*Cast list correct to specific date including understudies*
Cast
Rachel Marron - Heather Headley
Frank Farmer - Lloyd Owen
Nicki Marron - Janet Kumah
The Stalker - James Wooldridge
Tony Scibelli - Nicolas Colicos
Sy Spector - Sean Chapman
Bill Devaney - Ray Shell
Herb Farmer - Mark McKerracher
Ray Court - Oliver Le Sueur
Rory - Gareth Andrews
Fletcher - (Not Specified) Michael Matias/Malaki Paul/Joshua-James Thomas
Ensemble
Jordan Darrell
Shanay Holmes
Holly James
Robert Jezek
Gil Kolirin
Nicholas Maude
Ashley-Jordan Packer
Dharmesh Patel
Lucinda Shaw
You'll all be pleased to know that this will be a rather short review as....I really really enjoyed it. There, I said it! So let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start).
I very nearly wet myself. Okay, so this sounds rather strange out of context, I know. But it is simply because the show has no overture or dimming of the lights to prepare you for the opening. Instead, the show started so abruptly making all the audience jump around a foot in the air and then laugh through the opening of the show. Not cool, guys. However, it worked at getting our attention. And, no, I won't tell you how the show started, you'll have to see it yourself.
The humour was spot on. I laughed as hard as I did the first time I saw 'Avenue Q' (obviously not all the way through) as all the comedy was so well timed and so well placed. The comic timing of Sean Chapman as Sy was particularly brilliant so that when he walked on stage you automatically knew the spirit of the scene just by his stance. The amount of innuendo was fantastic as well used in a way the entire audience would crack up including phrases like, "What's got into her?" - Nicki: "Her bodyguard" with the timing of the response absolutely perfect.
Casting. Just, woah. I was lucky enough (as told at the bus stop afterwards) to have Tony Award Winner Heather Headley playing the lead of Rachel Marron. Now, having seen her perform on the Olivier Awards this year it is safe to say I was less than impressed but seeing her this time round her presence filled the stage and her voice was like nothing I'd ever heard. Seriously impressive performance. We had the understudy for Nicki Marron, Janet Kumah, and if she was the understudy, God only knows what the main was like! Kumah was fantastic. The character was well understood, the voice was incredible and the chemistry between Kumah and Headley as sisters was believable. On the subject of understudies, James Wooldridge was a really convincing stalker (sounds awful, I know) and the sense of fear when he appeared on stage proves my point! Despite hardly speaking, he still managed to make an impression. Lloyd Owen, from reading his bio in the programme, should go without saying on his performance. On a comedy aspect and understanding of the character it was a job well done. Especially as before the finale, he was required to speak about Help For Heroes and he immediately said "Don't worry, I'm not going to sing again" referring to his earlier performance of I Will Always Love You. Priceless.
One negative point. Perhaps due to me never having seen the film, a lot of the plot points were never tied up including the motive of the stalker and what pulled him to Rachel Marron in particular.
Generals to conclude. The set was outstanding, the projections were well used although possibly overused at times and the soundtrack was to die for. Considering what an influential artist Whitney Houston was, it was better that this wasn't done as a standard jukebox as using 'The Bodyguard' meant it already had a plot and music to fit the story.
We will always love you, Whitney x
WOULD YOU WATCH THIS AGAIN: YES
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND: YES
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