The Boyfriend - performed October 2012

By Sandy Wilson

Performed with the kind permission of Samuel French

Director - Caroline Roberts
Musical Director - Patience Ling

The Boyfriend is such a great, fun musical with many catchy songs and a wonderfully silly storyline, what better way to forget everyday life and escape to the French Riviera for a short while, where the most important thing is love, dancing and of course, a boyfriend!
I have been lucky to get together a delightful group of people, cast and crew, who have made directing my first musical a great pleasure - although working out where to put 23 people on our little stage at the Manifest has been a challenge too.
My thanks to everyone involved, especially all our new cast members, some of them treading the boards for the first time, and all of them especially the younger cast members, who have been so keen to learn and who are putting on a great performance - Manifest stars of the future!
Caroline Roberts

Cast

(in order of appearance)

Hortense
Nancy Dines

Maisie
Lucy Watts

Dulcie
Eleanor Colley

Fay
Liz Moss

Nancy
Lauren Mercer

Polly
Bethany Aherne

Bobby
Ryan Maslen

Alphonse
Ryan Hynes

Marcel
John Roberts

Pierre
Malachy Luckie

Madame Bubonnet
Jenni Horn

Tony
Adam Duarte-Dias

Lord Percival
Alan Wheeler

Lord Brockhurst
Steve Parkinson

Lady Brockhurst
Val Taylor

Chorus / Waiter
Gordon Prior

Chorus
Patti Tomlinson

Chorus
Sarah Tonks

Chorus
Ella Smith

Chorus / Gendarme
Albert Horn

Chorus
Jan Watkins

Pepe Tango Dancer
Adrian Bolton

Lolita Tango Dancer
June Wheeler

Production Team

Caroline Roberts, Patience Ling, June Wheeler, Doug Newton, Alan Lott, Gary Wilson, Derek Butcher, Jude Hussey, Diana Luckie, John Roberts, Andy Terry, Nigel Rowe, Nigel Morton, Gordon Prior, Yvonne Cobbold, Val Taylor, Teresa Dale, Ali Mercer, Jacquie Terry, Sheena Goddard, Anne Doble, Kathy Cross, Kate Sheffield, Gloria Streames, Bruce Emeny, Ben Cross, Ken Steggall, Amanda Rowe, Alan Wheeler, Viv Wheatley, Steve Sadler and other volunteers not mentioned.

Awards & Nominations

The Musical

The show takes place at Madame Dubonnet’s Finishing School on the French Riviera. Polly, an English heiress, falls in love with Tony, a delivery boy. Conscious of her father's warning to beware of boys dating her for her family’s money, Polly pretends to be just a secretary. Things get complicated with the unexpected arrival in Nice Lord and Lady Brockhurst. It turns out that Lord and Lady Brockhurst are in fact Tony’s wealthy parents. Polly and Tony have shared the same secret – they both come from wealthy families. However, everyone ends up living happily ever after.

Reviews

This was the Manisfest at its very best. Everything about this production was supurb and everyone who attended must have felt much happier when they left than when they went in.
The Boyfriend, a musical by Sandy Wilson, was staged over six evenings at the Oxford Road theatre and in three acts told the ususal boy-meets-girl scenario, the couple both having money, but pretending they were not from a rich family.
The story did not really matter. It was the escapism with almost 20 songs, lots of dancing, lively music and colourful costumes, all adding up to a wonderful evening's entertaintment.
Several of the cast were newcomers to the group and the majority were teenagers or slightly older, which augers well for the future of the group, now in its fourth decade, but some long serving members had some interesting cameo roles.
As well as Caroline Roberts directing her first musical, and all 23 players, bouquets should also go to those responsible for the music, the choreography, the set and the wardrobe team for producing such an array of 1920s costumes.
Lesley Pallett