Boston musical theatre group set to stage 100th production

BOS Musical Theatre Group will present My Fair Lady at the town’s Blackfriars Theatre and Arts Centre, in Spain Lane, from Tuesday (April 18) to Saturday (April 22).

The show – which features such songs as On The Street Where You Live, I’m Getting Married In The Morning, and Wouldn’t It Be Loverly – has its roots in the 1913 play Pygmalion.

1913 is also the year that the forerunner of the BOS Musical Theatre Group, the Boston Operatic Society, was founded. That group became defunct during the Second World War but was re-launched under the same name in 1964.

The first performances took place at the old Regal Cinema, in West Street, with caravans in the car park behind being used as dressing rooms.

When Blackfriars Theatre opened in 1966, the ‘Operatics’, as the group was known, quickly adopted it as their home.

Since then, it has produced at least two shows or concerts per year (except during the pandemic).

In recent years, it changed its name to BOS Musical Theatre Group.

The society says it is ‘proud’ to have been the starting point for several young performers who have gone on to professional careers, including Natalie Day (Les Miserables, Annie Get You Gun), Ben Terry (Kinky Boots, & Juliet), and Jake Samuels (Jersey Boys and numerous films).

To help celebrate the group’s 100th production, on Saturday, April 22, audiences can add to their standard ticket by purchasing a special gala night ticket, which includes champagne and canapes.

Lucy Allen, the current chairman, said: “The last few years haven’t been easy, getting through the challenges brought by the Covid pandemic and the effects of the current cost of living crisis. But it is exciting to have so many new members join us for our celebratory production of My Fair Lady.”

In My Fair Lady, director Jenny Cartwright promises to bring a ‘very traditional show’ to the stage and says she feels she is ‘carrying on the spirit of people who started the society, maintaining high production values’.