packed with great Whitney Houston songs like “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, “The Greatest Love Of All”, “Queen Of the Night”, “One Moment In Time”, “So Emotional”, “Saving All My Love For You”, "Run To You" and of course, the song we associate with the film, “I Will Always Love You” plus so many more Whitney classics.

I saw this show the last time it came to Nottingham. It’s a cross between a big West End musical – which it is – and a concert, so this show should keep musical theatre devotees as well as fans of both Whitney and Melody Thornton of the Pussycat Dolls very happy.

What some people will mistakenly do is compare Melody to Whitney, and while no one has a voice and range that Whitney had, you must remember that the character both played is Rachel Marron; not Melody playing Whitney playing Rachel 

Melody Thornton has one belter of a voice and can really perform these songs. With her experience of being in a band, she knows how to sing, perform and dance without looking as if she needs an oxygen tent. Let's face it, you can tell by looking at Melody that the girl keeps herself fit! Whitney's dance tracks require great energy, and those ballads also require the energy to control those wonderful long, and high notes. Melody smashed the role. It's just a shame that the Pussycat Dolls didn't feature her vocals more than they did.

Frank is played by Ayden Callaghan, who I can actually remember from "Emmerdale" from the early noughties. Here, as Frank, he is powerful, strong and unflinching, and obviously a big hit with the females, and possibly some of the men in the audience tonight.

Emily-Mae plays Nicki Marron, Rachel's supportive, and covertly jealous sister. Her voice is just as good as Thornton's and when they sing together it's spine tingling. 

The Stalker is played by Marios Nicolaides. This character is really creepy, especially when he suddenly appears in Act Two. I overheard a woman behind me in the interval complement his physical appearance and stated that "he could stalk her any time"! Poor man being objectified like that! I'm sure that no male in the audience was thinking the equivalent about Melody Thornton. In true panto style he was booed at the final bows; he did not look at all hurt by this response. In all seriousness, he brought a suitable feeling of unease to the show.

Rachel's young son, Fletcher tonight was played by two of the four young actors. In Act One we saw Ryo Appadu in his professional debut. It now never surprises me to see just how good and natural these young actors are. He has a cracking voice as well; he sang part of "How Will I Know" and has great rhythm as we saw in his choreographed section. 

In Act two we were advised that this role would be played by Manesseh Mapira, who delivered an equally professional performance in all fields.

I must also mention James Groom who played Sy Spector, Rachel's publicist. With Sy you get injections of humour; wonderfully camp and fun to watch.

As part of this show is concert focused, the choreography is top quality and the co choreographers, Karen Bruce and Frank Thompson really brought the excitement with these routines. The routines showcased both male and female dance groups brilliantly; I am sure I heard the sound of a middle-aged woman salivating behind me while transfixing her eyes on the almost topless men. 

The set is gorgeous, especially Rachel's home, very classy, and then there are the concert settings which, being set in the U.S. are very sparkly and glamorous.

The costumes, as you'd expect for a character originated by Whitney Houston's movie character are incredibly classy as well as eye catching, reflecting the lighting like an all singing, all dancing group of mirror balls. Both set and costume designs are by Tim Hatley.

Co-Directed by Thea Sharrock and Frank Thompson, they know how to make an audience jump out of their skin, as well as build tension. The slow-motion sections were timed perfectly and looked cinematic. There was no messing about with the scene changes, making sure that every second was filled. Act One ended and I, even though I knew what was coming in the second act, couldn't wait for act two to start; I'd have happily forgone the interval.

I love the film and I also love this show, it has everything you need. it's a thriller, it's a musical, it has exciting choreography, it has eye-candy for the men as well as the women. And the soundtrack includes such quality music, and you know every song as well.

This, like the film, is one musical that I could watch over and over and over again.

Despite the advisory warning at the start not to sing during the performance, one man decided that he wanted to try and match Melody's vocals in the ending of "I Will Always Love You" - you poor sad individual, get yourself to a karaoke bar if you want to sound like a scalded cat. 

"The Bodyguard" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 8 July.