There are probably gentler ways to celebrate a second wedding anniversary than being startled by a gunshot. But as the opening press night of The Bodyguard at Wales Millennium Centre happened to fall on ours, that was exactly how our evening began.

From that first explosive beat, the audience is shocked into attention. There is barely time to settle into your seat before the Donald Gordon Theatre is plunged into the dangerous, glamorous world of superstar Rachel Marron, and the message is immediate: we are in for a dramatic night.

Based on the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, The Bodyguard follows Rachel as an unknown stalker begins to close in around her. Former Secret Service agent Frank Farmer, played by Adam Garcia, is hired to protect her, bringing together two people accustomed to being in control and setting in motion a relationship neither expects.

Although Sidonie Smith leads the tour as Rachel Marron, at our performance the role was played by alternate Mireia Mambo, who proved every inch the superstar the part demands. Mambo commands the enormous and packed Donald Gordon Theatre stage with confidence, charisma and the vocal ability required to tackle a catalogue forever associated with one of the greatest voices in pop music.

Some of the evening’s most affecting vocal moments, however, belonged to Sasha Monique as Rachel’s sister, Nicki Marron. Where Rachel is quite literally the star, Nicki exists partly in her shadow, and Monique uses that beautifully. Her vocals have a rawness and vulnerability that provide a compelling point of difference to Mambo’s polished power. At moments, she perhaps even edges ahead vocally, precisely because Nicki is not the superstar. There is something exposed and unguarded in her performance, particularly as the emotional triangle between the sisters and Frank begins to emerge.

Garcia brings an assured presence to Frank Farmer, grounding the production amid the spectacle surrounding him, while James-Lee Harris as The Stalker provides the sinister thread running beneath the glamour. Even in the show’s biggest and most glamorous musical moments, that sense of threat is always there beneath the surface.

And then there is the spectacle. The choreography is staggering. Several numbers unfold with such scale, energy and precision that the audience sits up in awe. This is a production that understands contrast, knowing exactly when to strip the stage back for something intimate and when to unleash everything it has with light, movement, music and an ensemble working at full force.

Whitney Houston’s extraordinary catalogue forms the backbone of the evening, with Queen of the Night, So Emotional, One Moment in Time, Saving All My Love, Run to You, I Have Nothing, Greatest Love of All and Million Dollar Bill among a run of instantly recognisable songs.

One of the night’s unexpected highlights came from the young performer playing Rachel’s son, Fletcher. Full of confidence, personality and charm, he more than held his own alongside the adult cast and earned an huge warm response from the audience.

But the moment the entire evening was inevitably been building towards is I Will Always Love You. It is almost impossible to hear those opening words without knowing exactly what is coming, yet the production manages to make the moment feel genuine. Rachel, elevated above the stage on a striking podium, delivers a finale of enormous power. Around us, audience members were in tears.

And just when it feels as though the evening has reached its emotional conclusion, the production has one final trick. Tension and tears give way to pure celebration, in the form of I Wanna Dance with Somebody, transforming the theatre and sending the audience out on the kind of euphoric high that I think only great musical theatre can deliver.

Perhaps, coincidentally, that made it rather perfect for an anniversary after all.

The Bodyguard succeeds because it gives its audience a full theatrical experience: the tension and intimacy of a romantic thriller alongside the unapologetic glamour and spectacle. There are gunshots and danger, enormous dance numbers, powerhouse vocals and popular songs.

Emotional, exhilarating and spectacular, The Bodyguard is a must-see musical that grabs you from its very first gunshot and doesn’t loosen its grip until the final note.

The Bodyguard runs at the Donald Gordon Theatre, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, until 25 July 2026. Tickets are available here.