The Broadway-bypassing tour of the live stage musical adaptation of the 1992 Kevin Costner-Whitney Houston screen blockbuster The Bodyguard makes its big splash in Hollywood at the Pantages Theatre tonight, Tuesday, May 2, beginning an extended run in the Southern California area that continues at the Pantages through Sunday, May 21 before moving a little bit south to Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on Tuesday, May 30, where it will run through Sunday, June 11. Unfortunately, unlike most Pantages productions, I will not be there to cover and review opening night, which is especially disappointing considering how intrigued I've been by the production since it made its world premiere on the London West End in 2012 with Tony Award winner Heather Headley tackling Houston's role of endangered pop star Rachel Marron. Stage adaptations of hit films with popular soundtracks are nothing at all unusual (Footloose or Fame, anyone?), but I've always found the conceptual approach taken by book writer Alexander Dinelaris and director Thea Sharrock fascinating and why-didn't-I think-of-that?-brilliant. With the six recognizable Houston tracks from the film soundtrack being far too few for a full-blown stage production, instead of filling out the song list with original tunes, a number of big hit singles from Houston's entire career fill out the remainder of the score--thus the show serves dual purposes as an adaptation of the film and as a jukebox musical homage to the legendary career of its late star, whose passing preceded the West End debut by mere months. With none other than Deborah Cox, a Grammy-winning songstress in her own right as well as a seasoned stage musical veteran and the provider of the singing vocals for Angela Bassett's 2015 Lifetime television biopic Whitney, headlining the American tour, at least one knows that it has a perfectly cast lead to not only do the songs justice but more than embody the Rachel Marron superstar aura.
The Bodyguard opens tonight at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and will run through Sunday, May 21; it the returns to the Southern California area at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on Tuesday, May 30 through Sunday, June 11.
Buy The Bodyguard UK Tour Cast album CD here.Buy The Bodyguard movie Blu-ray here.
Buy The Bodyguard movie DVD here.
Buy The Bodyguard movie soundtrack CD here.
(Special thanks to Hollywood Pantages Theatre)
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