Show: An Officer And A Gentleman
Format: Musical
Genre: Drama
Date: May 21 2018
Location: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
The vintage 1980s movie An Officer And A Gentleman has been brought to life on the stage. And the show made its way to Liverpool’s Empire Theatre last night.
An Officer And A Gentleman
Description Of An Officer And A Gentleman
The backdrop to the show beforehand was a collage of news items about the likes of Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson, The Johnny Carson Show and other stories from the time period. The show itself begins with a trumpet version of Up Where We Belong. There is then a bus scene where the new recruits for the Navy Pilots are on their way to a training camp.
Jonny Fines plays Zack Mayo, a motorbike enthusiast described as being “like James Dean”. The Drill Sergeant, Emil Foley (Ray Shell), is strict and seems to challenge his new recruits by saying that he knows they will “D.O.R” (“Drop In Request, as in to resign) before their 12-week course is over. The recruits come from different backgrounds, including one woman who is out to prove that she can become a pilot, despite her gender and ethnicity.
Factory
Next, we go to the factory (incidentally, the scene changes are superb), where the women are required to do repetitive work for substandard payments. Zack and his friend Sid Worley (Ian McIntosh) end up meeting some of the ladies. One of these is Paula Pokrifki (Emma Williams), who wants to be a nurse but keeps getting held back, whilst her friend Lynette Pomeroy (Jessica Daley) sees her only way out of the monotonous life as being an opportunity to marry a pilot from the camp. Paula’s mother Esther (Rachel Stanley) also works in the factory, and these moments include such songs as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and It’s A Man World.
Zack’s father Byron (Darren Bennett) appears but, unfortunately, he seems to almost mock his son’s attempt to become a pilot, saying that he will never succeed, and makes disparaging comments about Zack’s mother who has previously passed away. Zack retaliates by promising to complete the course, motivated by the fact that his father has no faith in him (his father is an unpleasant character, being both a drunk and a womaniser).
Dancing
The lads agree to attend a dancing event at the end of their initial three weeks to meet the girls properly, though they end up at a local bar called TJs where they’re not exactly made welcome. This leads to a fight, which ultimately results in Zack and Paula and Sid and Lynette ending up at a motel. From there, we see the backdrop of a sunny beach, which is very realistic, especially the seafront. It is at this point that the characters truly fall for each other.
Sid is quite naive and has only joined the programme to please his family, as his brother was a pilot who had unfortunately been killed in action. These scenes include some great singing performances for the likes of I Wanna Know What Love Is. Zack is a little reluctant to become romantically involved as the guys were warned that local girls all wanted to marry pilots based on their career choices. Paula insists that she is not like that, though Lynette fits that description to the max.
Recruits
The course gets harder as some recruits drop out; the ringing of a bell signifies when anyone has chosen to D.O.R. Zack’s father returns and laughs when he sees that his son has met a girl. The course continues and the regime gets even stricter; they sing one song with the line “Napalm sticks to kids”, which horrifies one recruit and causes him to leave. Another female recruit, Casey Seegar (Keisha Atwell) struggles with the physical challenges and will not graduate until she can overcome “The Wall”.
They all try to support each other through the course, but Zack tries to be clever and scam his way through some parts; once Emil finds out, he is furious and almost fires Zack. Mayo begs him not to as he admits that he’s got nothing else going on in his life. As a punishment, he has to perform extra duties. But as a surprise, Sid joins Paula and Lynette in going to the camp. And he’s egged on to moon the Drill Sergeant! Zack is happy and admits to Paula that nobody has ever supported him, given that his father was a drunk in the Navy and his mother committed suicide, with Zack himself finding her.
Pregnant
They realise that they like each other a lot, and Paula invites Zack to her house. It doesn’t go well, though, as Paula’s mother notes that she got pregnant to a pilot who then left her, which leads Zack to assume that Paula will act the same and so he storms off. This leads to an emotional performance between mother and daughter (Don’t Cry Out Loud), with Paula, in particular, being outstanding here and in multiple songs. All of her renditions have real sincerity and passion. Meanwhile, Sid and Lynette discover that they are pregnant, so she asks Sid to meet her family, but he refuses, saying that they wouldn’t accept the situation.
Back to the course, a big test awaits called The Dunker, where recruits have to escape a sinking plane. If they complete the challenge, they will graduate. Sid fails and rings the bell (D.O.R.); Zack is furious with Emil for allowing him to do this. Soon, Sid finds Lynette and proposes, telling her that he has left the programme. But this doesn’t please Lynette, who notes that nobody D.O.R’s in the eleventh week. He is still happy until she reveals that she never was pregnant and no longer wants him.
Analysis Of An Officer And A Gentleman
Now, Sid will not get to be a pilot either. This devastates him, and he sadly ends up taking his own life. Meanwhile, Zack and Paula meet up in the bar, unaware of what has happened. It’s only when they go back to the motel where Zack finds his friend dead. Just as he did with his mother.
The remaining recruits all make it to the final week. This includes Zack who in the interim period has a fight with Emil, taking out his anger. But far from denying him the chance to graduate, the two have a newfound respect for one another. In the final scene, they all graduate. And Casey becomes the first female to have successfully trained to become a Jet Pilot. Zack has also completed his training to become a Jet Pilot. From there, we get the famous scene where he comes to the factory and whisks Paula off her feet to take her away.
Summary Of An Officer And A Gentleman
The performances are fantastic, along with a strong supporting cast. The scenery is very good. Furthermore, the lighting made the factory in particular very authentic, as well as the TJ Bar. So, it was a great show with a finale that had the audience up on their feet!
