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It was just about a year ago that I made a casual comment, either during or
after Fiddler On The Roof, that it would be nice to direct The Boyfriend at the
Kenton. I was very flattered when I was approached soon after that comment by
the then HAODS Chairman, Terry Rymer to consider actually turning my thoughts
into a reality. I accepted the challenge and so the journey began.
Last October I started to put things into motion, organising and appointing
firstly the rehearsal pianist, the production team, followed closely by the
lighting, stage manager, wardrobe, props etc. I had never been so organised! I
made two or three presentations to the Society, followed by a workshop which
involved all the production team, then finally, auditions were held last
November.
 Auditions, I feel, are always quite interesting as you never know who is
going to turn up and one should always keep an open mind and be prepared for the
unexpected – and in this case, the unexpected was the lack of young men! We were
able to cast the female roles and the more mature roles, but could not find a
Tony or a Bobby or all the young French men- and Christmas was fast approaching.
Then the dreaded “white stuff” appeared just before and again after Christmas
which hung around for some time. This caused great disruption to everyone’s
lives let alone our rehearsal schedule – and still no young men to fill the
roles!
As time went by I realised that it was perhaps because The Boyfriend is not
rock and roll and perhaps not such an attractive proposition that the young men
did not appear. Also with financial climate as it is, people were concentrating
on their day jobs rather than taking on the responsibility of a show. Finally,
with just six weeks to go, we managed to secure a complete cast and we all
breathed a sigh of relief. I must congratulate and compliment the patience and
hard work that all the cast, especially the newcomers maintained throughout the
sometimes difficult rehearsal period.
Sandy Wilsons’ The Boyfriend is a very important piece historically in the
world of musical theatre having stunned modern theatre trends in the 1950’s, it
went in to the West End and enjoyed unparalleled success for five years and ran
for a staggering 2,084 performances. It was a joyous show and audiences loved
it. I hope that you enjoy this production and have as much fun watching as I
have had working on it, with such a hardworking and talented cast.
As Director, being a member of the production team along with Marc and David
is important, but it would be remiss of me not to thank everyone from all the
technicians to front and backstage for their professionalism and tremendous
support for getting this show (eventually!) on the road to the Villa Caprice in
the South of France. I hope you enjoyed the show and laugh as much as we did in
rehearsals.
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