Gossip

Sharrock Directs Bodyguard, Headley Signed on to Star???

Editorial Staff
London's West End

Plans appear to be coming together for a West End musical adaptation of the 1992 Whitney Houston film The Bodyguard with the Daily Mail‘s Baz Bamigboye reporting Thea Sharrock has been signed on to direct.

Dispelling earlier rumours that X Factor winner and pop star Alexandra Burke may end up in the role of Rachel Marron – famously played by Houston on the big screen – Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Heather Headley will reportedly front the London production and took part in a recent New York reading.

Headley won Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her 2000 outing in the title role of Aida. Her other credits include originating the role of Nala in the Broadway production of The Lion King.

The Bodyguard, which marked Houston’s acting debut, centred on the relationship between music superstar Rachel Marron (Houston) and her bodyguard Frank Farmer (Costner), a former Secret Service agent who is hired to protect her from a stalker. The stage production is likely to feature additional music from the film as well as other songs from Houston’s back catalogue tied together with a book written by playwright Alex Dinelaris.

Producers David Ian and Michael Harrison reportedly hope to bring the screen-to-stage musical to the Adelphi Theatre next autumn. Bamigboye notes the theatre, which will play host to the National Theatre’s limited West End season of One Man, Two Guvnors from 21 November 2011 (previews from 8 November) to 25 February 2012, may well be in high demand.