Review: The Bodyguard at the Liverpool Empire ***1/2

When The Bodyguard was released in cinemas in 1992 it propelled Whitney Houston from successful music artist to global superstar.

And while film critics were generally unimpressed (the movie picked up no fewer than six Razzie nominations), audiences loved it, and the soundtrack swept the board at nearly every music awards, clocking up an estimated 45 million sales to date.

That music remains the beating heart (and backbone) of this stage version, on its latest visit to Liverpool, which plots a broadly similar main narrative path although perhaps inevitably with fewer bells and whistles than the screen original.

When superstar diva Rachel Marron (Sidonie Smith) becomes the focus a sinister stalker, her management team bring in former US secret service agent Frank Farmer (Adam Garcia) to boost her protection.

But while the singer’s son Fletcher (played on press night by the sparky and confident Mason Dyett) and sister Nicki (Sasha Monique) quickly take to the impassive, professional Frank and his non-negotiable rules, the anthem-belting diva is at first hostile to him and chafes at what she sees as his intrusive diktats. Until she finally discovers what has really been going on behind the scenes that is.

Professional soon becomes personal as opposites attract and a chastened Rachel falls for the monosyllabic close (very close) protection officer, much to the dismay of Nicki – always it seems the bridesmaid, never the bride when it comes to being outshone by her superstar sibling – and also raising the stakes for James-Lee Harris’s buff-but-creepily unsettling obsessive.

Can Frank save his warbling client to collect the Oscar her relentlessly scheming producer Sy (Matt Milburn) is hoping for? Or will her shadowy stalker get to her first?

Above: Adam Garcia as Frank Farmer and Sidonie Smith as Rachel Marron. Top: Smith, Garcia and the cast of The Bodyguard. Photos by Paul Coltas.

While the film featured half-a-dozen Houston performances (among them Queen of the Night, Run to You and, of course, I Will Always Love You) the stage adaptation augments those with a host of other songs recorded by the late superstar.

So many in fact that there’s an argument to be made that this is in effect a glossy Houston tribute – particularly given the regular big, flashy concert performance numbers accompanied by a lithe ensemble executing Karen Bruce’s nifty choreography - with the plot arranged in and around the songs.

And in the midst of all the sparkle the storytelling, including the romantic subplot, threatens to end up feeling rather perfunctory.

Buoyed by a rousing live orchestra in the pit, Smith certainly belts out the showstopping anthems with real energy and vocal power, although more generally the sound quality seemed off at times on opening night, particularly in the first half.

But for my money it’s the quieter moments, along with the more tender ballads, that have the real emotional impact, including All the Man That I Need and Run to You.

Meanwhile Monique, as the sister doomed to live in her sibling’s long shadow, impresses greatly with a stellar, sultry Saving All My Love for You.

Triumph, tragedy, torch songs and some enjoyably terrible karaoke, all played out against the backdrop of Tim Hatley’s versatile set…storytelling niggles aside, The Bodyguard certainly knows how to entertain.