Bang! The sound of a shotgun is heard while the house lights dim simultaneously. A very dramatic opening but one that captured the audiences attention immediately.
A very typical loud American showbiz style number begins with the immediate realisation that Rachel Marron wasn't played by Beverley Knight. I must admit this was a slight disappointment as had travelled from Sheffield with the expectation Beverley Knight was performing. Nevertheless Joelle Moses did a fantastic job with the opening number, her vocals were strong, brilliantly projected and her dance moves were on point.
Credit where credit is due has to go to the set designer, Tim Hatley, a superb, creative, innovative set design. The stage itself was smaller than I had expected for a west end theatre so I have to applaud Tim for managing to collate such ideas and portray them on stage. The scene transitions felt film like with many carefully moved backdrops, I'm almost certain there was anew one each scene. One that stood out for myself was when the stalker was writing a letter. We saw the stalker stage right almost mid air with many backdrops covering him so we only saw him writing a letter sat on a chair leaning on a table from a birds eye view. You have to see this to truly know what I am talking about but it was truly amazing. Much theatre today doesn't shock me, but OMG that certainly did.
Costumes throughout we're contemporary, modern and bright. The last musical number the costumes were very smart almost formalwear with a hint of glitz and glamour.
I am not the biggest fan of musicals as I prefer performances with less jazz hands but organically natural where we are able to see a thought process from the actors. However, watching The Bodyguard has made me more likely to give musicals a chance and spectate more often than usual. This didn't feel like a typical musical as the musical numbers seemed very much in context as oppose to breaking out in song every 2-5 minutes. I felt the songs were sung at appropriate times such as; concerts where Rachel Marron performed, as well as awards ceremonies and bars. There were musical numbers performed in house like settings. One that stood out for me was the gentle but powerful duet with both sisters; Rachel and Nicki Marron. The two singers together blew me away and was a truly beautiful moment and a wonderful end to Act 1.
Some amazing techniques used throughout the play which were very similar to whats used in film enhanced via editing software. This what makes theatre so real that such techniques can be transferred on stage without the fancy editing. A fight scene took place during one of Rachel's PA moments in a club and this was an exceptionally perfect piece of choreography and sheer excellence from sound. As we hear Rachel sing at her concert, the music slowly backspins and we see punches thrown in slow motion contrasted with the music turned back to its original speed and Rachel picking back up the musical notes. This gradually repeated itself until a full on brawl took place all in slow motion with guys bending over backwards into the famous Matrix move.
I have to congratulate Joelle Moses on her performance as Rachel Marron I couldn't fault any of it and so what if it wasn't Beverley Knight performing I still enjoyed The Bodyguard. I sincerely hope to see Joelle playing the main role in another west end play as think she has excelled herself and should no longer be an understudy. A full standing ovation from the theatre with each and everyone on their feet dancing to "Dance With Somebody" with Joelle hitting each and every note and dance move was a brilliant ending, with myself dancing out of theatre upon exiting the auditorium. I rarely give standing ovations as it has to absolutely perfect, but as soon as The Bodyguard ended I was instantly on my feet which has been my first standing ovation of the year so great stuff and thank you to all performers, cast and creatives.
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