By Hilary Porter

WITH a soundtrack from the 80's featuring songs like Up Where We Belong and Girls Just Want to have Fun I expected An Officer and a Gentleman to be an uplifting feel-good show.

But this was not a dancing in the aisles, sing-a-long night but a theatrical slow burner that felt somewhat flat in the first half, yet gathered momentum later on, ultimately bringing many members of the audience to their feet to applaud.

Directed by Nikolai Foster, this brand-new musical is based on the 1982 Oscar-winning film starring Richard Gere which tells the story of Zack Mayo who is in training to become a US Navy Pilot. And the storyline is just as cheesy as we remember it: 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!

There is a real dark element to the show which was written by Douglas Day Stewart in response to his time serving in the American Air Force and the challenges he faced during training. It is a portrait of these personal experiences and the lives of the factory girls and families living near the training facility in the early 1980s.

The staging was particularly impressive with the numerous, frequently changing sets .The cast features a wealth of West End talent with some fabulous voices but the hit tunes were quite different to how we remember them, diluting our nostalgia, and there was minimal dancing and choreography throughout which made it feel strangely stilted and lacking in energy.

There are some good songs in there, with stand-out numbers being Up Where We Belong, Livin' On a Prayer, Don’t Cry Out Loud, You’re the Voice and Toy Soldiers.

Four-time Laurence Olivier Award-nominee Emma Williams who plays Paula and Jonny Fines who stepped into Richard Gere's shoes as Zack, delivered convincing, dramatic performances.

Ian McIntosh, playing Sid, who was nominated for an Olivier for his role in Beautiful – The Carole King Musical and Jessica Daley who was a finalist on BBC One’s Over The Rainbow, also gave strong performances.

It runs at the Mayflower until Saturday.