BodyGuard Musical with Heather Headley!! Brilliant!!

[jovie27]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 10:12pm

According to The Daily Mail's Baz Bamigboye, Tony Award winner Heather Headley will once again be headed back to the stage: this time filling the shoes of Whitney Houston's role in THE BODYGUARD, which is being adapted for a West End theatre.

A workshop for the musical was held a few weeks ago, and another - also starring Headley - will take place in January, with an opening night tentatively slated for late autumn.

Thea Sharrock is set to direct; Alex Dinelarius has penned the book, which is not a carbon copy of the film, though it reportedly retains some of its memorable soundtrack hits.

Tony and Grammy Award winner Headley was born and spent most of her childhood on the beautiful Caribbean island of Trinidad. In 1997, Ms. Headley, a Northwestern University alum, won the role of Nala in the original Broadway cast of the Elton John and Tim Rice's hit Tony winning musical The Lion King. Her portrayal of the Nubian princess, Aida, won her the praise of critics and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In addition to other awards, she also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. That year she was listed as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People and Essence Magazine's 30 Women To Watch.

Headley continued her Broadway success on the pop charts with her 2002 debut album on RCA Records, This Is Who I Am which featured productions by several top-flight producers including Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and Shep Crawford. Two songs, the single "He Is" and the album track "I Wish I Wasn't," both emerged as Top 5 R&B and Dance chart hits. She earned numerous accolades for This Is Who I Am, including Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. At the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards she won dual honors: R&B/Soul Album of the Year and Best R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist. She also received nominations at the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Female Artist, and BET Awards in the "Cool Like That" category.

In January 2006, Ms. Headley returned with In My Mind, her long-awaited second solo album, once again working with an A-list of producers, among them Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Ne-Yo, Warryn Campbell, and Lil' Jon. The title track became Headley's first #1 hit, topping the Dance charts. She took her first foray into the gospel music world in 2009 with the release of her third studio album Audience of One, for which she was awarded the Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album.

Over the past few years Ms. Headley has also displayed her versatility as one of classical star Andrea Bocelli's favorite singing partners. She has been featured in many of his American and international tours, his "Live In Tuscany" PBS special, and his "Under The Desert Sky" live concert DVD.

Read more: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Tony-Winner-Heather-Headley-to-Star-in-THE-BODYGUARD-Musical-20110908#ixzz1XK635JpK

Updated On: 9/8/11 at 10:12 PM

[BeingAlive2]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 10:41pm

absolutely no complaints. i pray to God this is done well and transfers to broadway!

[AC126748]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 10:44pm

Has she learned to act?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 10:58pm

Just like she said, she'd go back to musical theater when her music career stalled (I believe the exact quote was something obnoxious like "I can always do Broadway when I'm 50.").

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 9/8/11 at 11:10pm

Who's Heather Headley?

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 10:57am

adam, I remember that interview and I found it to be a bit obnoxious also. I seem to remember a lot of talk about in on here also. She said it as if Broadway was kind of below her but she would use it if she needed to. At least that's how the statement seemed to come off as I remember.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:14am

Not the least bit enthused.

[dreaming]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:30am

Ugh. And Anika Noni Rose was not tapped because?...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 11:47am

Hopefully, she wasn't interested.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 2:59pm

My sentiment also Matt.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 4:17pm

in the words of kathy griffin: HEAVEN.

heather's been awfully picky about returning to broadway, and i'd gladly go see her in anything she thought was good.

and i may be the only one (since when?) but i found her acting to be terrific in "aida". completely moving and convincing--certainly better than some other recent tony winners.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 4:46pm

I pretty much only understood what came out of Heather's mouth when she was singing. And her singing was GREAT. But the mumbling and highly affected speech she used for dialogue didn't do anything for me but make me look at my watch and wait for the next song to come along.

Posted: 9/9/11 at 8:10pm

Wow. I guess that shows why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors. I thought her performance in Aida was amazing, especially considering she was playing against a block of wood with abs painted on.
Updated On: 9/9/11 at 08:10 PM

[twinbelters]

Posted: 9/9/11 at 9:31pm

Bored now.

[Donthatecongratulate]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:23am

Rose doesn't have to vocal chops to take on this role. She has a beautiful voice but it's delicate. You need more ferocity like Patina Miller. But regardless, this production will probably suck.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 11:45am

^ So you've heard the score? How is it?

[BeingAlive2]

Posted: 9/10/11 at 12:49pm

^i dont think any form of the score has been released. but since some of the music from the movie will be in the score i can see how rose would struggle with it. especially "queen of the night." i feel heather will do the songs we know justice like nobody's business.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 7:48am

Any new on whether this will land in a Broadway house? Saw this a few days ago with Beverley Knight and would be more than excited to see Heather Headley's portrayal. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 8:25am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "Any new on whether this will land in a Broadway house? Saw this a few days ago with Beverley Knight and would be more than excited to see Heather Headley's portrayal. 

 

"

Isnt the upcoming tour supposed to be pre Broadway?

[newintown]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 8:25am

Isn't Deborah Cox doing it now (with added songs from the Houston catalog)? And wouldn't most people rather just see a Whitney impersonator doing a concert of these songs, rather than sitting through that lame boring story?

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 8:45am

Headley looked bored the night I saw it, plus it really wasn't  worth the effort to bring this to the stage, the story was changed not for the better. It's up there with Ghost as a wasted night of theatre 

[brdway411]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:21am

I saw it in London with HH, It was MAGICAL. 

[hes16]

Posted: 8/18/16 at 10:30am

Yeah, newintown, the show is launching its national tour at Papermill Playhouse in November with Deborah Cox.