Review: BODYGUARD OPENING NIGHT at The Ronacher

One of Hollywoods greatest love stories, the drama about Superstar Rachel Marron and her Bodyguard Frank Farmer is now playing at the RONACHER in Vienna.

After London, Utrecht(NL), Cologne and Stuttgart (both Germany) and other destinations all over the world it's Vienna to host the Musical Version.

The Movie Soundtrack sold more than 45 million copies. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU or I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY, just to name a few.

It makes sense, to transform a Hit like BODYGUARD into a musical but it is a risky endeavor. Everybody is familiar with the performances of Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, nobody wants to see a cheap copy of them on stage.

The producers had to find someone with a strong and touching voice, someone the audience can fall in love with. Someone who is able to perform 8 shows a week.

It is up to Patricia Meeden to enchant Vienna. She is familiar with the part, played Rachel in Cologne/Germany. Meeden is giving a fine performance but she is not the only strong voice in the show.

Rachels sister Nicki, played by Ana Milva Gomes. What a voice, what a timbre. Milva Gomes brought the house down and earned tremendous applause. She is one of Europes finest musical voices, strong powerful and filled with so much heart.

The Bodyguard Frank Farmer, played by TV- Actor Jo Weil had something James Bondish (but not like Daniel Craig, more like Timothy Dalton) in his performance. Handsome but also a little bit dull, it's hard to understand, why Rachel is falling in love with him. Meeden and Weil are working hard to create a chemistry that simply isn't there. The huge Set Design, a lot of Special Effects, everything is staged well but way too clean.

At the end it is a sterile Musical/ Stage Adaption with a powerful opening number and one of the greatest Ballads ever written played by possibly the best musical orchestra in Europe.

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