Whitney night in Worthing

The music of the late, great Whitney Houston lives on in Whitney: Queen of the Night at Worthing's Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, March 25.
Whitney: Queen of the Night at Worthings Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, March 25.Whitney: Queen of the Night at Worthings Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, March 25.
Whitney: Queen of the Night at Worthings Pavilion Theatre on Saturday, March 25.

The troubled American singer, actress, producer and model (August 9 1963-February 11 2012) enjoyed a string of hits before her tragic death.

She was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. She had drowned in the bath, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.

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But the music still gets a live outing thanks to shows including the one heading to Worthing.

Currently enjoying a 70-date UK tour, Whitney: Queen of the Night show features Rebecca Freckleton who has worked with performers including Macy Gray, Paloma Faith, The Noisettes and Jools Holland.

Rebecca is also one of the leading ladies in the touring musical The Magic of Motown.

With a company of singers and musicians, she will deliver a show packed with hits including I Wanna Dance With Somebody, I’m Every Woman, I Will Always Love You, Saving All My Love, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, Greatest Love Of All and many more.

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For producer Paul Roberts it has all been a fantastic journey for everyone involved.

Paul recalls: “I used to be the tour manager for The Magic of Motown, and I decided to put my own show together.

“I had toured The Magic of Motown for nine years, and then I came up with the idea of doing a Whitney show, and I just knew that Rebecca was right for the part.

“ We launched it in April 2015, and it has been a wonderful journey. It has grown and grown. The band is fabulous, and we have still got the same Whitney. She is fabulous too.

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“I just knew that she had the right look. People hear what they see. Everything about her is right.

“We had worked together on The Magic of Motown, the same with the understudy, and she has just got the range. Whitney’s voice was very clean and clinical, and the phrasing was tremendous. Rebecca has got that, and she has got the look.

“We change the songs every year to freshen it up. We have got about five songs that float in and out. We only have a one-artist show.

“Obviously, we can’t dump certain songs. There are obviously the ones that you absolutely have to do, but I would say we have got eight songs in an 18-song show that we can change.”

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Paul promises three decades of classic hits including One Moment In Time, My Love is Your Love, So Emotional Baby and Run to You.

“And it has been a fantastic journey. We are just cracking going abroad. We have just come back from Finland and the Czech Republic. We will go off to Hungary later this year. I don’t know why they are all cold countries we go to – and we go to them in the cold months! But it is great to see it taking off.

“But really, the show could play anywhere. It would work in any theatre in any part of the world. The music is just incredible. When we started, my musical director took nine months, before we started, to look at all the YouTube clips of Whitney live. All the arrangements are of the live versions of the songs she sang. The live arrangements were very different. They were much more meaty, and it is the live versions that we have concentrated on capturing. It really is a fantastic show.”

Tickets from Worthing Theatres box office on 01903 206 206 or visit worthingtheatres.co.uk.

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