An Officer and a Gentleman (musical)

An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical is a stage musical adaptation of the 1982 film of the same name, written by Douglas Day Stewart.

History The world premiere production of An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical was co-produced by John Frost and Sharleen Cooper Cohen. The book was written by Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen, and the score was by Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner. Directed by Simon Phillips, the musical starred Ben Mingay as Zack Mayo and Amanda Harrison as Paula Pokrifki. The production had its world premiere on May 18, 2012 at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia. The musical closed only six weeks later, on July 1.Adam Fulton, "Show won't go on: musical fails to deliver on world premiere fanfare", The Australian, June 12, 2016.

A new version of the musical made its premiere at Curve in Leicester, UK, in April 2018 before touring the UK. It was directed by Nikolai Foster and used songs from the film's soundtrack such as "Up Where We Belong", "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Toy Soldiers", "Alone", "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "Material Girl", as opposed to the original score by Hirsch and Lerner used in the previous incarnation.

In 2019, a North American tour of An Officer and a Gentleman was announced, with a book adapted by Dick Scanlan, based on the version by Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen. Choreography for this version was by Patricia Wilcox.

In 2024, the Curve production of the musical returned to the UK, again directed by Nikolai Foster. Starring Luke Baker as Zack Mayo, it opened on February 23 at The Alexandra in Birmingham.

Plot

Reception The Sydney production received mixed reviews."Review Roundup: An Officer and a Gentleman in Sydney", BroadwayWorld.com, May 20, 2012 (summary and links to other reviews). In response to a highly negative review in The Australian, calling the show a "bloodless facsimile" of the film, author Stewart published a rebuttal defending the production and attacking the critics for their "eclectic, overly intellectual point of view".David Ng, "'An Officer and a Gentleman' writer hits back at critic", Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012. When the show's closing was announced, producer John Frost told a reporter that an American tour was still a possibility, after revisions were made to the show.

The show was nominated for five Helpmann Awards including "Best Musical 2012". Bert LaBonte won for "Best Supporting Actor".

Cast and characters

+CharacterOriginal Australia CastOriginal UK Tour CastOriginal US Tour CastZack MayoBen MingayJonny FinesWes WilliamsPaula PokrifkiAmanda HarrisonEmma WilliamsMia MassaroSid WorleyAlex RathgeberIan McIntoshCameron LoyalLynette PomeroyKate KendallJessica DaleyEmily Louis FranklinSgt. Emil FoleyBert LaBontéRay ShellDavid Wayne BrittonByron Mayo*Bartholomew JohnDarren BennettShelly VerdenEsther PokrifkiTara MoriceRachel StanleyRoxy YorkRamon GuiterrezJosh PitermanTaniya Seegar*Zahra NewmanAmaya WhiteCharlie ReddingJosef BrownAmy CantrowitzSheridan HarbridgeYoung Zack MayoMichael KilbaneOliver WrightOtis PavlovicGeorge CartwrightOfficer CandidatesZare Anguay (Leung)William Carver (Perryman)Christopher Hanford (Greer)Kyler Hershman (McNamara)Nathaniel D. Lee (Watts)Blake Sauceda (Zuniga)Kevin Stevens (Cohen) * The character Taniya Seegar was changed to Casey Seegar in the US Touring production.

* The character Byron Mayo was changed to Zack's Dad in the US Touring production.

Recordings A promotional disc of five songs was released including "Up Where We Belong", performed by Ben Mingay, Amanda Harrison, Kate Kendall and Alex Rathgeber, and "If You Believe In Love", sung by Amanda Harrison.

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominee Result 2012 Helpmann Awards Best Musical Sharleen Cooper Cohen, John Frost Best Direction of a Musical Simon Phillips Best Choreography in a Musical Andrew Hallsworth Best Female Actor in a Musical Amanda Harrison Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical Bert LaBonte Theatre People Pro Choice Best Actress Amanda Harrison Best Supporting Actor Bert LaBonte Best Supporting Actor Alex Rathgeber Best Director Simon Phillips New Musical Sharleen Cooper Cohen, John Frost

References

Further reading "Suck it up, buddy. She just didn't like it" Letter by actor James Millar, addressed to Day Stewart in The Australian, 22 May 2012, in response to his earlier letter complaining about a critic's poor review of An Officer and a Gentleman, The Musical