HAODS - For the best entertainment in live theatre, together with top quality drama - amdram at its best, Henley Operatic & Dramatic Society has it all. Performing at the Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames, NODA award winning HAODS musicals and plays are renowned for excellence.

An Amateur Production by arrangement with Samuel French Ltd

    The Gallery page for the Boyfriend is here

POLLY BROWNE - Helen Eastwood

TONY BROCKHURST - Edward Henderson.

MAISE - Samantha Fields

BOBBY VAN HUSEN - John Ralls

PERCIVAL BROWNE - Gareth Saunders

MADAME DUBONNET- Julie Huntington

LORD BROCKHURST - Basil Evans

LADY BROCKHURST - Annette Bowden

HORTENSE - Claire Wallis

DULCIE - Emma Powell

FAY - Ruth Jones, 

NANCY - Daisy O'Halloran, 

PEIRRE - David Holmes.

MARCEL - Pete Bridekirk 

ALPHONSE - Kevin Goodfellow

GARCON - Andy James,

GENDARME - Paul Cockfield 

The musical opens at Madame Dubonnet's finishing school on the outskirts of Nice, France. Five young British girls (students at the school) are dreaming and chatting of the ball that evening-and of their hopes for boyfriends. Nancy hopes to pair off with Pierre, Fay with Marcel, Dulcie with Alphonse, and Maisie with the rich and handsome American Bobby Van Husen. Polly (the original "poor little rich girl") has invented an imaginary boyfriend that writes to her from Paris because her wealthy and widowed father has forbidden her to date for fear that all boys are after only her money. Of course, Madame Dubonnet is not above dreaming of lovers herself. When she hears that Polly's father, Percival Browne, will be visiting that very evening, she begins to wonder if he is handsome and rich--and available.    As the girls disperse, Bobby sneaks in the back way and surprises Maisie. He has come to ask her to save    every dance that evening. She hints that she may honour his request then rushes him out before someone catches them together and alone.   

Next enters Percival Browne, looking for his daughter; but he finds Madame Dubonnet first.They soon     remember each other from a fling during the war, when they are both younger. The old sparks ignite quickly,  and they are about to kiss when they are interrupted by the girls' laughter off stage; so they rush out, paired up once again.Polly enters, followed soon by Tony, dressed as a messenger boy with a package for Polly. They begin to fall for each other, and Polly soon invites him to the ball with her that evening, although she knows full well her father would not approve of someone from such an obviously lower station in life.  In the next act, that same afternoon, Lord and Lady Brockhurst enter the scene, bemoaning the fact that their  only son Tony, has run away from college. Lady Brockhurst is a very proper British matron, but her husband is a bit of a scallywag, with an eager eye for all the beautiful women around him. They leave the scene and Polly and Tony re-enter, with each telling the other that they have no money and want only to love each other and lead a simple life. They become the final  boy/girl mix in what then becomes a hilarious festival of song and dance as they work out the various obstacles to their loves (parents, social customs, and their own hesitations). 

 

 

 

Polly – Helen Eastwood
This is Helen’s sixth show with HAODS and she is delighted to be playing Polly in this production, having previously played the character of Nancy in the show. Helen continues her love for a ‘Tony’ but a very different one from the previous Tony she longed for in West Side Story (affectionately nick-named WSS). As well as Maria is WSS, Helen has been lucky enough to have played the roles of Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof and Barbara in Summer Holiday. She is also a member of Reading Operatic Society.

 

Tony – Edward Henderson
Ed has always loved being on stage and has been part of his local drama group for nearly fifteen years. His roles have included Edmund in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. He has danced in the ballet scene of The King and I, at the New Theatre Oxford and has also appeared in shows with Oxfordshire Youth Musical Theatre at The Playhouse. Last year he completed the foundation course at Millenium Performing Arts School in London. Edward is thrilled to be part of HAODS and to be taking on the challenging role of Tony. Away from the stage, his interests are classic cars, Irish dancing, the outdoors and health and fitness.

Mme Dubonnet – Julie Huntington
Julie is reprising this delicious role of Mdme Dubonnet, having last played her some ten years ago, when the entire cast shipped over to Faliaise, Henley’s twin town, to present the show for a civic exchange. It was a great success and she is delighted to be playing this wonderful character once again.

