The Boy Friend

by Sandy Wilson

seen at the Menier Chocolate Factory on 16 February 2020

Matthew White directs this fizzing revival of Sandy Wilson's 1953 musical The Boy Friend, with Amara Okereke as PollyBrown, Dylan Mason as Tony Brocklehurst, Jack Butterworth as Bobby Van Husen, Tiffany Graves as Hortense, Janie Dee as Madame DuBonnet, Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson as Maisie  and Adrian Edmonson as Lord Brockenhurst, with an excellent supporting cast of singer/dancers. The production is designed by Paul Farnsworth with lighting by Paul Anderson, and the orchestra is led by Sion Beck.

The action is set in Nice in the 1920s where the Charleston is the rage, the perfect young (English) ladies are fretting after boy friends at their chic (French) finishing school, and the older generation renews youthful passion in unexpected places. It's all froth of the most delightful kind, bowled along by catchy tunes, witty lyrics, and sunny Riviera optimism. All this is reflected in another stunningly effective Menier makeover, with iron lacework curving above the stage and a brilliant backcloth representing the Mediterranean sky but able to catch almost any mood by subtle shifts of lighting.

In the relatively confined space the actors still manage impressive dance routines, and it's a real pleasure to see such fancy footwork close at hand; the energy is very infectious. The storyline is merely a pretext for the celebration of the great dances of the 1920s, with the romantic leads both attempting to survive incognito to avoid exploitation; but in this sunny world the sentimental vision of a little flat in Bloomsbury will never be the lot of two wealthy young things (though ironically, now, a century later, the same location might be beyond even their aspirations).

It's just pure joy from start to finish - or it would have been pure, except for a wayward and (in such a small space) unjustified decision to mike everyone. As usual this badly flattened spoken nuance, but (far worse) it rendered some of the singers quite painful to listen to, as louder phrases simply became overwhelming screeches - a real pity, as the words of the songs are as much fun as the tunes.