An Officer and A Gentleman has touched down in Ipswich to treat audiences to the timeless love story told by an expert cast and hit songs from the 1980s.
For two hours be transported to in and around the United States Naval Aviation Training facility in Pensacola, Florida in the year 1982.
The show is full of humour, emotional scenes and shares the message that you can be your own person and achieve your dreams despite other people trying to drag you down.
As soon as you enter the auditorium 1980s America comes to life through the recordings of old adverts selling food, cleaning products and even washing machines before the show and during the interval.
The show starts by introducing us to the trainees hoping to make it through the rigorous 12 week training programme to become officers for the US Navy.
There is Sid Worley, who's high-ranking family expects him to be like his late brother Tommy; Case Seegar, who strives to become the first female officer to be assigned to jet training; and leading man Zack Mayo who wants to prove to everyone he can become more than his alcoholic father Byron who is stationed at the same base.
Luke Baker brings wit and charm to the role and does not stray away from letting his raw emotion show when sharing his tale of growing up without love and experiencing it for the first time with Paula Pokrifki, played by Georgia Lennon.
Georgia stuns as Paula, a local factory girl wishing to achieve more by becoming a nurse, and has perfect chemistry with Luke to bring the love story to life on the stage.
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She was one of many to have a strong singing voice and her rendition of Alone in Act Two tugged at the heart strings.
All of the cast played their roles extremely well but the standouts were Melanie Masson as Esther Pokrifki and Jamal Kane Crawford as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley.
The former X Factor star had a powerful voice through the entire show and blew me away from her first song at the start of the show.
Jamal gave a strong performance which perfectly balanced the intensity of an intimidating sergeant with enough humour to show that behind the tough exterior, there was an element of care and respect for the officers he trained.
The set was a metal structure with neon lights to show the different settings through the show, an a set of stairs that could be moved around the stage.
Despite being simple, it was used creatively to stage the power imbalance between Sergeant Foley, the trainee officers and the locals of Pensacola.
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There were some parts of the show which I favoured slightly less such as Act One feeling a bit rushed despite being only 10 minutes shorter than Act Two and I am not sure if using the song Kids In America fit in while Zack was telling Paula about the struggles of his childhood.
The performance of Material Girl by Lynette, played by Sinead Long, also felt like it would have been better in Act One as by the time it was performed in Act Two the audience had already been reminded a lot that she wanted to marry an officer to fund her dream lifestyle.
Despite this, the opening night audience loved the show and were on their feet cheering and clapping during the bows and final performance of Up Where We Belong.
An Officer and A Gentleman runs until Saturday, September 14.
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