He starred in the West End productions of the musicals Rent and Grease before being a 2007 contestant on the BBC talent series Any Dream Will Do.
[citation needed] He won a Cameron Mackintosh scholarship to study at the Guildford School of Acting, where he graduated with a BA (Honours) in 2001.
[1] Boys was selected to perform in the first UK tour of Jonathan Larson's Rent, which meant leaving college early.
[8] During the series, the judges tested his vocal skills on a wide variety of music genres including rock, swing, ballads, and pop.
His only opportunity to sing a musical theatre number was during a sing-off, in which he performed "Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables against Lewis Bradley.
In July 2007, Boys then appeared as Anthony Hope in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which was one of the first shows to open at the newly restored Royal Festival Hall.
[10][11] On 14 September 2008, Boys performed at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 60th birthday concert in Hyde Park, singing "A Light at the End of the Tunnel" alongside other finalists from the TV series "Any Dream will Do" and "I'd Do Anything".
In February 2010, Boys performed with Jessie Buckley in two concerts in Manchester and Birmingham entitled "Valentines at the Musicals" including songs from West Side Story and My Fair Lady.
He then performed as Eddie in the workshop production of Painted Lady: The Princess Caraboo Scandal (Bristol Old Vic/Finborough),[15] then as Christian in the London premiere of Wolfboy at Trafalgar Studios.
[19] On 21 October 2011, Boys played Judas in the 40th anniversary production of Godspell alongside Kerry Ellis at the Palace Theatre, Manchester.
He made a short film with David Paisley entitled Fall-Out about two ex-partners who end up in a fallout shelter together, which went round the 2012 festival circuit.
[30] In October 2016 he starred as Donald in a production of The Boys in the Band, by Mart Crowley at the Park Theatre, with co-stars including Mark Gatiss, James Holmes, Ben Mansfield and Jack Derges.
[36] In May 2019 it was announced that Boys would lead the UK Premiere cast of Falsettos at The Other Palace in London's Off-West End.
As of April 2024, Boys is featured as King George III in the United Kingdom and Ireland tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton.
In 2011 he recorded a charity single with proceeds going to the Disney Appeal at Great Ormond Street Hospital, called The World is Something You Can Imagine.
[40] Boys also appeared on the cast recording of Wolfboy, More With Every Line – the Songs of Tim Prottey-Jones,[41] Only You Can Save Mankind, The Inbetween: A New Musical (in 2012)[42] and Christmas in New York.