'The Bodyguard' musical halts due to rowdy audience singing along to 'I Will Always Love You'
A performance of The Bodyguard was disrupted after unruly theatregoers refused to stop singing loudly to Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You.
The musical performance held last April 8 at the Palace Theatre and Opera House in Manchester, England was cut short ten minutes from its ending after some audience members refused to remain seated and won't stop singing loudly. Some of them were escorted out of the venue.
In a video shared on Twitter by one of the attendees, the patrons can be heard singing along with The Bodyguard star Melody Thornton.
“I’m new to the world of theatre. But sad and disappointed tonight at the state of some peoples arrogance and disrespect while at a show,” the Twitter user wrote.
Completely ruined #TheBodyguard, singing over the actors, to the point of them cancelling the show & police being called #Manchester,” he continued.
I’m new to the world of theatre. But sad and disappointed tonight at the state of some peoples arrogance and disrespect while at a show.
— Karl Bradley (@KarlBradley_1) April 7, 2023
Completely ruined #TheBodyguard, singing over the actors, to the point of them cancelling the show & police being called 🤦♂️😢 #Manchester pic.twitter.com/6pacRPKdqs
In a separate video obtained by Sky News, a woman was seen being dragged out of the theater by security after she refused to stop singing along.
Watch the moment two audiences members were removed from a theatre performance of The Bodyguard.
The duo were reportedly 'singing over' the lead actor and the show ended 10 minutes early 👇🎭 pic.twitter.com/LmLlqsyIY4— Sky News (@SkyNews) April 9, 2023
Shortly after, the event organizer released a statement addressing the incident.
"The performance of The Bodyguard at The Palace Theatre, Manchester was stopped at 9:40 p.m. last night and not continued," they wrote.
The organizer then went on to express their disappointment over the “disruptive customers.”
— Palace & Opera Mcr (@PalaceAndOpera) April 8, 2023
“We are disappointed that the last 10 minutes of the show needed to be cancelled due to disruptive customers refusing to stay seated and spoiling the performance for others,” they wrote, adding: “We are grateful to our venue teams for dealing with these difficult circumstances in a professional and calm way, and to Greater Manchester police for their assistance.”
They asked future theatergoers to adhere to common courtesy and be “considerate towards the cast and fellow audience.”
“Future performances will continue as planned and we ask that customers are considerate towards the cast, fellow audience members and theatre team so that everyone can enjoy the wonderful entertainment on stage.”
Its star Melody Thornton whose performance was abruptly stopped, expressed her apologies to the fans.
"I wanted to send a really special message to people in Manchester who came to the show tonight to say thank you so much. I respect that you paid your money. And I am so grateful to everyone who respects the people onstage who want to give you a beautiful show," the former Pussycat Dolls member said.
"For everything that happened tonight, I don't have all of the details. I just am very, very sorry that we couldn't finish the show,” she said.
“I fought really hard. It feels awful. And I just hope that we see you again. I thank everyone who was respectful of the performers, and I'm very, very sorry for those who weren't."
Actor Charles Brunton also appealed to the public for common audience courtesy, emphasizing that the shows are being prepared for months for the enjoy to enjoy.
“Please sit back and enjoy us telling you a story,” he said. “We rehearse for months before we go in the actual performances,” he told BBC Breakfast.
The musical was an adaptation of the 1992 film The Bodyguard, which revolves around the story of a famous singer, played by Whitney Houston who fell in love with a former Secret Service agent.