Theater News

An Officer and a Gentleman Musical to Tour in 2020

The production will be written and directed by Dick Scanlan.

Dick Scanlan will direct An Officer and a Gentleman as a musical.
Dick Scanlan will direct An Officer and a Gentleman as a musical.
(© David Gordon)

Dick Scanlan (Thoroughly Modern Mille) will write and direct a new musical based on the 1982 Oscar-winning film An Officer and a Gentleman. The stage show will begin a North American tour in fall 2020.

Based on the screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart (and based on Stewart's book written with Sharleen Cooper Cohen), the musical will feature choreography by Patricia Wilcox, musical supervision and arrangements by Dan Lipton, and orchestrations and arrangements by George Dyer. An Officer and a Gentleman will feature a score culled from the hits of the 1980s, including the beloved Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes duet "Up Where We Belong."

An Officer and a Gentleman is described as follows: "Zack Mayo's got smarts and a body built for US Navy pilot boot camp, but he also has too much swagger…until he meets a drill sergeant who's determined to drill
his arrogance out of him. Zack finds comfort in the arms of a local factory girl. But it isn't until tragedy befalls a fellow candidate that Zack learns the importance of love and friendship, and finds the courage to be his best self and win the heart of the woman he loves." The film starred Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr.