The Bodyguard

On Monday 23rd February we were invited to Cheltenham Everyman Theatre to see the UK tour of The Bodyguard.

At this performance we had MIREIA MAMBO playing Nicki Marron who also covers Rachael Marron, I believe she covers a Matinee.

ADAM GARCIA and SIDONIE SMITH were our Rachel and Frank for this performance and let's say, it was nice to see this show after the last time it was in Cheltenham (a few years ago). The cast is lined up with some incredible talent from the dancers, to the musicians who are in the pit.

Yes, the iconic start, which starts with a sudden gun shot, still made James jump, and he was expecting it (well... I did warn him, but the blue air out of this mouth amused those around him...). 

The story, is fairly straightforward and if you've seen the movie, you'll know what has happened (shocker, I've never seen the film). 

We always love when these shows come to the Everyman as they work incredibly well on the smaller stage as it feels more compact and makes the dance routines and scenes come together better, better than if you were to see it on a bigger stage such as Bristol Hippodrome where there is such a bigger space to fill. 

A big shout out to JAMES-LEE HARRIS who plays the Stalker, who is incredibly convincing throughout, providing the right jump scene in the second half. (I won't give it away). 

Now, I don't usually do this, but MIREIA MAMBO who played Nicki had a very strong voice and actually in her numbers, gave me chills, from her outstanding performance on stage in the Everyman Cheltenham, I actually think her voice is slightly stronger than Sidonie Smith and would love to see her Rachel.

The energy in the room at the end of the performance was wonderful. it was so nice to see the audience and I giving the entire cast a standing ovation for its drowning in the audience and telling such a beautiful and heartfelt story on stage. But the heartache and sad ending was short lived when the entire cast had a boogie on the stage to help the audience to talk about the evening on the way out of the auditorium. 

Now, security were present in Cheltenham, but this is routine as if you saw the press back in 2023, you'd of known audience members got a little rowdy when the bodyguard hit Manchester and people were fighting and the show had to be abandoned because of it. No such thing as that tonight, instead it was well behaved audience members enjoying the final number together like it should be.  Overall a good 5 stars for its incredible performance and casting.