"The Boy Friend"

   You can read an excellent story about The Boy Friend (the musical comedy that takes the stage tonight) in today's Herald-Dispatch (go here) - here's an excerpt from Dave Lavzender's story (the photo above is by Toril Lavender):

From "Monty Python" and "The Office" to "Shaun of The Dead," the Brits have a history of satirically carving up modern day life.

In the 1950s-written parody, "The Boyfriend," Sandy Wilson aims both comedic barrels at the love-laced Broadway musical comedies that became formulaic and some would say cliché.

With the veteran director/choreographer team of Gene and Coni Anthony at the helm, the theater company of Arts Resources for the Tri-State puts its own spin onto "The Boy Friend," with a production that runs at 8 p.m. May 23-24, May 30-31 and a Sunday matinee for 2 p.m. June 1 at the Renaissance Theatre, 900 8th St.

Advance dinner and show tickets are $30. Show-only tickets are $15 for the production that is set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring 20s when love is in the air at the Mme Dubonnet's School for Young Ladies.

The show, which first made Julie Andrews a star, contains such hit songs as: "The Boy Friend," "Won't You Charleston With Me?," "I Could Be Happy With You," "Sur La Plage," "Nicer in Nice," "Fancy Forgetting," "The 'You Don't Want To Play With Me' Blues," "Safety In Numbers" and more.

Gene Anthony, the retired Marshall University Theatre professor and professional actor said this is his and Coni's third production of the hilarious spoof or pastiche, that jabs lots of fun at golden era of musical comedy that saw an endless train of such shows as "Hello Dolly," "The Music Man," "Guys and Dolls," etc.

"It's that boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy then ends up with girl and everyone lives happily ever after," Anthony said. "And they make fun of that in a very stylized way. It happens in the 1920s so there is a lot of posturing and posing and a lot of over-the-top choices that the actors have made."