Given that it took 20 years to adapt Lawrence Kasdan’s screenplay for the movie The Bodyguard into a stage show musical, many people wondered whether the result was going to live up to their memories of the movie – the big sound, the great songs, the razzamatazz of the showbiz world and the soft smouldering love which develops between Rachel and Frank on screen.
The musical version has/ had its Australian Premiere on Thursday 27th April at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, and I was lucky enough to attend a preview session earlier this week. I can assure you that the stage version lives up to the hype. All the razzle dazzle, the big sound, memorable songs, glamorous costuming, an imaginative stage setting, the lights, amazingly energetic dancing and the glitter and glamour that is the show biz world of superstar Rachel Marron. Plus the vulnerability of her as a woman (and a mother) who falls for the strength of character and no-nonsense bodyguard, who is hired to protect her from a threatening stalker.
Paulini Curuenavuli (yes, that Paulini, from the inaugural series of Australian Idol) certainly had the audience enthralled from her first big number “All at Once”. Her voice was powerful, note perfect, and she was able to carry off the requirements of all of the songs (she has an incredible five-octave vocal range). She moved with both grace and energy when required on stage and managed the fine nuance in her acting from the big stage star, Rachel Marron, to brash but vulnerable private woman and in her more down-to-earth role as 10-year-old Fletcher’s mum. Given that she is on stage and singing for much of the show, she demonstrates enormous stamina and sheer gutsiness in this role. It is also understandable that this role will be alternated with Emily Williams.
Kip Gamblin, who plays Frank Farmer, the Bodyguard, was more subtle in his acting, but still the man in charge, when it came to the safety and wellbeing of Rachel and her family. His acting talents don’t stretch much to singing (his karaoke singing in the bar is pretty awful, as it is meant to be) but as an actor who started out primarily as a dancer, he has got the right moves to make Rachel, and her sister, Nicki Marron (played by the very talented Prinnie Stevens) fall in love with him.
The low-key manner in which the stalker, played by Brendan Irving, was managed on stage with small spotlighted vignettes and projected images, reduces somewhat the sinister nature of his obsession with Rachel. The stage set was very ably managed, with sliding panels producing more intimate settings where needed and set changes being minimised, and a small but talented band provided excellent big sound accompaniment. Meanwhile, the unnecessarily (to me) loud sound effects such as sudden gunshots, plus the staging of some of the show scenes, complete with overly loud music, shooting fires, smoke and dazzling lights which play onto the first 20 or so rows of the audience, added to the adrenalin buzz of attending live theatre.
Of course, the songs are familiar and the main focus of the show– Greatest Love of All, I’m Every Woman, Saving All My Love, One Moment in Time, I Will Always Love You, and the very eclectic audience (from teens and twenties to the middle aged plus us older folk) often found ourselves tapping our feet. At the close of the show, when the whole cast does a big number dancing and singing after the curtain calls, the whole audience was up on their feet joining in with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”.
The Bodyguard is playing now at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney before playing at the Lyric Theatre, Brisbane from 19 July, then the Regent Theatre, Melbourne from 24 August. Certainly a show worth going to see if you like the razzamatazz of the big stage musical.