‘The Boy Friend’
"The Boy Friend,” by Sandy Wilson, directed by Robert Young, with musical direction by Barrie Shakes, presented by the Christchurch Operatic Society. April 11 to 19, 8 pan. to 10.10 pan. Reviewed by Philip Norman.
In the girl meets, girl loses, girl gets boy genre of musical theatre, Sandy Wilson’s “The Boy Friend” must be almost without equal. For sheer fun, vitality, and unadulterated nonsense this latter-day look at life in the roaring 20s would be hard to beat.
Sweet Polly Browne (engagingly played by Sharon Howells) and Tony Brockhurst (Robert Wells) are the only sane, straight characters in the madcap world of flappers and finishing schools, madames and
Chief crazies in this larger-than-life, one-dimen-sional parody of musical conventions are the chorus of gels enrolled at Mme Dubonnet’s finishing school in Nice. The sheer energy that each individual generates in the unison display of high-society extrovertism is commendable. With pursed lips, uncontrollably batting eyelids, and stylised water-can postures, the gels keep the action bubbling along at a frenetic pace. Dorothy Hart-Brown, with consistently heavy French action, extravagant gestures, and powerful singing voice, gave an excellent, allround performance as Mme Dubonnet With Sharon Howells as Polly, Patricia Love (Maisie) and Philip Rowe (Bobby) shone for their strong voices and lively presence. Robert
Wells deserves mention particularly for his excellent tap-dancing in the delightful “A Room in Bloomsbury.” The ensemble by the choruses was generally good. The singing was lusty and articulate and the dancing reasonably polished, considering the difficulty of many of the routines. The four-piece band of piano (Barrie Shakes), banjo and guitar (Maurice Liebert), double bass (Helen Butler), and drums (Andrew Rains) commendably discreet in its accompaniments. The show was colourfully dressed by Diane Brodie, the bathing costumes of Act H and the ball setting and fancy dress attire of Act 111 being particularly striking. Tn all, the show, if a little uneven in places, was an enjoyable evening’s enter-
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Press, 12 April 1984, Page 8
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324‘The Boy Friend’ Press, 12 April 1984, Page 8
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