She sings “I have nothing” but this incredible piece of theatre had everything....
To start with the theatre itself: This was my first visit to the Empire and I have to say they did not disappoint. The staff were all very courteous and could not do enough for you and coped extremely well with the thousands of people outside their door s, who were all there for the Hillsborough Commemoration Event taking place at St George's Hall across the road... This in itself was something to see... As we made our way into the theatre, the only thing of note, was that it was a tad dark and finding seats was not an easy thing to do... We did, however, like the fact that you could order from your seats by just waving a leaflet in the air – they took your order and delivered it straight to you... Novel idea (just take the crisps out of the equation please)...
Now, down to business – this was, from the very second it started, a fantastic show, (however I must mention that there were no warnings given for the gun shots and pyrotechnics used)...
The director, Thea Sharrock certainly knew what she wanted and achieved it... but then again, look who she had to work with.
Alexandra Burke was superb as leading lady, Rachel Marron... Burke’s vocals were amazing and she certainly put her own stamp on some very well loved songs topping all that off with the fact that, damn that girl can dance.. Wow... She looked great and acted well... (the only thing I have to say here, and this is not Burke’s fault but this is what happens when you cast a ‘star’ and especially a recording star – people are not able to remove the star from their concert environment and remember they are in musical theatre instead and therefore you get wolf whistles, excessive cheering during songs and the guy next to you singing every note of every song) However, Burke coped well with this as any professional should.
Frank Farmer, Rachel’s bodyguard and love interest was played well by Stuart Reid who showed his comedic side in the very well directed karaoke bar scene but for me lacked a little forcefulness that would go along with that kind of job. He had a fantastic chemistry with Burke which was apparent from the start.
Rachel’s son, Fletcher was played by Max Fincham – this young man is someone to watch out for... He was fantastic – clear diction, super vocals and amazing dancing. One day he will be big... (My date for the evening likened his talent to a young Michael Jackson). Rachel John played Nicki, the troubled sister of star Rachel Marron – an incredible performance from this young lady whose acting and vocals were second to none. Although John’s solo vocals were quite something, the highlight for me was the duet between Burke and John, ‘Run to you’ – so powerful...
Having played a ‘baddie’ several times, I love to see how other people portray them and this was no different... Matthew Stathers was frighteningly creepy as Rachel’s stalker playing him with enough menace to warrant gasps from members of the audience as he came into shot... Very well played.
All the above were accompanied by some very good performances from the rest of the cast, some superb company numbers, lots of extremely energetic dancing and copious amounts of ‘booty’ shaking.. The plot – well you can’t say much as it does well to keep to the film on the most part however , I do feel that two rather important bits were left out of the stage show (firstly, the scene between Tony Scibelli (Rachel’s security) played by Alex Andreas, and Frank Farmer that proves to Tony that Frank really does know what he is doing and talking about {the film shows that Tony and Frank didn’t get on to begin with, until that scene} and secondly, the scene where Nicki admits that she is the one who hired the ‘hit man/stalker’ and that as she has paid him in full, he won’t stop until he’s done what he should do). I feel that this should have been incorporated in the writing so this is not a criticism for this performance...
The set was fantastic, slick and used every angle of the stage... The lighting superb and their use of the ‘video’ wall was incredible... Technically, you could not fault this show and the stage & tech teams should be congratulated on such a smooth performance... So much more to mention but I fear I am going on too much, however, I will say costumes were excellent (especially Burke’s gold dress), choreography was superb and it’s the first time I can actually say the orchestra were not at all over powering – very well led by Tom Gearing. Tom, your team were a credit to you...If you only see once piece of theatre this year, I urge you to go and watch The Bodyguard.... I will certainly go again...
Enjoy the rest of your run guys, you certainly deserve the praise!
Reviewer: Hazel Bumby
Reviewed: 27th April, 2016