The Bodyguard is more fizzle than sizzle

PAULINI might belt out a few cracking songs in The Bodyguard, but there’s more fizzle than sizzle to this Sydney production, writes Jo Litson.

Paulini Curuenavuli and Kip Gamblin in The Bodyguard. Picture: Jeff Busby

WHAT: The Bodyguard

WHERE: Lyric Theatre

WHEN: Until June 25

RATING: Two and a half stars

THE BODYGUARD premiered in the West End in 2012. Based on the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston as pop diva Rachel Marron and Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer, the reluctant bodyguard brought in to protect her when an obsessive stalker starts making threats, it wasn’t the greatest musical ever staged but it knew what it was and it did it brilliantly.

By foregrounding the songs, and casting Heather Headley in the starring role – an actor-singer capable of giving a blistering performance – the musical managed to elevate the 1992 film and was surprisingly enjoyable.

The Sydney production is a ‘pale imitation’ of the London show. Picture: Jeff Busby

But something has been lost in translation between London and here; the Australian production, starring Paulini Curuenavuli and Kip Gamblin, is a pale imitation that never really takes off.

For starters, Sydney is seeing a touring version, which looks decidedly cheaper than the West End production. Modelled on the US touring version (the show has never made it to Broadway), the sets are pared back with less detail and scenes changes feel slower.

Sliding panels resembling camera shutters seem to be in almost constant motion and move at what feels like a glacial pace. Sometimes they slide half way across the stage and sit there for a scene, which looks clunky. There are also some cheesy projections.

Originally directed with considerable proficiency by Thea Sharrock and restaged here by associate director Frank Thompson, there’s a fatal dearth of energy to the Australian production, without which the show’s flaws (slight, superficial script, lack of character depth and development) are further exposed.

‘There’s a fatal dearth of energy to the Australian production.’ Picture: Jeff Busby

The dialogue scenes flatline and there is no sense of genuine menace or drama. It all feels perfunctory, and the audience is reduced to sniggering at sexual innuendos. “He fills me up, he gives me love,” sings Rachel as she gazes at Frank lying in her bed, while people around me fell about laughing. Ditto a crass comment about Frank “coming” all over the house.

There were also titters when, very early in the proceedings, the stalker (Brendan Irving in a thankless role) is shown on screen with a dress he has stolen from Rachel’s dressing room. Keeping him in the shadows would have helped build menace. And in the scene where he appears on stage at one of Rachel’s concerts, there’s not the slightest frisson of real danger. Only once or twice later in the narrative does the show come anywhere close to achieving that.

The biggest reason to see The Bodyguard, of course, is the score. It’s packed with pop classics made famous by Whitney Houston – Saving All My Love, Run to You, Greatest Love of All, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and I Will Always Love You to name but a few. But even the songs don’t fly as they should, given the lacklustre production around them.

‘The dialogue scenes flatline and there is no sense of genuine menace or drama’. Picture: Jeff Busby

That’s not to say that there aren’t some vocal thrills thanks to Curuenavuli, particularly in I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing. She has a fabulous voice that soars effortlessly and she sings the numbers beautifully, capturing that famous Whitney Houston quality.

Given her lack of acting experience, the role is a huge undertaking and Curuenavuli gives it her all. However, she has further to go as an actor if she is to really own the part and make the songs feel part of her character’s emotional arc. One can’t help feeling that different directorial decisions could have helped her at times.

As the taciturn Frank, Gamblin has the right brooding charm though his presence could be stronger, and there is little chemistry going on between him and Curuenavuli. As Rachel’s jealous, overshadowed sister Nicki (another underdeveloped role) Prinnie Stevens sings appealingly.

Saddled with some pretty ordinary dialogue, the supporting performers frequently look awkward, though youngster Rome Champion, who played Rachel’s son Fletcher on opening night, was super-cute.

Paulini’s singing is on point and ‘sings the numbers beautifully, capturing that famous Whitney Houston quality’. Picture: Jeff Busby

The production features rock concert-like coloured lighting, pyrotechnics and slow motion among other bells and whistles. Sometimes it just feels too much. Curuenavuli’s emotional rendition of I Will Always Love You at the end of the show is undercut by images of Rachel and Frank on screen (covering a costume change) that had audiences tittering again. Then came her ascent on a cloud of smoke in sparkly silver gown – which looked sensational in London – but which was compromised here by seeing the metal grill on the front of the lift she was standing on. Talk about destroying the illusion.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody makes for a crowd-pleasing finale but overall there’s more fizzle than sizzle in the show, and despite a hit parade of fantastic songs it fails to really fire.