Its original 1953 London production ran for 2,078 performances, briefly making it the third-longest running musical in West End or Broadway history (after Chu Chin Chow and Oklahoma!)

Its relatively small cast and low cost of production makes it a continuing popular choice for amateur and student groups.

The light, tuneful piece proved immensely popular with the British public, including the Queen,[2] and ran for more than five years, a total of 2,082 performances.

The principal role of Polly Browne was to have been played by Diana Maddox, who fell ill on the afternoon of the final dress rehearsal.

The show opened the following evening and made an overnight star of Rogers, who stayed with the production through its expanded versions to the triumphant West End first night at Wyndham's.

The cast also included Hugh Paddick in his first leading West End role as Percival Browne,[3] Joan Sterndale-Bennett as Madam Dubonnet, and Violetta Farjeon as Hortense.

Starring was newcomer Julie Andrews in her Broadway debut as Polly, with a cast including Eric Berry, John Hewer, Geoffrey Hibbert, Dilys Laye, Bob Scheerer, Stella Claire, Ann Wakefield, Millicent Martin and Moyna Macgill.

My Fair Lady producers saw her in this piece, prompting her casting in the lead in that production, which led to her wider fame on Broadway and beyond in the following years.

[citation needed] A revival directed by Gus Schirmer opened on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre on 14 April 1970, and ran for 111 performances.

Starring were Judy Carne as Polly, Sandy Duncan as Maisie, Ronald Young as Tony, Jeanne Beauvais as Madame Dubonnet, Leon Shaw as Percival Browne, Simon McQueen as Dulcie, Harvey Evans as Bobby Van Husen, David Vaughn as Lord Brockhurst, Barbara Andres as Hortense and Marie Paxton as Lady Brockhurst.

Directed by its creator, Sandy Wilson, it starred Glynis Johns as Madam Dubonett and Derek Waring as Percival Browne.

Among the cast were Gemma Page, Oliver Hickey, Sophie Louise Dann and John Rutland, in his original role as Lord Brockhurst.

In 2003, Julie Andrews made her directorial debut with a production of The Boy Friend at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, starring Meredith Patterson as Polly Browne and Sean Palmer as Tony Brockhurst.

[6] The production then toured the United States and Canada, playing 11 cities, including Chicago, Boston, Orange County, and Toronto, from October 2005 through March 2006.

The touring cast included Bethe Austin as Hortense, Paul Carlin as Percival, Andrea Chamberlain as Maisie, Drew Eshelman as Lord Brockhurst, Rick Faugno as Bobby Van Husen, Nancy Hess as Mme Dubonnet, Darcy Pulliam as Lady Brockhurst, Scott Barnhardt as Alphonse, Andrew Briedis as Pierre, Jordan Cable as Marcel, Margot de La Barre as Nancy, Pamela Otterson as Monica, Krysta Rodriguez as Fay, Eric Daniel Santagata as Phillipe, Tom Souhrada as Garcon, and Kirsten Wyatt as Dulcie.

The Boy Friend was the chosen title for the Showtime Challenge 2011 at Her Majesty's Theatre, London, produced by Eyebrow Productions.

Rehearsals took place over a 48-hour period immediately prior to the performance on Sunday 8 May, and all proceeds went to The Prince's Foundation for Children and The Arts.

Though Polly is a millionaire's daughter, she feels left out because she's the only one in her crowd who doesn't have a boyfriend and she needs a partner for the fancy dress ball.

Ken Russell's 1971 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film version of the show, starring Twiggy and Christopher Gable, was an alternative interpretation, weaving the basic plot into a more complicated story in which a seaside dramatic company performing the show, is visited by an influential film producer (Vladek Sheybal) on the very night that the leading lady (Glenda Jackson) has to be replaced by the assistant stage manager Polly Browne (Twiggy).

The National Board of Review voted Ken Russell best director, and Twiggy won two Golden Globe awards as best newcomer and best actress (musical/comedy), but the film did not make a significant impact on the American box-office, perhaps because MGM edited it down to 109 minutes.