The curtain rises on An Officer and A Gentleman - The Musical on Monday (July 9), the start of a six-day stay at Milton Keynes Theatre for the stage version of the eighties big-screen classic.
This brand-new musical is based on the '82 Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere which tells the story of Zack Mayo who is in training to become a US Navy Pilot. When Zack rolls into boot camp with a bit too much of a swagger, drill Sergeant Foley doesn’t make life easy for him.
When he falls for local girl Paula Pokrifki and tragedy befalls his friend and fellow candidate, Zack realises the importance of love and friendship and finds the courage to be himself and win the heart of the woman he loves. It’s only then he can truly become both an Officer and a Gentleman.
The musical includes the hit song from the movie ‘Up Where We Belong’ along, with 80’s classics such as ‘Alone’, ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’, ‘You’re the Voice’, ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’, ‘Heart of Glass’, ‘Toy Soldiers’ and ‘Material Girl’ and features one of the most iconic romantic scenes ever portrayed on screen.
Four-time Laurence Olivier Award nominated actress Emma Williams will play ‘Paula Pokrifki’. Emma’s previous credits include ‘Truly Scrumptious’ in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, “Mrs Henderson Presents” and “Love Story”, all in the West End.
This year Emma won the What's On Stage Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for playing ‘Helen’ in Cameron Mackintosh's revival of “Half A Sixpence” at the Noel Coward Theatre.Emma Williams will play ‘Paula Pokrifki’,
Jonny Fines will play the iconic role of ‘Zack Mayo’ – the role made famous by Richard Gere in the beloved 80s film. Jonny most recently played the role of ‘Rooster’ in the West End production of “Annie” at The Piccadilly Theatre. Other theatre credits include the UK Tours of “The Sound of Music” and “Avenue Q”.
Ray Shell is ‘Foley’, Ian McIntosh will be ‘Sid Worley’ and Jessica Daley is cast as ‘Lynette Pomeroy’.
Nikolai Foster, artistic director of Curve and director of An Officer and Gentleman – The Musical said: "Douglas Day Stewart wrote An Officer and a Gentleman in response to his time serving in the American Air Force and the challenges he faced during training. It is a visceral, uncompromising and ultimately tender portrait of the these personal experiences and the lives of folk living near the training facility in the early 1980s.
"We are proud to have assembled such an accomplished company of actors, led by Emma, Ray, Jonny, Ian and Jess to create our production and realise this beautiful portrait of working class lives. All of us at Curve are excited to tell this story - set to a fantastic 80s playlist - and to be working with the talented team at Jamie Wilson Productions.
"Productions like this couldn’t be made without the support of our collaborators and we are thrilled to be working with Jamie and his team. Officer will certainly be a memorable moment in our theatre's 10th birthday year.’
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