An enjoyable evening at Winter Gardens, Blackpool.
A very talented cast led by Sidonie Smith (Chicago, Sister Act) as the central character, vocal superstar Rachel Marron. Alongside her bodyguard, Frank Farmer, the role made famous in the movie version by Kevin Costner, this evening played by Olivier award nominated Adam Garcia (Wicked, Coyote Ugly) a man with a wealth of industry experience If anything slightly disappointing that we didn’t get to enjoy his amazing vocal, or highly skilled tap dancing.
The musical based on the very popular movie starring Whitney Houston, back in the Early 90s, featuring an outstanding Musical score of power ballads and crowd pleasers.
The story closely follows that of the movie, but in parts is lacking in certain elements of the storyline, I don’t want to give too much away but it feels like the character development is forfeited to squeeze more songs into the allotted time.
On the way into the theatre, we were advised that the show would begin with a very loud sound. Even after being warned, it was still a shock and several moments during the evening were either loud or a bit of a jump scare. Probably not ideal for the faint hearted. (Recommended age 10+)
The role of Rachel‘s son Fletcher was shared by four young performers, Rio Chigwedere, Prince Conteh, Cale Cole and at this evening’s show Mason Dyett; he was fantastic, a real talented little cutie.
I can’t credit enough the performance of Sasha Monique as the overlooked sister Nicki Marron. Truly an incredible effortless, velvety vocal, every time she began to sing I couldn’t help but smile.
One of my favourite moments of the Musical was the vocal duet between the sisters ‘Run to you’ it was sang beautifully.
A nice modern element for the performance was the use of pyrotechnics and the projection screens.
Overall, it was a great performance, and I think most of the audience would have enjoyed it. If I was being slightly picky some of the ensemble scenes were slightly awkward for me to watch. For example, the moment when Rachel is supposed to be singing live at a concert, some of the performers were for the purpose of that scene supposed to be members of the audience. The staging just felt a little bit forced and off. I felt like there just wasn’t enough space and the ‘concert stage’ hadn’t been placed well. Also, due to the lack of performers, we could see that some of the ‘audience’ were performers multi rolling and they shouldn’t have been there.
As far as the ensemble numbers go, the cast were very talented. There’s no denying that. I also think the choreography was good and that the vocals were on Point, they were also costumed well, with some incredibly fast paced costume changes. However, some of the choreography just appeared to be slightly messy in parts. It just wasn’t as clean as I expected it to be. The movement that the dancers were executing was very impressive in particular the lifts and partner work, I just noticed a couple of moments that weren’t as polished as you would expect from a national tour.
Please don’t let any of that put you off, if you enjoy the movie and or the Whitney Houston music, you will enjoy this as a night out.
The performance was accompanied by a six-piece orchestra led by Musical Director Charlie Ingles.
The performance was two hours 25 with a 20-minute interval. The theatre wasn’t full, but it was a good turnout.
Overall, a great performance, very talented cast and a nostalgic night filled with great music.
Reviewer: Rebecca Casey
Reviewed: 2nd October 2025
North West End UK Rating: