Turning back the musical clock

Tom Titus

The vintage English musical comedy seems to have found a home at

Golden West College.

Last season, Golden West audiences were treated to Gilbert and

Sullivan’s satirical operetta “The Pirates of Penzance.” In two

weeks, the college’s Mainstage Theater will welcome another

featherweight concoction from across the pond, Sandy Wilson’s “The

Boy Friend.”

The show was created in 1954, but it’s set in 1926 as a spoof of

the light, unpretentious musicals of the Jazz Age -- burlesquing the

simplistic plot lines, the formula songs and the stylized stagings of

the period.

“For nearly five decades, audiences have continued to

affectionately laugh at the cliches of how two teen-age aristocrats

fall for each other in the moonlight in the south of France,” said

Martie Ramm, who’s directing the production. “Mistaken identities,

love at first sight, older men who should know better chasing young

girls who long to get caught and carefree fun in the Mediterranean

sun are some of the charming cliches to be found in this lively

pastiche.”

“The Boy Friend” was -- as she told an admiring audience at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center a few weeks ago -- the vehicle

that served as Julie Andrews’ big break into show business and made

“My Fair Lady,” and later “Mary Poppins,” possible. Director Ken

Russell opted for a more diminutive actress, Twiggy, when he turned

the stage musical into a movie.

Following in their footsteps at Golden West, in the central role

of Polly Browne -- a millionaire’s daughter who pretends to be a

simple working girl when she falls for a humble delivery boy -- will

be Erin Holt. Mark Bedard is cast as Tony, who’s also not quite as

much of a “commoner” as he appears to be.

Polly is a student at Madame Dubonnet’s fashionable finishing

school on the French Riviera, along with a large coterie of

schoolmates to be portrayed by Shauna Wekall, Charity Royanne,

Christin Wendt, Lisa Katch, Kristin Aoun, Maran McGuire, Katie Dixon,

Shannon Wallace, Brandy LeMelle, Rachel Davenport and Vivian Rojas.

The stern schoolmistress will be played by Cecily Gish, and the

snooty Lord and Lady Brockhurst by Ricky Nelson and Sarah Heck.

Others in the cast are Jaimie Clark, Bryce Chaddick, James

Chiariello, Peter Wilson, Brian Sipkovich and Shane Blankenship.

Musical numbers that could be familiar to those with lengthy

memories include “I Could Be Happy With You,” “It’s Never Too Late to

Fall in Love” and “Won’t You Charleston With Me?” “The Boy Friend,”

according to director Ramm, is “a thoroughly 20s musical from the

rockin’ 50s, which succeeds at paying tribute to a golden era of the

20th century.”

The show opens May 9 for two weekends in the main Golden West

College theater, and tickets can be reserved by calling (714)

895-8150.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.