Bodyguard thoughts?

[sparepart973]

Did anyone see it last night? Any thoughts?

[ClapYo'Hands]

I will add more to this later, but it was a very successful first preview in terms of running the show. Only 2 or 3 blackouts a little bit longer than usual and a couple of visible torches changing sets but apart from that, it ran well, but Thea Sharrock gave a first preview speech at the beginning just in case!

However, running smoothly or not, make no mistake that The Bodyguard is simply a terrible musical.

[Deena Jones]

OUCH! Can't wait to hear more!!!!

[songanddanceman2]

Bring on the review

[Phantom of London]

It would be a bit ironic if this run longer than the imperfect 'Ghost', but much loved, here anyway, I cannot see any reason why this show would have more favourable selling points than Ghost?

I have little interest in seeing 'The Bodyguard', except for seeing Heather Headley, I look forward to reading about the demise of this musical.

[AnythingGoes23]

It wil bel different to Ghost as the producers are different, the producers on Ghost made awful choices that caused the show fall apart so quickly.

To say you look forward to the demise is a little harsh to the least, especially as its one day in!

[MusicalBoy]

^ Actually his comments were much harsher when it was months away from beginning previews, to my recollection he referred to the show as an abortion.

[Princeton Returns]

the bodyguard has a much stronger selling point as a musical. the movie already featured songs by whitney houston, ghost had no music as a movie and then added a forgettable (in many peoples view) score. Personally i thought Ghost was pretty bad so Bodyguard doesnt have far to go to improve on that


Funny most things ive read on social networking sites and wos has been positive so will be interesting in claps review.

[Phantom of London]

You are absolutely correct, I did describe both 'Viva Forever' and 'The Bodyguard' as abortions a few months ago and don't have any interest in the former and only a little for the later, only for Heather as mentioned.

Ghost did have that famous unchained melody at the same time as the famous potter wheel scene, which should of catapulted the musical as the ideal replacement for Dirty Dancing as the next hen party musical. Ghost was cleverly put together and had some jaw dropping illusions, ths score was fairly good except it was over reliant on ballads.

I can not see The Bodyguard having the same appeal, however it is based on a famous singer, but has a big theatre to fill, I give it 9 months.

[sparepart973]

@PhantomofLodon, and I look forward to read about your demise.

[Younger Brother]

"I look forward to reading about the demise of this musical"
Aren't you a treat?

[*Alice*]

I saw it tonight, it's a mess. There were technical difficulties and a lot of issues with mics and sound levels, but even ignoring that, I thought it was pretty awful.

The set is made up of sets of huge metal/wood panels that move across the stage horizontally and vertically. These take up a good chunk of the stage in every scene, creating a strange framed set that makes you wonder if you're watching some kind of movie inside a movie or something. These panels move loudly and very, very slowly, so there are large pauses between every scene change, there's a scene change every couple of minutes, so this really ruins the entire show. They also move randomly during scenes which is really distracting, and adds to the confusing, 'where the hell are we meant to be now?' effect.

No character or part of the story is fully developed or explained, so unless you watched the movie last week, most of the time you're either confused or bored. The show randomly jumps from one scene to the next throughout, after big pauses, without making things clear or building relationships between the characters. They could have killed them all at the end and I wouldn't have cared! The book needs a massive re-write to try to fix this. The cast are all very talented, but they have so little to work with, they can't really succeed.

Sadly, as the set very obviously cost millions, there's no way they're going to chuck the whole thing out, which imo is what is most needed right now!

[GusS]

'...They could have killed them all at the end and I wouldn't have cared! ..."

That would be an interesting ending!!!

[mallardo]

The sets all worked perfectly tonight. It is, in fact, very simply and very well staged by Thea Sharrock. For the most part nothing gets in the way of the story. Unfortunately (IMO) projections and film sequences are used at two key moments which temporarily take us out of the show but, that aside, I thought it all hung together.

It's not a story that cries out for musicalization. Of the 15 songs, 11 are justified by being performances: in a theatre, a club, a recording studio, a rehearsal room, a karaoke bar, etc. Only 4 songs emerge from the drama itself and 2 of those become performances. So in many ways it's a play with a lot of music and dancing.

The book generally works - the problem moments all involve the Stalker and I don't know what they can do about him. Otherwise, the scenes play, the dialogue is good. And the songs, of course, are a known quantity.

Heather Headley, as Rachel, is sensational - no other word for her. What a voice!!! She commands the stage at all times. The audience could not get enough of her. But kudos as well to Lloyd Owen, who gets the stoic - and basically non-singing - Frank Farmer just right. He's a plausible romantic interest for Headley and carries his weight in all their scenes together. Also Debbie Kurup as Nikki, the sister - a great voice and a strong presence throughout. The supporting cast are all excellent.

While the narrative is clunky at times - the relationship shift from I-hate-you to I-love-you is abrupt, to say the least - both acts end BIG. The show's finale is especially strong. The crowd was literally screaming at the final curtain and all through the production number bows.

It's not art but it is entertainment. I think word of mouth will be VERY good for this - whatever the critics say.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Positives first: Queen of the Night is a great opening number. Yes, OK, it's one of Rachel's "performances" which is often seen as a cop out but it's one of the most effective numbers in the show. Of course this is helped by the fact that it's being performed by Heather Headley who is, admittedly, astoundingly good. Her vocals are great, even if not all of the songs are in the same keys as they were originally. Her acting is also good, given what she has to work with.

