Reviewer: Christine Stanton
Book: Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen
Director: Nikolai Foster
“80s Throwback“
3.5 / 5
Based on the 1982 film – An Officer and a Gentleman delivers the 80s throwback atmosphere from beginning to end.
The storyline focuses on a group of navy recruits, on a 12-week training program designed to push them to their mental, physical and emotional limits. Some of the key recruits in the bunch are Mayo (Luke Baker), Worley (Paul French) and Seegar (Olivia Foster-Browne). Worley is following in his deceased brother’s footsteps, hoping that his success in the Navy will appeal to his parents, who are desperate for someone to take their mind off of the golden boy they lost. Seegar is determined to become the first female pilot trained on jets – but although she’s academically strong, she struggles somewhat with some of the physical aspects of the training programme. Mayo has experienced a lot of loss in his life – notably, his mother, who he found after she committed suicide when he was a young boy. They, and the other recruits are seen put through their paces by the brilliantly tough taskmaster Sergeant Foley (Jamal Crawford) who takes no prisoners and forces them either to their full potential, or to ring the bell that signals them quitting. Outside of the training sessions, the group are seen in their free time, when they are given liberty – meeting local girls and sparking up romantic connections with them.
This jukebox musical features very upbeat 80s songs – using classic tunes from Bon Jovi, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie and many others, which keeps the energy and 80s nostalgia high. The plot itself though (coming from someone who has never seen the original movie) is quite dark and downbeat, with a lot of quite sad moments – which juxtaposed with the music is quite combative against each other. One example of this – is a very emotionally intense scene between Worley and Mayo, which abruptly comes to an end, and the bizarrely timed ‘Final Countdown’ begins to play alongside a completely unrelated scene. Some songs are slowed down and given an acoustic revamp which does help to align much better with the story, such as Luke Bakers wonderful rendition of ‘Kids in America’, which is very impressively performed. The plot itself, does often feel like it needs a bit more oomph to really engage the audience – though it may be more impactful for those who are original fans of the film rather than a complete newbie to it like myself!
The real highlight of this musical are the performers – Baker and Georgia Lennon (Paula) are incredible singers, who really help to boost each song to the best of their potential. Crawford stands out as the gruff, intense Sergeant, and Foster-Browne is incredibly likeable, completely embodying the strength of her character and making the audience wholeheartedly root for her to succeed. The set (Michael Taylor) consists mainly of various metal structures – that are moved, adapted and broken down to create the various sets. The industrialism of it helps to solidify the grittiness of the narrative, while the occasional brightly lit neon sign matches the bubbly 80s pop music soundtrack.
Although the storyline and characters are a little thinly written, this is still an enjoyable show – especially if you liked the original film or are a big fan of 80s music!
Runs Until 6 April 2024 then continues to tour
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