The Bodyguard: The Musical

Creating a big budget juke-box musical based on Mick Jackson's 1992 blockbuster romance The Bodyguard makes a lot of sense. On paper at least. The film was transparently a vehicle for the late, great Whitney Houston, still at her vocal peak before her battle with addiction robbed her of her talent and eventually her life. Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack is a conveyor belt of glorious pop bangers and luxuriant power ballads, so, with such rich vein of musical gold to mine, taking this story from the screen to the stage seems like a no-brainer.

Equally conducive is the film's storyline, in which Frank Farmer, an emotionally stiff but eventually softened bodyguard, played with perfect rugged broodiness by Kevin Costner, falls for an icy but eventually thawed pop megastar, Houston's Rachel Marron. With a dangerous stalker out to kill her, Marron and Farmer are thrown into an intense relationship as client and protector, but as their connection morphs from the professional to the personal, Farmer realises he's willing to take a bullet for Marron, and not just because he's being paid to. The film has a little more in the way of subplots and narrative finesse, but in its musical theatre incarnation the action is stripped back to its bare essentials, leaving more room for glitz, spectacle and Houston chart toppers.

So far, so musical theatre, and largely this adaptation is a savvy and successful venture. The greatest burden of responsibility inevitably falls at the feet of whoever is stepping into Houston's shoes as Rachel Marron, and Australia could do little better than Australian Idol alum Paulini Curuenvauli.

In the high-energy set pieces, Paulini is a dynamo, delivering stellar vocals and break neck choreography that barely puts a foot, or a note wrong. Kip Gamblin does what he can with the rather joyless role of Frank Farmer, cutting a suitably smouldering and sexy figure. With the focus so squarely on this romantic pair, it would be easy for the rest of the cast to fade into the background altogether. However, as Marron's overshadowed sister Nicki, Prinnie Stevens makes an excellent impression, with a rich acting performance and superb vocals.

But while the musical numbers wheel out some truly breathtaking show stoppers — full credit to the excellent ensemble of bronzed and buff backup dancers — this is a production often lacking in any palate cleansing subtlety. Houston and Costner's original captures the internal conflict and yearning within Marron and Farmer's complicated affair, and while Paulini and Gamblin hit the broad emotional strokes of this tryst, there's very little in the way of nuance or authenticity, reaching instead for cheesy hyperbole. It's a deficit of passionate credibility that leaves what could be a heart-wrenching evening at the theatre merely a fun night out, and while no one is likely to leave this show feeling dissatisfied, they're equally unlikely to walk out feeling genuinely moved.

The Bodyguard: The Music plays at the Regent Theatre till 29 Oct.