Review: The Bodyguard brings Whitney’s biggest hits to life in Manchester

Tuesday, 20 January 2026 14:39

By David Murphy

Based on the 1992 film, the stage version follows global music star Rachel Marron, who is assigned a personal bodyguard after receiving threats from a mysterious stalker.

What begins as a tense professional arrangement soon deepens into something more complex.

Sidonie Smith leads the cast as Rachel, capturing the character’s confident stage persona and more vulnerable off-stage moments. Adam Garcia plays bodyguard Frank Farmer, delivering a calm but emotionally distant performance that gradually softens as the story unfolds.

The production is packed with high-energy choreography and quick scene changes, moving from concert stages to private homes and police offices in minutes. Much of the atmosphere is built through lighting and clever visual effects, including moments that drew gasps from the audience as the stalker loomed into view.

The musical’s greatest strength lies in its soundtrack, featuring a long list of Whitney Houston’s most iconic hits. Opening with Queen of the Night, the show moves through favourites including I’m Every Woman, Run to You and Saving All My Love. The dramatic highlight comes with I Will Always Love You, performed in full to close the main story.

Sasha Monique, who plays Rachel’s sister Nicki, gives one of the strongest vocal performances of the night, particularly in Greatest Love of All. Her on-stage chemistry with Smith adds real emotional weight to the family dynamic.

Despite its cinematic roots, the musical doesn’t try to copy the film scene for scene. Instead, it leans into live theatre’s strengths, dance, lighting and spectacle. A karaoke scene involving Garcia adds a moment of levity, while the ensemble’s choreography in the big concert numbers gives the show its polished, glittery finish.

With costumes and dialogue largely timeless, the digital detail stood out as inconsistent, though it didn’t derail the overall experience.

The audience reaction was overwhelmingly positive. While not all the vocals landed perfectly against a loud backing track, the energy and emotion were enough to carry the performance. And the curtain-call finale of I Wanna Dance With Somebody had the entire theatre dancing and clapping along.

For fans of the film, Whitney’s music, or simply a big night out, it delivers exactly what it promises.

Get your tickets over on the ATG Ticket website here: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/the-bodyguard/palace-theatre-manchester/