 

 

 

 

Percival Brown – Gareth Saunders

Gareth has been interested in theatre for as long as he can remember and with a Mum who acted professionally to inspire him, it was only a matter of time before he answered his own calling to go on the stage. Beginning with The Woodley Players in their production of Night Must Fall as a psychopathic murderer in 1990, he has played numerous roles in different local theatres ranging from comedy through drama and more recently musicals. Continuing his Kenton career and coming straight from The Country Wife four weeks ago as a camp 17th century fop, Gareth is looking forward hugely to enjoying this very different role in HAODS' delightful production of The Boyfriend.  

 

Bobby Van Husen – John Ralls

It is hard to believe that John is just sixteen, because he has packed so much into those years. He loves performing and has had great roles in various shows, including Zeke in High School Musical; Britney in We Will Rock You; and Riff in West Side Story to name a few. After his amazing portrayal of the mega-rich Bobby, he will be hard at it rehearsing for the part of Reecey in Our House, with Starmaker. John also plays lead guitar and writes the songs for his band, The Prospect, who have featured on BBC Berkshire, in the Reading Chronicle and Gigs mentioned in Kerrang Magazine. Check them out at www.myspace.com/theprospectuk .

 

Hortense – Claire Wallis
Claire has been performing in amateur productions since she was eleven and has played several roles over the years including Sally in Cabaret, Sarah in Guys and Dolls, Chava in HAODS production of Fiddler on the Roof and more recently the Science Officer/Gloria in Return to the Forbidden Planet. In between rehearsing for the Boyfriend, Claire has also been directing this year’s festival play for HAODS and is starting up her own business as a qualified toastmaster. Hortence is the first French character that Claire has played and has enjoyed adding some va va voom to The Boyfriend!  



Maisie – Samantha Fields
Samantha has been performing since she was six and, as well as HAODS, she is currently a member of Reading Operatic Society, Mostly G & S and The Milestone Players. Recent roles include Mimi in ‘Allo ‘Allo, Venus in La Belle Helene, Macbeth in FAHEWIGS Macbeth and Mae in The Pajama Game. The Boyfriend is one of her favourite shows and she is very excited to be playing the flirty and fun-loving seventeen-year-old Maisie (no age jokes please). She would like to point out that in real life she is not at all like flirtatious Maisie when it comes to romance, but most people who know her seem to disagree… This is her first show with HAODS and she would like to thank everyone for making her so welcome at the company and to wish them all lots of luck for the production.

Dulcie – Emma Powell

This is Emma's first show with HAODS, but not the first time she has been on the Kenton stage. For many years Emma belonged to WLOS who also perform at the Kenton stage and has enjoyed playing many parts such as Pitti Sing in The Mikado, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance and Phyliss in Iolanthe. Now Emma performs mainly with Reading Operatic Society at the Hexagon, most recently playing Gladys in The Pyjama Game and particularly enjoyed the scene in the nightclub where Gladys becomes rather drunk. Many friends said it seemed to come quite naturally! 
Having had such fun in The Boyfriend before, Emma is looking forward to playing the flirtatious Dulcie again. 

 

Fay – Ruth Jones

Originally from Aberdeen, Scotland, Ruth trained in Musical Theatre at the North Cheshire Theatre College in 2000. Ruth has acted professionally in various TV roles (Hollyoaks, Brookside, Clocking Off, Bjork Documentary for BBC, North Square), Theatre (A Murder Mystery, BT Education Series (Semi Professionally – Variety Show with Peter Kaye -Manchester Palace Theatre, college productions of Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Rocky Horror Show, Hoorah for Hollywood), short film “Girl”, and has enjoyed singing on stage, with a soul/”Motown” band and with concert choirs (One Singular Sensation – Lesley Garrett). Now living in Henley, Ruth is delighted to be back “treading the boards” with HAODS.

 

Nancy – Daisy O’Halloran
This is Daisy's fourth show with HAODS. After working backstage in Titanic – The Musical, she went on to be a villager in Fiddler on the Roof and was bitten by the acting bug again and was last seen as Wanda Brar in Return to the Forbidden Planet Studying Law and competing on her horse (Floyd) has taken her focus since school but she is pleased to be back in the theatre. Daisy has thoroughly enjoyed her time rehearsing The Boyfriend and loved the challenge of playing ditsy Fay after pretending to be grown up and intelligent all day!"  She hopes you enjoy the show.

