The Boy Friend

The Boy Friend

by Sandy Wilson

Directed by David Taylor

July 19 - 22, 2011

The Tower Theatre performing at Stert's Open Air Theatre, Liskeard, Cornwall



Here's the reaction of the audience :

"Just a quick word to thank the members of the cast, the band and production crew for a superb performance last night. The Boy Friend is one of our favourite musicals and your production is one of the best we have seen. The standard of shows at Sterts is always high and your professional production certainly maintained the quality and all at a ticket price of £7.50. In our opinion, there were no weak cast members and the standard of acting and dancing was excellent. The production zipped along and all credit to the director. The work that went into this production must have been immense. The band line up was spot on, including the clarinet and banjo."

"With some friends, I travelled from Camborne last night to see The Boy Friend. We come to Sterts 2 or 3 times a year, and are rarely disappointed in the quality of what we see.
However, this production of The Boy Friend stands out as being faultless. I would be grateful if you would pass on our thanks to theTower Theatre for such a wonderful evening. We are heavily involved in amateur theatre ourselves, so have some understanding of the thought, planning, work and effort that goes into shows.
This was superb in every aspect ...
- The staging was clever, well thought-out and extremely effective, and changes were managed very professionally.
- The costumes were imaginatively designed, and looked wonderful - and added much to the 'stylised' perfomances, which were a delight from start to finish.
- Casting could not have been better. All the principals were totally believable, and looked like they were very much enjoying themselves, and never once did the standard drop.
Our heartiest congratulations to the creative team, the cast, the stage team and the musicians. It is such a treat to see all the elements of a production achieving such a high level and working totally together to create a superb evening's entertainment."


Cast

 

Madame Dubonnet

Janet South

Percival Browne

Ian Recordon

Lord Brockhurst

Frank Crocker

Lady Brockhurst

Sue Brodie

Hortense

Victoria Flint

Polly Browne

Lizzy Barber

Maisie

Julia Stone

Dulcie

Victoria Davis

Nancy

Megan Housley

Fay

Jessica Walters

Tony Brockhurst

Alex Cooper

Bobby van Hussen

Chris Whittaker

Alphonse

Darren Garraghan

Pierre

Ian Thiele

Marcel

Mitchell Lathbury

Waiter, Gendarme

Christopher Yates

Band
Keyboards and Accordion : Colin Guthrie
Bass Guitar : Phillip Ley
Drums : Kate Rogers
Banjo and Guitar : Martin South
Clarinet : Sarah Hunt
Tenor Sax and Trumpet : Paul Sanders

Production Team
Director : David Taylor
Musical Director : Colin Guthrie
Choreographer : Janet South
Set Design : David Taylor
Costume Design: Kym Gribble
Costume Project Co-ordinator : Meryl Griffiths
Lighting Design : Laurence Tuerk
Sound Design : Phillip Ley, Colin Guthrie, Emma Heilds
Assistant Director : Lesley Strachan

Stage Manager : Michael Bettell
Assistant Stage Managers : Helen Guthrie, Charlie Simpson
Sound Operator : Emma Heilds
Lighting Operators : Katie South, Tayla Jewell, Lesley Strachan
Wardrobe : Imogen Banks, Pauline Bennett, Maddy Jenkins, Georgina Leigh, Jacqueline McLaren, Holly Steer, Jessica Walters, Denyse Macpherson
Set Construction : David Holyoake, Jo Staples, Keith Syrett, Andy Hind and members of the cast & crew


Janet South has been involved with the Tower for many years during which she has taken roles both on stage and off. Past choreography credits include Company, The Wind in the Willows, Curiouser and Curiouser, Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Mr Cinders and Once in a Lifetime. She has appeared in numerous plays and musicals including Countess Charlotte (A Little Night Music), Jenny (Company), Anna (Closer) and Emma Timms (Lark Rise). When not rehearsing Janet can be found doing jazz hands at Pineapple Studios or thwacking a shuttlecock around a North London sports centre.

Ian Recordon has played a wide variety of roles ranging from Valmont (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Eddie Carbone (View from the Bridge), Sir (The Dresser), Ralph Nickelby and Newman Noggs (Nicholas Nickelby) and C. S. Lewis (Shadowlands) to lighter roles such as Elyiot (Private Lives), Henry Higgins (Pygmalion), Gary Essendine (Present Laughter), Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Bottom (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Geoffrey (Stepping Out).

Frank Crocker been a member of the Tower since 2002. He recently completed a course in Sensory Story Telling at the Globe Theatre, which he has put to good use with a Deaf Blind organisation he is involved with from time to time. He has been acting for 46 years, but thankfully never had to make a living at it. For a short period during the 60's and 70's he was a professional singer/keyboard player, but eventually gave up all that glamour for a few luxuries like food and clothing.

