A musical which brings together the intensity of Naval training, fun, heartbreak, and brilliant 80s hits.
If you’re a fan of both musical theatre and Topgun, this is the show for you. Based on the hit film and set in Florida, it follows two young men named Zack and Sid. They are both starting out in the navy in the 1980s, with a dream of flying jets.
The musical began with ‘In the navy now’, which set the scene perfectly. The choreography, dancing and singing were all super slick, leaving this particular number mesmerising to experience and starting the show off with an intensity which would be matched a few more times throughout.
Looking through the programme as I took my seat, I was immediately struck by the song list. Many classic favourites of mine including ‘I was made for loving you’, ‘I want to know what love is’ and ‘Heart of glass’ are present, and the cast did not disappoint in their performances. There were some stunning vocal arrangements with power which blew the audience away, but also soloists giving it their all. Georgia Lennon, who played Zack’s love interest Paula Pokrifiki, brought the house down with her stunning rendition of ‘Alone’. The two male leads, Luke Baker (Zack) and Paul French (Sid) were notable by the natural tones in their voices, making every song seem effortless and genuine. There were four understudies in place the night I watched, but it was impossible to tell, as the cast, band and crew were all perfectly slick. However, whilst I think the accents were good, it did occasionally mean some words were lost.
The show was fun for the majority, but had surprising moments of emotion and intensity. Paul French’s performance of ‘Family man’ felt raw and heartbreaking, I’m sure bringing many of the audience to tears. The story really was quite sad and serious, but the musical as a whole was full of life and energy. It also tackled feminist and equality issues, and had a great character arc for the young woman hoping to be the first in history to be accepted into jet training, played by the impressive Olivia Foster-Browne. I will say there was a lot more drama in act two than act one, and the plot could have been balanced out a little better.
The set and costumes were not stand-out, but they were fitting for the production and boosted by the lighting design. A clever use of lighting involved lights travelling outwards from the stage and over the audience, to give the effect of a jet taking off.
I felt some of the transitions out of songs were not directed as well as they could have been: the audience often struggled to know when to clap which made a couple of moments stilted, but this improved as the show went on. The audience enjoyed singing and clapping along to lots of the well-known songs, and there was a thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end.
Overall, a very enjoyable and impressive show with many great 80s hits.
Couldn’t here most of the dialogue and the songs were forced into the narrative. Left half way through it was boring, in fact one of the group fell asleep.