An Officer and a Gentleman

New Wimbledon Theatre, 02/04/24

Credit: Manual Harlan

Final rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Another relatively new musical with a plot I was not familiar with, An Officer and a Gentleman was surprisingly enjoyable as a story. Based on the 70s film, with the same writer, there were some great twists and good character development, and the set and costumes were convincing and immersive. However, what did disappoint was this particular performance, which felt strangely underrehearsed (impossible because this is a touring production in the middle of the tour). There weren’t flaws so much with the acting, but some of the vocal performances fell well short of expectations.

The second half of the show certainly did the production more justice than the first. It is longer, at around 70 minutes – and although it started shakily with an average rendition of Livin on a Prayer, the storyline – conveyed convincingly by the acting – is triumphant. I would like to stress, however, my dissatisfaction with the use of popular songs rather than a bespoke musical score. While the show appeals to the less theatre-heavy audiences, breaking out into a rendition of The Final Countdown immediately after the saddest moment of the whole story – the suicide of Sid, played brilliantly by Paul French – just immediately took away from the poignancy of what unfolded. I found these ‘jukebox’ moments very jarring. Notwithstanding, the cast at times struggled to sing these popular songs, resulting in some very amateur-sounding, karaoke-ish covers of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Kids in America. And this is not to say the cast aren’t strong singers – by contrast I thought there was a strong array of vocal talent on display at times – but their voices certainly didn’t suit some of the chosen songs.

Among the standouts were Sinead Long’s portrayal of Lynette, with some impressive solos, she held a grip over the audience who were stunned into shock and then silence at the reveal of the fake pregnancy. Jamal Kane Crawford as the antagonising, high energy Sergeant Emil Foley was also a joy to watch, blending comedy and power to help drive the story on and develop characters under his authority.

But unfortunately for all this production’s elements of quality, it was the presentation that let it down. Shoddy solos, choreography that – albeit it was very good – some of the cast could execute well, while others looked like they’d learned it only an hour before the show. The orchestra was too loud – or the actor’s microphones were too quiet – so lines were sometimes lost and certainly whole chunks of lyrics were drowned out. With more polishing, this could become a very watchable show with a great story, but in the state I saw it, it unfortunately suffers from treading too close to the amdram line for me.