An Officer and A Gentleman, Newcastle Theatre Royal (UK Tour)

An Officer and a Gentleman: The Musical (UK Tour)

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Reviewed on the 20th June 2018 by Freddie Lee

An Officer and a Gentleman tells the story of Zack Mayo in training to be a US Navy Pilot and soon he falls in love with local girl Paula Pokrifi. After the tragedy of his best friend, Zack learns the importance of love and friendship and finds the courage to win the heart of the woman he loves before becoming both an Officer, and a Gentleman.

I have heard about the show for a while now and have known that it was coming to my local theatre but I never got round to booking a ticket. I finally managed to on the night of the perfomance and I was blown away by the story of the show and intertwined is hit 80s music such as Up Where We Belong, It's A Man's World and many more which all together makes it a beautiful piece of theatre.

The show starts with the audience meeting Zack Mayo played by Jonny Fines, at the very beginning of training alongside the other candidates and the officer in charge, Emil Foley, played by Ray Shell. In the role of Zack Mayo, I thought Jonny was good at playing this character and he managed to show some depth to the character which I was not expecting. His performance is captivating and very emotional especially in some of the final scenes of the show.

We soon begin to meet some of the other candidates such as Sid Worley, played by Ian McIntosh, and Casey Seegar, played by Keisha Atwell. After a few weeks, the candidates were allowed out into town and as an audience, we meet Paula Pokrifi - Emma Williams - and Lynette Pomeroy - Jessica Daley.

As Sid, I thought Ian McIntosh was brilliant, vulnerable yet excitable at the beginning which is a complete contrast to his demise later on in Act 2. Not to mention his time to shine his vocal ability in some of the Act 2 songs was phenomenal and his onstage chemistry with Jessica Daley as Lynette was good also. Jessica was another stand out performance for me in that her portrayal seemed completely realistic and effortless and her voice was beautiful too.

As Zack Mayo's love interest, Paula Pokrifi, Emma Williams was brilliant. Her onstage relationship with Jonny was very believable and her performance was captivating and enthralled me the moment she stepped on stage. She is a first-rate actor and I would happily see her in this role again and again. She was just so powerful in this role and I loved every minute of it.

I have to say that after seeing this show, I have completely changed my opinon on the show and that it exceeded my expectations without a doubt. Although I recognise that it is a brilliant show with a powerful message, I still feel a tad lukewarm about it and I don't specifically know why. I still recommend this show as it is a quality piece of musical theatre which definitely packs a punch.

An Officer and A Gentleman is currently visiting various venues on its UK and Ireland Tour.

More information about the show can be found here.

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