Ben Richards in The Bodyguard Musical's Non-Singing Leading Man Musical Role (West End, London)

Ben Richards as Frank Farmer in 'The Bodyguard' musical (image: Paul Coltas)

'The Bodyguard' stage musical adaptation of the 1992 Whitney Houston & Kevin Costner has returned to London's West End now playing the Dominion Theatre. When I saw the production in 2014, I felt that one of the most unusual things about the Costner role of Frank Farmer on stage is despite being the male leading character, the writers decided to make the part a non-singing role.

(image credit: Manuel Harlan)

Currently Ben Richards stars in the Costner role on stage. The actor can sing based upon his performance as a replacement in the London stage musical production of 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' which I saw back in 2010. The actor was already popular from his series acting on British television and brought a new hunkiness to the role of Tick in the musical especially in the scene that had him dress down to nothing but his underpants which likely helped to draw some audience members to the show.

The West End revival of 'The Bodyguard' opened in July 2016 for a limited run until January 2017. The cast is expected to transfer for the Toronto premiere of the musical.

Click here for a Q&A with the actor on Broadway.com.  The 44-year-old actor also discussed in a The Sun article about being cancer-free for the past four years. Below is a recent interview with Richards. Learn more about the actor by visiting benrichards.com or on twitter.

Visit thebodyguardmusical.com for info and a tickets about the show.

Ben's credits

Theatre includes: Aladdin (Shaw Theatre); Rock of Ages (UK tour); Oliver!(Sheffield Crucible); 9 to 5 (UK tour); Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Palace Theatre), Guys And Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre); Grease (Victoria Palace Theatre and UK tour); Little Shop of Horrors (Yeovil Octagon Theatre); The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre); Saturday Night Fever (London Palladium); Smokey Joes Café(Prince of Wales Theatre); Grease (Dominion Theatre); Up On The Roof (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch); and Hot Mikado (Queens Theatre).

Television includes: Ben Bradley in Hollyoaks; Mr Kit in Doctors; PC Nate Roberts in The Bill; Justin in Holby City; Gayle Tuesday; Bruno Milligan in Footballers Wives, Footballers Wives Extra Time; and Dad. Ben also appeared as a judge on the second series of Strictly Dance Fever for BBC 1.

Film includes: Chakara, Julie and the Cadillacs and Bring me the Head of MavisDavis. 

Recordings include: original cast recordings for Grease, Hot Mikado, and Radio Times.  He has also recorded songs and shot videos for both Singers Inc. Vol 1 and 2.

Actor Ben Richards (image: ITV)