Posted 10 November 2012 - 01:45 AM
I saw the first preview from a very full Upper Circle. 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.
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.
2
Bamba, on 09 November 2012 - 11:13 PM, said:
