BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Union High School Music Department presents the popular musical “The Boy Friend” on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Feb. 13-15, in the BUHS auditorium.
The show is directed by Robert Kramsky, stage director; Stephen Rice and Anthony Speranza, music co-directors; and Mitch Davis, producer.
It also marks Rice's 26th year with the BUHS musical - and Speranza's 20th affiliation with BUHS. This is Kramsky and Davis' 38th year of collaboration on BUHS musicals.
The production staff also includes Mary Linney, 14 years as costumer; Aimee Johnston, stage manager; Melanie Zinn, 10 years as choreographer; and Seth Richardson, 19 years helping with sound.
More than 160 years of combined experience is uniting to bring this production to the BUHS stage.
“The Boy Friend” opened at London's Players' Theatre Club on April 14, 1953. It then opened in the West End at Wyndham's Theatre on Jan. 14, 1954, and ran over five years for 2,078 performances.
The Jazz Age lives on in this light, romantic spoof of 1920s musical comedy. The setting is the French Riviera.
The BUHS production features Kristina Meima as Polly Browne; Ian Epstein as Tony; Vanessa Brown as Madame Dubonnet; Clark Hamm as Percival Browne; Elijah Taylor as Lord Brockhurst; and Abby Sherlock as Lady Brockhurst.
Additional players include Corinne Epstein, Julia Waldron, Anja Alden, Bonnie Hart, Natasha Diamondstone, Jason Guerino, Mycroft Stone, Malcolm Toleno, Zeb Hathaway, Liam Reynolds, and Devon Rinaldi.
The pit orchestra is composed of BUHS student musicians and several area musicians: Rowan Hawthorne, Carley Wainwright, and Tom Nasiatka on clarinet); Ben Janis, Claire Thomas, and Tom Nasiatka on saxophone; John Sawyer-Shaw and Kyra Johnston on trumpet; Tyson Pond on trombone; Sally Fletcher on bass; Michelle Liechti and Heather Sommerlad on violin; Patty Meyer on piano; and Jacob Gartenstein on percussion.