Which brings me on to the terrible book. Not only are songs shoe-horned in, the dialogue itself is just plain crap. I have never seen the movie, so I don't know if it's lifted straight from there. Some of the scenarios are just plain weird. I didn't believe for one minute that Frank Farmer is the kind of guy who would get up in a karaoke bar and give us a tune. The ending is another unbelievable moment. It's almost like : "I've been shot. I gotta go." "OK." "See ya." "AND IIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOVEEE YOU." It just sort of stops dead. And then after the customary leaping-to-the-feet of the audience for the duration of the bows, they proceed to give a rendition of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" when I all I really wanted to do was leave.

Yeah. Nonsense.

The set is one of the most garish things I've ever seen, which is something of an upset after Tim Hatley's wonderful design for Betty Blue Eyes. As mentioned above they are loud and cumbersome and not only is it difficult to decipher where some scenes are set, we get the idea that Rachel Marron must live in a house made entirely out of curtains. The main set in Act Two is wonderful and comes out of nowhere (if you've seen the film I'm sure you can guess what it is) and the scenes based around there are probably the best in the show, with real tension being created. But it soon goes back downhill.

As mentioned above, the songs barely function as musical numbers. As such, this show is not really a musical. "Run To You" is the single effective song in Act I, likewise with "I Will Always Love You" in Act II, though the latter seems to come out of nowhere and was not nearly as emotional and engaging as it should have been.

The audience was terrible, but I suppose you can expect that. After applause for every key change and high note, The Bodyguard just feels like some kind of Whitney-Houston-X-Factor Crapfest. Even the little boy is applauded as if he were overcoming the death of his grandmother to audition for Britain's Got Talent. It has now got the point where audiences will applaud anything that they are familiar with just because they are familiar with it. They'll always give standing ovations and avoid anything new or interesting.

Some of the supporting performances are good (from the likes of Debbie Kurup and Ray Shell) but the characters are so 1 dimensional, they are hardly memorable.

I suppose the closest thing to accurately compare The Bodyguard with is GHOST. GHOST, however, is like West Side Story in comparison. The Bodyguard presented a great opportunity for a brilliant dramatic musical with a great score (which is, in my opinion, something GHOST achieved) but as such is basically a Whitney Houston tribute show. And one that I don't think will be cluttering up The Strand for any longer than 2 years.

[Jonwo]

I think this is going to slaughtered by the critics but it'll do a year at least.

[mallardo]

So, Clap, the audience was terrible because they enjoyed the show and you didn't? Give me a break.

And you're the guy who thought Love Never Dies was a masterpiece.

[ClapYo'Hands]

"So, Clap, the audience was terrible because they enjoyed the show and you didn't? Give me a break."

Uh, no, the audience was terrible because they spoke, sang, texted and even filmed their way through the entire show.

"And you're the guy who thought Love Never Dies was a masterpiece."

And its return to The Adelphi would be very much welcome right now!

[Princeton Returns]

it seems to be having similar criticisms thrown at it as lnd (book, set, great .cast with little to work with)

[Tag]

What is the big act 2 set piece??

[ClapYo'Hands]

*Possible spoiler*

Frank's childhood home which is pretty much a full size house which then revolves to reveal the interior.

[MaryJT58]

I saw the Bodyguard last night and I completely agree that the audience were VILE.

Pre-show musings included "OMG SO are we like gonna see the film?" and (before curtain up) "Umm..how am I supposed to see with the curtain in the way?" The delights of the Upper Circle!

The show itself was OKAY however I was shocked at the amount director Thea Sharrock relied on the use of projections. If you are going to transform an iconic film into a STAGE production then make sure you actually use the STAGE and don't revert back to FILM! SPOILER...but A LOT of scenes were projected. Totally unnecessary.


SPOILER:

http://www.musicalheaven.com/b/the-bodyguard/#

This site contains the song list of the show... I can confirm the truth in the encore number being 'I wanna Dance with Somebody', which has absolutely no relevance to the show and appears more like a Whitney tribute
Bpody Guard musical spoiler

[Scripps2]

"Even the little boy is applauded as if he were overcoming the death of his grandmother to audition for Britain's Got Talent."

Thank you Clap.

That gives me the full measure of the demographic this show is aimed at and consequently what it will be like.

Since I'm not in that demographic I shan't be wasting money on a ticket.

[Holster2]

I am heading overseas next week for a couple days and catching this while I'm there. Now I wish I hadn't purchased the tickets. Whoops. I should have known better.

[Tom_sthlm]

I just came back from The Bodyguard. After reading the comments here I was prepared for the worst but I did have a rather pleasant evening.

Heather Headley is sensational and she really carries the show. She is actually the one of the few actors on stage who sings. And that is where, for me, the weakest point of this show is... it is not really a musical. It is rather a tribute to Whitney Houston with her songs appearing in some scenes. Therefore I would actually call it a play with some musical numbers. You could easily remove all the sings and still have a 'decent' story. Scanning through the programme, I noticed that most principles have a theatre background and not a musical background.

I have read some complaints about the set design. I actually quite liked it and it is functional. There were no problems tonight and I did not notice any disturbing noises during scene changes (I did have a seat in the back of the stalls though).

What got me most annoyed was the audience... as a few others have written already... it does seem that you are watching X factor with people shouting, whistling, singing, dancing, ... Not really the kind of public I am used to being part of when going to theatre.

Is The Bodyguard a masterpiece? No. Will it get good reviews? Do not think so. Is it an entertaining night out? Yes. Will it last? I would give it 1-2 years, just because everybody knows the movie.