 

 

Lord Brockhurst – Basil Evans
Basil first appeared with HAODS in the chorus of Oklahoma! Since then he has gone on to greater things as Rod in Singin’ in the Rain, Dr Grimwig in Oliver!, several cameos in Happy as a Sandbag, Wardle in Pickwick. He last appeared but perished as Benjamin Guggenheim in Titanic; The Musical. He has also appeared with The Henley Players as Jim Heeler in Hobson’s Choice and last October as David in Noel Coward’s The Vortex. Basil relishes playing Lord Hubert Brockhurst – a lovable rogue who cannot resist the challenge of being surrounded by tempting young ladies, invoking constant rebukes from his formidable wife Hilda
 

 

Lady Brockhurst - Annette Bowden
Annette has been involved with amateur theatre from a very early age, with acting lessons at school and later at drama school. She has been a member of several amateur dramatic groups both in the UK , Singapore and Malaysia and is a longstanding member of both HAODS and The Henley Players. She is really enjoying her part of the battleaxe Lady Brockhurst,

 

 

 

Garçon - Andy James
Andy is no stranger to being in catering and is continuing his career in the service industry after appearing as the Head first Class Steward in Titanic, The Musical. Although, he is used to a far higher class of clientele!

 

 

 

  

Tom O’Halloran – Louis Cristof de la Plage
Thomas heard about The Boyfriend from his sister Daisy, who plays dizzy Fay. Daisy
persuaded him to join the cast when we were very short of young men, so he
came into The Boyfriend to play Louis, one of the French boys. This is Tom’s
first production with an amateur dramatics group though he did enjoy acting
at school and was in a number of productions including Oh What a Lovely War and
A Midsummer Night's Dream. His hobbies include playing darts and reading. He is
very much looking forward to this play and is sure that it will be a great success.

 

 

Gendarme - Paul Cockfield -
After recently playing Pinchwife in The Henley Players’ Restoration comedy, The Country Wife, Paul is delighted to get back into his comfort zone of playing a policeman ~and for the second time a French one ~with no words to learn and just two chorus songs! He has, however stepped out of his uniform a few times as the weasily villain Harry, in Jamaica Inn, and a variety of comic roles in Wyrd Sisters. Paul’s other appearances for HAODS include Happy As A Sandbag, Calamity Jane, Amadeus. Pickwick, and Titanic, The Musical.

 

 

Marcel – Peter Bridekirk -
Pete was found in the mountains of China on the steps of a Buddhist Temple. Until the age of 18 he learned how to be one with the Universe, the route to Enlightenment and how to cook rice. He now travels the world as a Guru and hopes someday to save the rainforest for his many, many children. We are honoured to have him stop off from his mission to save the world to save this production of The Boyfriend – which was without a Marcel until very recently! Thank you, your eminence!

 

 

 

Alphonse - Kevin Goodfellow
Kevin has been involved in stage productions for the past 7 years, and in that time he has tackled roles such as Scarecrow, Lady Macbeth, Pirate 2nd in command, a werewolf, The King, Bob Cratchett and various policemen and criminals. His best roles have been odd characters like the Mad Hatter, which some say involve no acting whatsoever! He is looking forward to playing Alphonse, although the part calls for a lot of dancing and these skills seem to have been held up in the post. Hopefully they’ll turn up for opening night.

 

 

Pierre – David Holmes
This Is David's third time on the Kenton Stage with HAODS, His first performance was as Chino in West Side Story. He then appeared on stage as Fredrick Fleet in Titanic the Musical. David has enjoyed playing a rich French gentleman in The Boyfriend very much and having Daisy (Nancy) as his girlfriend! He will miss the show greatly and cannot wait to be back on stage very soon!! His next task will be as stage manager for the HAODS Festival entry, The Ladybirds.

  

 

 

 

BackStage and Front of House

Stage Manager – Cliff Colborne
Crew - Ross Duncan, Holly Bennett
Lighting Henley Theatre Services
Sound - Bruce Smith
Costume - Rachel Chrisp Ann Dayton
Set Design and Construction – Cliff Colborne
Hair – Hazel West-Manning
Make up - Kate Carter-Windle
Dressers - Penny Gilbert Karen DuPlesis
Prompt – Nicoletta Hartin
Properties – Ann Dayton, Jo Hunt Roddy Grey
Photography – Graham Lee, Glee Photography
Flyers, Programme & Publicity – Julie Huntington
Printing – Synergy Duplication Ltd
Advance Box Office – Sandra Moon
Costumes: Triple C Costumiers, HAODS Wardrobe  

 

The Orchestra