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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[5] Choreography for this version was by Patricia Wilcox.[6]
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.[7]
The Sydney production received mixed reviews.[8] 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".[9] 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.[10]
The show was nominated for five Helpmann Awards including "Best Musical 2012". Bert LaBonte won for "Best Supporting Actor".
Michael Kilbane Oliver Wright Otis Pavlovic George Cartwright
Officer Candidates
Zare 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.[11]
