This musical based on James Jones's famous novel is an adults-only affair what with murder, sadism, homosexuals being fleeced, hookers selling their wares, female nudity, a soldier urinating on stage and another one blowing his head off with his rifle.
So not one for the whole family then.
Based on the book, not the film, which left out quite a lot of just what the grunts got up to with the local gays, at nearly three hours, including an interval, it needs trimming. On the plus side Stuart Brayson's score has several rousing choruses - G Company Blues, The Boys Of '41 and More Than America - although his romantic ballads are less memorable, and Tim Rice's lyrics, when one can make out what the cast are singing, are fine. Director Tamara Harvey keeps the disparate strands together, but Bill Oakes's book is a bit of a mess.
The unusually large chorus, who perform some amazing athletic routines both on the parade ground and in the brothel, are one of the show's real assets. Karen Holmes as the bored commanding officer's wife, Darius Campbell as Warden, her sergeant lover, and Robert Lonsdale as Prewitt, the boxer who refuses to fight are all fine although they do tend to shout too much when acting.
The sets, however, are dreary and the back projections dismal - the surf on that famous beach where Karen and Warden frolic is practically invisible. As for the climax when the Japanese planes fly over Pearl Harbor, the less said the better. But the show remains an admirable attempt at creating a really serious musical which, should it ever get to Broadway, might become a wholly successful one. Just don't take Aunt Edna.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article