The Bodyguard – The Musical
Newcastle Theatre Royal – 27th July 2026
Review by Stephen Stokoe
There have been a number of movie to stage adaptations in recent years including Dirty Dancing, Ghost, and this one which returns to the north east this week at Newcastle’s iconic Theatre Royal. For Whitney Houston fans it is an absolute must because the score is a veritable greatest hits album and the story is generally faithful to the Mick Jackson helmed movie from 1992.
The story follows thoroughly successful but spoilt mega-star Rachel Marron (Miriea Mambo) whose life is threatened by a stalker (James-Lee Harris.) Her management team enlist the help of a former US Secret Service Agent, Frank Farmer (Adam Garcia) to take over her personal security. Initially reticent to accept this security detail, Marron butts heads with the no-nonsense bodyguard but is soon knocking boots much to the chagrin of her older sister Nicki (Sasha Monique) who has her own romantic designs on him.
There are various attempts by the surprisingly elusive stalker to exact harm on Marron and her nearest and dearest including getting close to her at an intimate performance at a local club, an audacious bid to get close to her son, Fletcher and to find her when she retreats to a cabin in the woods.
There is, somewhat unusually, no pre-show announcement for this production and as the action starts you realise why. I am going to say no more about that you will just have to find out for yourselves.
The first half is essentially Whitney Houston’s greatest hits and is a joy for fans of the multi award winning singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer but it does rather slow down the story because although we learn a little about Marron and her army of sycophantic management, her family, and her son the action does not really get going until act two. That is, apart from a wonderfully atrocious karaoke rendition from three of the ensemble. After ‘losing’ a bet with Marron, Farmer also takes to the mic and massacres (to the delight of the audience) the Dolly Parton penned Whitney Houston classic ‘I Will Always Love You.’ This was definitely the highlight of act one for me – hands down given Adam Garcia’s well documented vocal prowess.
Marron’s son Fletcher is given scope to be cute, cut some dance moves, and show off his musical theatre chops and the role is shared between Adam Bartlett. Phoenix Beharry. Mason Dyett, and Ebeahim Joof. The young man this evening oozed talent and the relationship between him, his Aunt Nicki, his mum, and her bodyguard was nothing short of heart-warming. A very rounded performance from this talented young actor.
Into the second act and the story rattles along with less Houston hits shoehorned in to distract. The different locations we visit are cleverly directed (Thea Hatley) who masks areas of the stage to allow for scene changes without disruption. There is clever and unobtrusive use of video (Duncan McLean) and the lighting design (Mark Henderson) particularly in the big musical numbers is effective and appropriate. The sound (Richard Brooker) is intentionally loud yet subtle in the places it should be.
It is a good long while since I saw the Whitney/Costner movie and I cannot remember how they showed the Stalker but for this production I have to commend the director for making this presence incredibly threatening without turning him into a pantomime villain. Harris’s performance which relies on perfect timing was exemplary.
The musical director, Charles Ingles and his orchestra must be loving their time on tour with this production and the sound they all produced is superb. Solo singing duties are shared between Mambo and Monique both of whom blew collective minds in the audience this evening with their powerful voices and soulful renditions of which the late Ms Houston would be proud. You could have heard a pin drop when Mambo performed the inevitable ‘I Will Always Love You.’
A special shout out to choreographer Thea Sharrock especially for the routine early on in act two which is stunning and worth the ticket price alone.
If you wanna dance with somebody then, once the action is over, there is one moment in time for every woman (and man for that matter) should they wish to join the company in a rousing finale. What is not to love?
How will you know? Get tickets for The Bodyguard at the Theatre Royal Newcastle.