'The Boy Friend' Lacks Onstage Star Power

"The Boy Friend"

Book, music and lyrics by Sandy Wilson; directed by Julie Andrews; music direction by Michael O'Flaherty; choreographed by John DeLuca; scenery design by Tony Walton; costume design by Tony Walton and Rachel Navarro; lighting design by Richard Pilbrow and Dawn Chiang

Cast in order of appearance:

Hortense, Bethe Austin

Nancy, Marissa Joy Ganz

Maisie, Andrea Chamberlain

Fay, Krysta Rodriguez

Dulcie, Kirsten Wyatt

Polly, Jessica Grové

Marcel, Jordan Cable

Alphonse, Scott Barnhardt

Pierre, Andrew Briedis

Madame Dubonnet, Nancy Hess

Bobby Van Husen, Rick Faugno

Percival Browne, Paul Carlin

Tony, Sean Palmer

Phillipe, Eric Daniel Santagata

Monica, Renée Pugh

Lord Brockhurst, Drew Eshelman

Lady Brockhurst, Darcy Pulliam

Gendarme/Waiter, Tom Souhrada

Performances: Now through September 24

Box Office: 860-873-8668 or www.goodspeed.org

The biggest star of the Goodspeed Musicals production of Sandy Wilson's 1920s spoof "The Boy Friend" isn't on stage in East Haddam, Connecticut. Rather, she looms in the air on the audience's whispers and hovers like an apparition in the rigging. The reason is that the director of this playful piece of carb-free puff pastry is Dame Julie Andrews, and all attention is being paid to how well she has staged this revival of the show in which, in 1954 at the age of 19, she made her Broadway debut.

While Andrews gets an A for effort in guiding her designers (led by former husband Tony Walton) to create a stylish and colorful cotton candy confection whose sets and costumes look good enough to eat, the essential satirical joie de vivre that drives this romantic Riviera romp is too often missing from this production. Many of the farcical elements are there in the staging and choreography – the giddy, boy-crazy girls from Madame Dubonnet's finishing school all chirping and bouncing in unison; the whimsical beach and carnival costumes for "Sur le Plage" and "The Riviera;" and the delightfully foolish middle-aged couples who are no safer from Cupid's arrow than the star-crossed lovers at the center of the tale, young Polly Browne and Tony Brockhurst. What this "Boy Friend" lacks, though, is that certain "je ne sais quoi" that makes a show crackle instead of sputter.

The thin plot of "The Boy Friend" is deliberately predictable, with both Polly and Tony pretending to be poor so they can be sure they are loved for their charms and not their money. A misunderstanding breaks them apart until the truth is revealed and all's well that ends wealthy. The original London and Broadway productions, followed in 1971 by Ken Russell's biting film adaptation that was a lampoon of the movie industry itself, were played as broad parody. This Goodspeed mounting eschews that send-up mentality. Instead, Andrews has asked for more heart and less pastiche from her actors. In so doing, she has made "The Boy Friend" a more human and intimate piece, but she has also robbed her younger ensemble of an important reason for being.

Jessica Grové as Polly and Sean Palmer as Tony are both pert and perky in a squeaky clean sort of way, but they have no exaggerated character traits that make their innocence interesting. They take themselves a bit too seriously, and while their bright shiny faces do make them endearing, their one dimensional performances don't allow the audience to laugh at their foibles. The other young couples in the ensemble are equally nondescript. The boys are virtually interchangeable and are only striking when they dance. The girls, at least, are intentionally similar, with their frequently synchronized chatter providing some of the biggest laughs. Yet even here opportunities for greater humor are lost. If their mannerisms were as affected as their speech patterns and more deliberately exaggerated to mimic the posturing lessons taught by Madame Dubonnet, these girls could provide the show with sustained comic momentum. Instead they give off only intermittent sparks.

As Madame Dubonnet, the once passionate pomme of many a man's eye who now instructs young British flappers to be "Perfect Young Ladies," Nancy Hess also seems restrained. She successfully manifests the propriety of an elegant head mistress but not the seductive vivacity of the inescapable enchantress who, during "The You Don't Want to Play with Me Blues," once again captivates the heart of her former lover, the prudish Percival Browne, played with a delightful self-effacing simplicity by Paul Carlin.

"The Boy Friend" is at its best when talented actors Bethe Austin as Madame Dubonnet's earthy assistant Hortense and Drew Eshelman as the tippling Lord Brockhurst are on the scene. Austin is the perfect blend of teasing French tart and undying romantic who acts as friend, mentor, and co-conspirator to her adoring brood of spoiled coquettes and handsome swains. Her big production number, "Nicer in Nice," is an energetic can-can that brings down the house. Eshelman is the master of understatement. His gently leering looks and perfectly timed but subtle comic double takes make "It's Never too Late to Fall in Love," his duet with the amorous young Dulcie, played with Betty Boop vigor by Kirsten Wyatt, a genuinely affectionate little bon bon.

Impressive choreography by John DeLuca is executed with a great deal of zest by the entire ensemble, but the small stage of the Goodspeed Opera House seems to confine movement somehow. The dancers are able to let loose more easily in numbers involving simple pairs, such as "Won't You Charleston with Me," "I Could Be Happy with You," "A Room in Bloomsbury," and "The Carnival Tango," than in big production numbers like "The Boy Friend," "Sur le Plage," and "The Riviera." While the frivolity of the Roaring Twenties is well demonstrated in every gesture, the exuberance is conveyed not by fluid twists and turns across the stage but by forced high kicks and loud in place stomping. There is great potential for this choreography to be exceptional. The cast simply needs to relax and enjoy it more and not try so hard to reach the rafters.

Following its run at the Goodspeed, this Julie Andrews' directed production of "The Boy Friend" will embark on a 21-week national tour. It will be interesting to see how this wispy little revival evolves once it moves onto larger stages in front of bigger audiences. When given more breathing room, the young performers in the show may just flourish. As it stands now, however, this "Boy Friend" is still a self-conscious wallflower waiting to come out in full bloom.

Photos by Diane Sobolewski

A – Jessica Grové as Polly and Sean Palmer as Tony

B – Rick Faugno as Bobby Van Husen and Andrea Chamberlain as Maisie

C- Bethe Austin as Hortense with Kirsten Wyatt, Krysta Rodriguez, Renée Pugh and Margo de la Barre as the girls

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