In spite of a change of venue, and all the problems that are involved with the change from a theatre to what is, in reality, a school hall that perhaps does not have the facilities of a purpose built theatre, Harrow Light Opera Company once again pulled out all the stops to put on a splendid staging of this wonderful, delightful, pastiche show which, in spite of being written in the 1950s, manages to catch the era of the 1920s. The whole company rose to the occasion with their interpretation of the sort of people we all expect to see in a French finishing school young English flappers flirting with local lads a funny French maid a rather imperious Madame (the headmistress) who has a rather secret past a rather bumbling member of the aristocracy accompanied by his awesome wife, and a millionaire who has daughter at the school.
As Hortense, Margaret Joyce was delightful, her accent was very good (and was kept up during the performance). Her songs were delivered with great gusto and were enjoyable. Maisie, Nicola Wallbank; Dulcie, Anna-Louise Statt; Nancy, Mandy Davies, and Fay, Heather King were superb as the four friends (or should I say chums) of Polly Browne. There was a lovely performance given by Nadia Carter, as Polly Browne, her costumes, acting and singing were first rate. Marcel; David J. Martin, Pierre; Chris Cuming and Alphonse; Adam Morris were all good dance partners and boy friends for Dulcie, Nancy and Fay.
Sue Brodie was a delightful Madame Dubonnet, wearing wonderful costumes, looked very elegant and acted beautifully. Her scenes with, as it turns out, her long lost love, were very well done. Bill Northover's first entry as Mr Browne (Polly's father) was a little bit low key he was not quite definite in his characterization, and should have been much more surprised, nay, shocked that his lost love was none other than Madame D. However, he did improve as the play progressed, finally admitting his affection for Madame Dubonnet and announcing his intended marriage to her. Michael Monk was excellent as Bobby van Husen. There was perhaps a slight problem with his American accent, but his acting, and dance routines, particularly the Charleston number with Maisie, were a joy to watch.
David Rees was very well cast as Tony. He was sincere in his acting and his two numbers with Polly a joy to watch. Lord Brockhurst is a wonderful part, a sort of pensioned off aristocrat trying to have a fling with young gels Jevan Morris rose to the occasion, getting as many laughs out of this role as he could. Perhaps, occasionally going slightly OTT, but nevertheless a very amusing performance. His duet with Dulcie was very funny, and his falling down was wonderfully done. Louise Tysoe was a truly fearsome Lady Brockhurst, trying to keep her husband under control, and worrying about their lost son. The speciality dancers, Pepe and Lolita, David J. Martin and b>Michelle Mullick had a very funny routine. Jim Davis, as the Gendarme, and Geoff Bullen, a waiter, completed the named characters.
The eight-piece orchestra under the direction of Ian MacGregor made a very good sound and caught just the right tempo. Kelly Hardwidge's choreography was truly wonderful. All the dance routines were terrific, and the cast did full justice to them.
The three sets were excellent, particularly the set for act three. The costumes were very much in period, the posh accents of the girls and the way they held themselves, particularly their hand movements, were very good. Richard Jones is to be congratulated in directing a first class show, with a first class cast. He was able to create just the right atmosphere for this delightful musical. Stage Manager, James McCann and his crew made certain everything ran smoothly. The lighting, designed by Ian Maclean, was fine. Props, b>Angela Brown and Sue Tunnicliffe, Make-up, Nicola, all helped with the success of The Boy Friend.
However, what marred the complete enjoyment of the show was the appalling sound system. The balance was entirely wrong. In the duets one singer could often be heard above the other, or not at all, a lot of the dialogue was lost and there was the occasional feed-back. Unfortunately, practically all the musical numbers were seriously compromised with this problem. It could have been slightly eased if some of the principals had projected their voices and not just relied upon being miked. Nevertheless, it was a most enjoyable evening. My thanks to Tony Austin for inviting Sylvia and myself, and a special thank you to Marguerita and Maurice Ray for looking after us in the interval.