Theatre News

Woman who was 'singing badly' removed from The Bodyguard musical

The incident happened at the final performance of the hit musical in Nottingham

Alexandra Burke in The Bodyguard
Alexandra Burke in The Bodyguard
A woman who sang "loudly and badly" through a performance of The Bodyguard was removed from a theatre in Nottingham this weekend.

According to the BBC, the woman became aggressive when people asked her to be quiet and continued singing for about 20 minutes despite other audience members shouting at her to leave.

Some audience members said police were called, but Nottinghamshire Police said they could not find any record of it.

Alexandra Burke is currently starring in the musical as Rachel Marron, the character made famous by Whitney Houston in the film of the same name. The actor appeared undisturbed by the event, tweeting that it had been a "great show".

— Alexandra Burke (@alexandramusic) October 24, 2015

In the final performance of the hit musical, Sacha Gainard from Wymeswold in Leicestershire complained the atmosphere "felt more like a football match" than a trip to the theatre. "There was no way the cast could have missed the audience shouting at the woman.

"How they kept singing, and so beautifully, I don't know," he said.

"We were a few rows in front of the woman, who it sounds like was being told off for singing along loudly and badly.

"She was swearing and being quite aggressive to those who were trying to shush her. It rumbled on, and after every song, it seemed to bubble back up to enough of a level most of us on the second tier could hear her."

Mr Gainard said theatre staff removed her "after a good 20 minutes of her carrying on".

He had bought tickets for his parents as a Christmas present and they had driven up from Somerset for the show.

"It did ruin the first half for those of us on that tier, and not really the kind of atmosphere you expect at the theatre," Mr Gainard said.

The Bodyguard continues its UK tour and opens in Sheffield on 27 October.