The Boyfriend. All That Jazz Musical Theatre Company. Thursdays - Saturdays March 21 - 23 and 28 - 30 at Erindale Theatre. Amateur.
Reviewed March 23, 1996
This is a community theatre group which focusses largely on the participation of young women. There was some sparkle on stage especially from Sheena Smith (Maisie), Tiffany Mahon (Polly) and one of the necessary boyfriends, Richard Cowling (Tony). The older performers (Jenna Arnold, Peter Morris, Bill Lord and Joy Davy) were all competent and provided a nice contrast to the lively set of youngsters. Families and friends enjoyed a pleasant evening, which built slowly but was a happy event by the finale.
On a different level, however, there is a need for critical comment. It is a $12 show (not $22 or $35), but director Crystal Mahon makes claims in her notes for higher intentions than mere entertainment. She believes that in The Boyfriend the author Sandy Wilson intended both to "re-live and celebrate the carefree Twenties" and send "the period and its characters up quite mercilessly at times." Mahon took "this inherent parody" as her focal point.
I'm afraid it was a token gesture. The script really does not support parody. Some bitchiness from the girls and a sudden turn towards ironic humour by the millionaire Percival Browne in the final scene made for some useful comedy, but this wasn't parody of 1920's pretensions. Perhaps it could have been done by a set of 1990's young women playing The Boyfriend, or parts of it, against their own values - some form of a play within a play which could reveal the weaknesses of the class system and sexist attitudes of the past. Without such a frame to give us context, the script remains a rather silly 1950's reminiscence of past "glory".
There is also, I feel, a need to warn that for your ticket price you will get some rather nice costumes, but an absolutely minimal set and unfiltered stage lights. A string of globes helped to make the ball scene a little less dull, but otherwise the French Riviera could well have been a suburban living room and a street scene in Civic. And unfortunately, though much of the singing was excellent, the band was as colourless as the set. If the company is to live up to its name, in The Boyfriend especially, the band has to be up tempo and jazzy to the utmost from the overture to the curtain call. All the cast made a fair attempt at the dancing, but everyone needed oomph from the band to swing things along. Give the audience "zing" in their hearts to carry through the two intervals (which, by the way, do not need to be announced except in the program).
The company promised "a funfilled night out, full of laughs, toe tapping music and energetic dancing" and delivered maybe half of their promise on the second night. Let's hope the traditional flat spot has passed and the second week fulfills the promise.
© Frank McKone
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