Skip to main content

Review of An Officer And A Gentleman - The Musical at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes

I had an advantage of coming to An Officer and a Gentleman unburdened by a knowledge of the film, having somehow inexplicably avoided seeing the iconic eighties Richard Gere and Debra Winger original. However, on the evidence of The Musical version, it's a heavy popcorn movie, with the emphasis on the corn(y) variety. Writers Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen have taken the original screenplay, and shoehorned, some more successfully than others, a bagful of eighties classics to create what just about amounts to a successful musical.

The story, such as it is, revolves around a bunch of US Navy recruits attempting to survive the pipeline and get their chance at the big flying game. Under the eye of Sgt Emil Foley (played with a heavily characterised approach by Ray Shell), a few survive the training, and also get up close and personal with the young ladies of Pensacola, Florida.

Leading the story are two romantic couples, Paula (Emma Williams) and Zack (Jonny Fines), and Sid (Ian McIntosh) and Lynette (Jessica Daley). The former are the characters portrayed by Gere and Winger in the film, but it has to be said that often the relationship, more broken, between Sid and Lynette often forms the most interesting aspect, and certainly has the more compelling story arc. All performers are great in the leads, with Williams, in particular, bringing an extremely strong and tough creation to the stage, against Fines often slightly one-dimensional character. Both McIntosh and Daley spark off one another in their intense relationship. Elsewhere there is very strong support from Rachel Stanley as Paula's mother Esther, and they have a brilliantly funny scene in the Pokrifki household, offering one of the few truly comic moments of the show.

The musical numbers are a mixed collection of those that work, and those that simply don't (Material Girl for one), when it does work though, it forms some tremendous moments. The showstopper without any doubt is Emma Williams skin-tingling solo performance of Heart's Alone, when she very finally, in the second half, gets to show truly why she is a multi-Olivier nominee.

Elsewhere in the musical moments, there is a brilliant reworking of Kim Wilde's Kids In America, given a brilliantly intense and sweaty performance by Darren Bennett, as Zach's father Byron. They get the openings and closing rights, opening with a very slight reworking of Status Quo's In The Army Now becoming the Navy and creating an effective opening alongside Kate Prince's lively, and suitably regimented choreography. There is also nothing wrong with closing one act with John Parr's classic St Elmo's Fire, and going all karaoke in the bar with a meaty version of Jon Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer. Added to this, a stirring version of Martika's Toy Soldiers, and it all finally ends, as expected with both the iconic moment and song Up Where We Belong, making it as much an eighties feast of musical, as much a musical.

There is a tough ruggedness to Michael Taylor's set which sits very well within the story, and there is some challenging lighting from Ben Cracknell, which mostly works extremely well, despite a couple of moments missed, and an occasionally wayward spotlight. The use of video from Douglas O'Connell, doesn't always please, as it can be a lazy staging option, however, for the best part, in this, it works.

An Officer And A Gentleman - The Musical is a tremendous distance from being the best that jukebox musicals have to offer, but despite only three rounds of applause between songs during the entire show, including one very much deserved for Alone, the audience suddenly comes alive at that final moment and it becomes clear they were almost there for just that one moment.

An Officer and a Gentleman is a by the numbers show, nothing special, but always entertaining and well performed. Feelgood entertainment at it's most simplistic, and at the end of the day, there is nothing at all wrong with that.

Just about gets off the runway.
⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Monday 9th July 2018 at Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.
An Officer And A Gentleman - The Musical runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 14th July 2018 before continuing its tour. Details at http://officerandagentlemanmusical.com/
For further details about Milton Keynes Theatre can be found at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

Photos: Manuel Harlan

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Review of Beauty and the Beast at Castle Theatre, Wellingborough

The Castle Theatre Wellingborough this year sees the home of Beauty and the Beast as its seasonal pantomime, and what a fabulously entertaining show it is. Hiding away from the big star names, Parkwood Theatres & Castle Theatre has assembled a talented bunch of performers to bring this tale “as old as time” to the stage. Produced and directed by Martin Cleverley once again, back from previous years' pantos, the show relies very much on characters rather than showy visuals. Taking full advantage of a French setting, the puns flow freely, including to the characters, with names such as Danon and Djon thrown into the mustard pot (very much intended) of puns. Aura Mitchell and Kaysee Craine lead our cast of characters as the title characters of Beauty and the Beast (also known as Prince Pierre). While they do play second fiddle, as is the norm for a panto, to the additional comic characters, they form a charming partnership. Returning to the role of panto dame from last year'...
Read more

Review of Mog's Christmas at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

Back in 2022, the theatre group The Wardrobe Ensemble created a sweet and adventurous staging of Judith Kerr's classic children's character, Mog - The Forgetful Cat . For this Christmas season at Royal & Derngate, Mog returns with, suitably enough, Mog's Christmas . The show, just a crisp, action-packed hour, retells two past adventures alongside a Christmas vignette. Kerr's Mog first appeared in 1970, and it launched a remarkable run of books over 50 years featuring the puzzled feline, culminating in the final book released in 2020, following Kerr's death at 95 in 2019. Kerr is most famous for one of her other tales, The Tiger Who Came to Tea . However, in Mog's Christmas , the show presents three entertaining little stories featuring her other, slightly lesser-known feline character. Over the course of the hour, we see Mog successfully foil a burglar, survive a trip to the V.E.T., and then, in the brand-new stage story, a Christmas adventure where Mog gets...
Read more

Review of a A Taste of Honey at Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes

Written by Shelagh Delaney in 1958 at just nineteen, A Taste of Honey was a ground-breaking depiction of modern society, falling very much into the "kitchen-sink" genre, fast developing with writers within the world of British theatre during the fifties. Dealing with a multitude of themes including class, race, age of sexual consent, gender, sexual orientation and illegitimacy, it has rightfully become a legend of theatre. However, almost seventy years later, does this play still resonate with audiences and have a place in modern theatres? The play, set in 1950s Salford, tells of teenager Jo and her mother Helen moving from one rough lodge to another as either rent becomes due or Helen needs to escape another failing relationship. With Jo approaching school leaving age, Helen sees the time is right to abandon her to the world and move on with her own life. When watching A Taste of Honey , you can imagine the controversy surrounding its original release. The content is provoc...
Read more