By Conor O’Neill
It’s a balmy oul night; summer hasn’t let go, yet autumn is creeping in. A full house is here and the punters are after one thing only: the tunes of the late and great Whitney Houston. I’m more than aware that my XY chromosomes make me one of the minority, but Whitney’s tunes stand the test of time, snarl at gender, and crosses all boundaries set in its way. In short, we’re all equal here. And everyone of us here is in for a song-drenched good time.
We’ve all saw the movie, heck some of us even bought the soundtrack. Whitney Houston is as ubiquitous to the early 1990s as trouble on our streets, salmonella, Spitting Image, the AIDS crisis and a collapsing economy. We all did fine though, didn’t we?
I took almost a half of book of notes last night, but I don’t need to refer to them. Why? It’s all bedded down in memory. From the off The Bodyguard is a well produced, directed and acted musical. Musical being the operative noun is question. There are no fancy thrills, no deep plot, nor subplots to busy the mind; just simple, upfront soul music, rhythm and attitude.
Much has changed since the film premiered in 1992. Things that were the norm then have been overshadowed by changes in society. Some for the better, some for the ailment of today’s world. Maybe I’m reading too much into a West End travelling show; it is a time to celebrate a great voice, a woman who had her troubles, banging tunes and timeless class.
Emily Williams cuts a fine Whitney. The band, sat deep in the orchestra pit strum, lung and beat their way into posterity. Not a note is dropped, nor a beat missed. We’ve come to expect this from travelling, well financed shows. You’re expecting me to continue with congratulatory superlatives from start to finish, aren’t you?
But The Bodyguard, for all its brilliant tunes is not the complete musical. You’ll go blind looking for a strong plot; you’ll scratch your head at some of the decisions made by screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan’s take on this. The Bodyguard in short is a vehicle for some of Houston’s best tunes. Yes, there is a plot of sorts. As thin as veneer, but all the more sexy for it. Ayden Callaghan plays a mean Mr B.Guard and for the cutes we have Fletcher, Rachel’s son. You’ll melt when you see him.
What’s really on show is Whitney Houston’s breath-taking back catalogue: All The Man I Need, I’m Every Woman, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Run To You, Saving All My Love, the whole heap and more.
Cracking backing vocals meets an orchestra at the top of its game. Not much is needed. If you’re after moody, topical theatre, take yourself off to the MAC or the Lyric. If topper-most of the popper-most big band classics is what you’re after, The Bodyguard is the night for you.
The Bodyguard runs at the Grand Opera House up to and including Saturday September 30th, 2023. For booking info visit http://www.goh.co.uk or simply ring the box office on 02890 241919.
ENDS
CultureCrush NI 