“The Bodyguard”
Nottingham Royal Concert Hall

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, 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” and of course, the song we associate with the film, “I Will Always Love You” plus so many more Whitney classics.

First off let me say that no one sings Whitney like Whitney, but both Alexandra Burke (Rachel Marron) and Micha Richardson (Nicki Marron) came very close, especially, may I say in the ballads. You can't help but get the tingles when Alexandra sang "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing" and "Run To You"

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

Benoit Marechal (Frank Farmer) is a very talented all rounder. He's a dancer, a singer ( don't let his version of "I Will Always Love You" fool you), a model and created a musical based on Charles Aznavour. In this musical, he is the ideal leading man, lusted after by both Rachel and Nikki Marron, charismatic to the last.

Phil Atkinson (The Stalker) brought the menace to the show, and I imagine made a few ladies' knees go a bit weak as well, especially from the reaction he got when he appeared topless on stage.

Fletcher Marron, Rachel's young son, absolutely stole the stage with his singing and especially his dancing. Throughout the tour there are six young actors who play this young man, and if they are all as talented as this young man on Wednesday night, I can see long and successful futures for them all.

Directed by Thea Sharrock this show is a massive success, the pace is well measured and the music and light cues are split second to give the maximum effect.

Lighting Design by Mark Henderson and Sound Design by Richard Brooker made this musical seem like a full on concert in parts with the light show. When the "jump" factor the lighting cues made you sit up and take notice, and the wonderful slow motion section was incredibly exciting, highlighting the danger that Rachel was in, being in close proximity to her stalker.

Choreographed by Karen Bruce and, as I'd previously seen this musical before, I knew I was in for a treat, because this is West End choreography at its' best. Full on energy from the ensemble as well as Alexandra and the rest of the cast.An absolute treat for dance fans.

Michael Riley was the Musical Director, creating all of those wonderful Whitney classics.

To be honest, the first song "Queen Of the Night" was swamped by the volume and I had trouble hearing the lyrics and the scripted section within the song, but after that, someone must have turned the volume down a bit. It was still loud but the mix was better. I was sat in the tier, so I can only imagine that the people in the stalls at the front may have left with their ears ringing. That said, the ballads were beautifully produced and balanced.

What really made this show so classy for me though was the whole staging of the show. Props and scenes that seemed to slide in and out, Stage sectioning to focus on the smaller scene while the quick changes were being done in the darkened and shielded part of the stage and also the three way closure of the scenes - the two from the sides of the stage and then another that lowered from the top of the stage to diminish the vision to a small square which then vanished. Difficult to explain but a fabulous way to bring closure to a scene.

I wasn't a big fan of the film, but I love this musical version and would not tire of seeing this on stage. Not only is it presented so well, but it features the music of one of the greatest female singers ever. I will never get to experience Whitney live, but through this musical, I think I got as close as I ever will.

“The Bodyguard” is at the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall until Saturday 22 June but if you’re paying to see Alexandra Burke you may want to check the performance dates as Alexandra is not performing in all the shows in Nottingham.