The Boy Friend (musical)

The Boy Friend
Original Broadway Cast Album
Music	Sandy Wilson
Lyrics	Sandy Wilson
Book	Sandy Wilson
Productions	1953 West End 1954 Broadway 1970 Broadway Revival 1971 film 1984 West End Revival 2005 North American Tour

The Boy Friend (sometimes misspelled The Boyfriend) is a musical by Sandy Wilson. The musical's original 1954 London production ran for 2,078 performances, making it briefly the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history (after Chu Chin Chow and Oklahoma!) until these were all surpassed by Salad Days. This musical marked Julie Andrews' American stage debut.

Set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring Twenties, The Boy Friend is a comic pastiche of 1920s shows (in particular early Rodgers and Hart musicals such as The Girl Friend). Its relatively small cast and low cost of production makes it a continuing popular choice for amateur and student groups.

Sandy Wilson wrote a sequel to The Boy Friend. Set ten years later, and, appropriately, a pastiche of 1930s musicals (in particular those of Cole Porter) it was titled Divorce Me, Darling! and ran for 91 performances at London's old Globe Theatre in 1965. It is sometimes revived as a "double bill" with The Boy Friend.

The musical was first performed in London in 1953. It opened at the Players' Theatre Club on April 14, 1953, and reopened in an expanded version on October 13. It transferred for a short season to the Embassy Theatre, Swiss Cottage and then opened at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End on January 14, 1954. Choreography was by John Heawood. The light, tuneful piece proved immensely popular with the British public, including the Queen, and ran for more than five years, a total of 2,082 performances.