Beverley Knight in The Bodyguard
Beverley Knight starring oin The Bodyguard was determined to put her own stamp on the film's iconic songs.
The singer-and-actress takes on the role of Rachel Marron in a new London stage production of the classic film and she felt it was important to put her own spin on the songs made famous by the late Whitney Houston, who starred in the 1992 movie.
Speaking to Femalefirst.co.uk, Beverley explained: "Those songs were songs which I knew. I knew them, I knew the place they came from, but what I was careful not to do was concentrate on the way Whitney sang. I put that to one side, and me and the musical director, Richard Beadle, went through the actual score and I took the songs from there and learned them as they were written, so I could sing them with my own voice. Otherwise it would turn into karaoke and nobody wants that!"
The 40-year-old star - who stars alongside Tristan Gemmill as Frank Farmer in the new musical - fondly remembers rushing to the cinema to see the film when it was released.
She added: "I totally remember going to the cinema to see it. I got so excited because, 'Oh my God, Whitney Houston!' I remember thinking it was the best thing ever because Whitney's singing and she's just so glorious."
Knight tackles Houston's impressive back catalogue, including 'I Will Always Love You' and 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' in the energetic show, but she admits there was one song she wasn't originally a fan of.
"I'll always love 'I Have Nothing' because, just technically, it's one of the best ballads ever written, for me. Of course 'I Will Always Love You' is amazing to sing. I started off not being so keen on 'Run to You', because I just remembered it was a promo video in the film with slow-motion running, but in the context of where it is on stage in the show, it's like 'Oh my God!' You have these two sisters realising they're in love with the same bloke, and it just feels like it was written for that scene. Now I love it." said Beverley
'The Bodyguard' musical is on stage now at the Adelphi Theatre in London. For tickets visit www.thebodyguardmusical.com.
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