In the spotlight

No stranger to the spotlight, Grammy nominated singer and former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton will star as Rachel Marron in a new UK and Ireland tour of the award-winning international smashhit musical The Bodyguard, coming to Venue Cymru from 19th to 24th June.

The musical is based on the Oscar-nominated movie starring Whitney Houston, and features a host of irresistible classics including Queen of the Night, I Have Nothing, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and one of the biggest hit songs of all time – I Will Always Love You. We met up with Rachel to hear what she had to say about the show…

You’re no stranger to the role, having previously starred in The Bodyguard in China. What made you want to return, and will you be approaching it differently this time around?

I loved the show, I was jubilant doing it! I want the challenge. I’m really enjoying revisiting the show. Whitney Houston is also very dear to me, and what she means to Black America. What she went through as a black girl singing pop music was brave. She battled a lot of preconceived notions in the industry, and what she did for me was help to create a lane for the little black girl in the pop group. She is important to me in that respect, so anytime I have the opportunity to sing Whitney’s hits I’m going to do it.

The Bodyguard is a much-loved movie, which recently celebrated its 30th anniversary!

You know strangely I never watched the film when I was a kid – I watched it for the first time when I knew I was doing The Bodyguard musical in China. I’d never seen the film, but the soundtrack was giving me life throughout my entire childhood. I love the movie now; I’ve seen it a million times!

Can you briefly summarise the plot (without spoilers) and tell us about your character – Rachel Marron?

Rachel Marron is a popstar/ actress who is at the height of her career. She is definitely a diva, but kind of aloof and unaware of some of the issues that are going on behind the scenes. When someone starts sending letters and stealing clothes from her home and dressing room, a bodyguard is sent in to protect her.

Most people will know you from The Pussycat Dolls, one of the most celebrated girl groups of all time. How does your experience as a world-renowned songstress influence your interpretation of the role of Rachel Marron – are there any parallels?

It’s just you doing the best job that you can, and the job of a popstar is a full-time, all-energy position. Everything you do is for that job. So, I can relate to the character in that way. There are also certainly things going on behind the scenes that your team aren’t going to bring up to you. But I would hope someone would have let me know if I had a stalker!

You were the youngest member of The Pussycat Dolls. What was that like for you?

In the early 00s it was very much sink or swim. I’m not resentful in any way for that, because I now have a structure that works for me that I created for myself. Of course, there were lovely people to jump in and say, ‘You might want to try it this way or that way’, but in the early 00s it was a lot of people minding their own business. However, there are so many people that I owe for my being here, and I’m grateful to them to this day.

Given the life experience you now have, what piece of advice do you wish you could have given your younger self, ahead of being propelled to global stardom?

I’d say that some of the fears you created in your head around interacting with other people are just projections. People aren’t as scary as you think. I was very avoidant of others, trying to just do my job and not create any relationships, when in actuality networking and relationships are what helps to propel your career. They can’t get a feel for you if you don’t put yourself out there!

The Bodyguard features an incredible soundtrack, with hits made famous by Whitney Houston. Do you have a favourite number to perform?

My favourite number to perform is Queen of the Night, but my favourite song is All The Man That I Need. I watch Whitney’s live performances, because I’m always looking for what I call ‘bail outs’ - moments in the song that we know commercially to be sung a certain way, and then how she does them live. She was such a master, she would find ways to hit a note, working around the difficulty. In her performances of All The Man That I Need I think she’s singing to God, as she grew up in the church. If you listen to the song, to me that’s what she’s saying – He’s all the man that she needs.

What do you hope audiences across the UK will take away from this production?

I look forward to hopefully inspiring some kids to want to work on stage. The beautiful thing about theatre is that it’s live. I’m grateful to be the age that I am, and to have begun at the age that I did before people were relying on autotune. This sounds crazy, but what I look forward to are the mistakes, because it’s real. I think it’s beautiful to see a performer pick up the pieces and keep going if something goes wrong. I love that because it gives me room to just perform as an actress and sing as a singer. n

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