This is Chris Whittaker's first production with the Tower. He studied at London Studio Centre. Recent productions include Kevin in Follies (also Assistant Director, Pleasance Theatre, Islington), featured dancer in The Boy Friend (Eyebrow Productions, Her Majesty’s Theatre), Paul in Acting 101 (Jermyn St. Theatre), ensemble in Sleeping Beauty (also Dance Captain. Hexagon Theatre, Reading), Weasel in The Adventures of Mr Toad (Gordon Craig, Stevenage), ensemble in Cinderella (Milton Keynes Theatre), ensemble in Night of 1000 Voices (Royal Albert Hall). Chris is also a choreographer and guest dance teacher at numerous vocational colleges.

Julia Stone graduated from the Two Year Acting course at Drama Studio London last year, and has since performed in various theatre and short film productions. Productions have included The Love Suicides at Sonezaki at Wilton's Music Hall, The Nutcracker at the Pentameters Theatre and Pygmalion performed at Shaw's Corner. She is also a keen musician and has played the violin in a number of theatrical productions including Bed and Sofa at the Finborough Theatre.

Lizzy Barber graduated in 2009 with a BA in English from Cambridge, where she skived off studying by performing in 14 productions, including The Importance of Being Earnest (Cecily), Blithe Spirit (Elvira), Private Lives (Sybil) and Playhouse Creatures (Nell Gywnn). Previously, she trained with the National Youth Theatre, Sylvia Young Theatre School and short courses at RADA and CSSD. Her dream role would be Janet in The Rocky Horror Show, so if any members know how to get the rights, let her know...

Victoria Flint's first appearance with the Tower was as an air hostess in Company. Since then she has played roles such as a personal assistant (Grace in Annie), missionary (Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls) and interior designer (Gilda in Design for Living). After taking a break from the stage to have two children, Victoria is delighted to be back – this time as a maid.

Sue Brodie joined the Tower in 2006 after a long spell away from acting. Since then she has appeared in The Country Wife, Breath of Life, Cigarettes and Chocolate/Hang Up, Whipping it Up and most recently in the controversial production of Dinner.

Megan Housley is making her Tower Theatre debut in The Boy Friend. Roles to date include Pepicek in Brundibar (Chetham’s/Imperial War Museum North), Anticleia/Klytie in The Penelopiad (KDC), Wendy in Peter Pan, and Mother in Living with Lady Macbeth (Fletcher Players). In her teens she flirted briefly with the NYMT and contributed musically to Radio 4’s Daily Service. The Boy Friend has a special place in her heart as, aged twelve, she caught the singing bug playing Dulcie! A lot of music lessons later, she’s now a freelance mezzo-soprano and has a day-job at Westminster Abbey.

After dance school and a brief spell studying music at Cambridge, Jessica Walters ran away to join the circus and has been performing ever since. She studied trapeze at Zippos and the Circus Space and has gone on to perform, with her company Hoop La La, on Britain's Got Talent, on Blue Peter, at Formula 1 and before royalty as her day job. Jessie also makes her own costumes and has recently helped make costumes for the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie. This is Jessie's first role with the Tower Theatre Company and she is thrilled to be singing and dancing again – along with a sneaky bit of hula-hooping!

Alex Cooper had a spell away from the theatre and re-ignited his passion for it last year. He has played a fool in KDC’s Midland Mainline, a spoilt child in Hay Fever with the Putney Arts Theatre, both roles that he played almost "too naturally". Playing Tony Brockhurst has been more of a challenge, a charming upstanding polite gentleman, taking him slightly longer to get into character.

This is Ian Thiele's first production with the Tower Theatre Company. As a youth, Ian performed with his community church choir and was often featured in their annual musicals. He went on to study Art and Design at university and now works in London as an Interior Designer.

Victoria Davis grew up in Belfast where her love of musical theatre began. A champion Irish dancer and regular performer with musical societies and dance companies, she experimented with all forms of dance and performed in everything from West Side Story, Les Miserables and Anything Goes to Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. She came to London in 2005 to study Law with French at University College London, where she also continued to develop her passion for performing. As President of UCL Dance Society, Victoria choreographed and produced a large-scale dance show, Pulse, with over 100 perfomers at the West End's Bloomsbury Theatre- a challenging but exhilarating experience! Victoria currently works for advertising agency glue Isobar, and in her spare time (when not performing!) enjoys reading gory historical novels and sampling London's many restaurants and cultural delights! Following a recent run in Centre Stage London's production of Steel Pier at the Bridewell, Victoria is delighted to be back in her first show with The Tower Theatre Company. It's never too late to Charleston with her!

Christopher Yates has acted in a variety of Tower Theatre productions since 1974, perhaps most notably in Heartbreak House and Under Milk Wood. He appeared most recently in Princess Ivona. Musical credits for the Tower company include The Boy Friend (1975), Dick Whittington, Lock Up Your Daughters and Annie. He attempts a line in French for the first time in this production.