Story plays second fiddle to this musical by numbers
Audience laps up all the hits (and misses)… but staged Bodyguard seems to have lost the plot
This latest stage version of the Whitney Houston/Kevin Costner movie delivered all the songs that Whitney followers want to hear and rave over. But the dramatic scaffolding that holds it all together is pretty shaky.
It could be serious and dramatically tense, but the whole point is to get those songs out at regular intervals, and the story has to fit the songs and not the other way round.
The show opened with a blitz of colour, pyrotechnics, loud bangs, and dazzling choreography with male dancers swooping around displaying their gymnastics to accompany Rachel Marron (Emily Williams), the hot shot singing star of the moment. It was the most dramatic part of the evening, because the sinister storyline is rushed. But Williams got the best out of those passionate and vocally very demanding songs.
‘He’s not much of a smoothy… so it’s a challenge to express some human feeling’
Rachel is being threatened by a creepy stalker, so a former secret service agent Frank (Ayden Callaghan) is hired as her bodyguard. Naturally Rachel doesn’t want him; he cramps her style. But Frank is a quiet, monosyllabic character who concentrates on the job. Since he’s not much of a smoothy it poses a problem for the actor who has to express some human feeling: it helps that he speaks lovingly about his dead mother.
Callaghan does a good job in the circumstances. In The Sound Of Music Baron von Trapp at least gets to sing Edelweiss, Frank just gets a comic karaoke stint in a night club. It gives him a more human touch, but causes him to be careless about his main job.
In traditional style, Rachel’s initial dislike turns to admiration when he rescues her on one occasion: after which it’s love and a passionate clinch.
The deadly stalker (Marios Nicolaides) is almost a comic character who seemed to play up to the audience. And despite Frank’s punctilious bodyguarding, the stalker seemed to find it easy to get in everywhere.
There were four youngsters named to play Rachel’s son Fletcher. The one on duty on opening night was one of those talented young kids who make it all look very easy. Emily-Mae as Rachel’s sister Nicki is actually given greater depth as a character than Rachel, going through the emotions of love, disappointment and jealousy and singing with considerable feeling.
The show has 16 of the Whitney top numbers including One Moment In Time, Saving All My Love For You and the biggest whopper of them all, I Will Always Love You, choreographed perilously and lit spectacularly around Williams. The audience loved it all, but Jesus Loves You seemed an uncomfortable pseudo spiritual mismatch.
Highs and lows of boxing obsession
Rope-a-Dope, written and performed by boxer, actor and comedian Terry O’Neill, runs at Bewley’s Cafe Theatre. It’s about his obsession with boxing, from when he was a child: the brutality, the dreams, the disappointments and exhilaration, and about his childhood heroes, combining physicality and stand-up comedy, posing the question of why anyone chooses to be punched in the head for a living. n From Tuesday until October 7, 1pm. Soirée show, October 5, 7pm
Going out of this world with Bowie
Falling To Earth – My summer With Bowie by Eugene O’Brien plays in the Civic Tallaght as part of Dublin Theatre Festival. Scut Kelly (Stephen Jones) feels like a stranger in his own home. He’s a single, loveless character caring for his father who never shows affection. Scut’s only release is the music of Ziggy, the man who fell to earth with spiders from Mars. This summer, however, his dream is about to become reality, when fate grants him face to face time with his idol. But can Scut handle this new planet or will he fall back to earth with a bang? n From Wednesday until Oct 14, 8.15pm. Sunday matinées, 4pm. No show October 2
AI helper with a mind of its own
Isla is about Roger, a widower who doesn’t like technology, but needs company. His daughter, links him up to the best in modern artificial intelligence – a digital speaking assistant, Isla, that’s as frustrating as it is helpful. It’s a dark, funny play about a man’s relationship with a digital servant that has a mind of its own. The play is a reflection on love and loss, and into the pitfalls and humorous consequences of dealing with a machine. Mark Lambert, repeats the role he created in 2021.
Civic Tallaght from Thursday until Oct 7 as part of Dublin Theatre Festival