About Kenneth Boys

“ You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough” – – Mae West
I spent my early years in a small farm town in Delaware. I grew up watching old movies with my brother never thinking I could actually be an actor living in New York City. And yet that’s eventually what happened. My brother and I would watch old films with such actors as Shelley Winters, Lauren Bacall, and Keir Dullea ….. again never dreaming I would one day work with those actors. So as the old saying goes….dream big because one day those dreams may just come true.

Here are 3 interesting facts about my life in show business: 1) I got my equity card from Joseph Papp at the New York Shakespeare Festival; 2) I got my SAG-AFTRA card for the Bob Fosse film “All That Jazz“; and 3) I was one of the first residents of Manhattan Plaza in New York City, which was the first Performing Artist housing in the United States, June of 1977.

I always wanted to be a part of a repertory company even more than being on Broadway. But repertory companies no longer seem to exist in the way we think of repertory companies of the past. However I was extremely blessed to be part of several seasons at several of my favorite theaters. I was lucky enough to do over 25 shows at Bristol Riverside Theatre, 7 shows at Luna Stage Co., 6 shows at Gateway Playhouse, 3  shows at Dow Sherwood’s Showboat Theatre, 2 seasons at the Adirondack Theatre Festival,  and 5 seasons at Shakespeare On The Sound. I also helped develop shows like ‘”Steeplechase“, where I played the young juvenile lover, Petey, for almost 30 years off and on in such venues as The New Dramatists Guild in NYC and The New Harmony Project in Indiana. (I was often referred to as Broadway‘s oldest working juvenile). I also  played the roles of Matthew and William in the new musical, “Sarah, Plain and Tall”, a show that was in development and fully produced in different venues for over 10 years. It played at the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway twice, the Eugene O’Neill Conference, the Dallas Theater Center, and several other festivals and theatres. There was hope that it might come to Broadway, but in the end that did not happen. Becca Ayers and I played brother and sister and we were the only two actors to be with the project from beginning to end. I also played three roles in the development of “Great Expectations“ with Kathleen Chalfant. I did this in both the workshop and later Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.

I have also done several shows several times like “Camelot” (6 times) and “Moon For The Misbegotten” (twice). I also did “Mountain” twice at the same theatre (Bristol Riverside Theatre) playing 55 roles in 2000 and then again 15 years later in 2015. Also, “Around The World In 80 Days” playing Actor 1 (7 roles) in 2006 and Actor 2 (Detective Fix) at another theatre in 2010. I did “Oliver” 3 times,  first on tour as the Artful Dodger, then in a dramatic workshop as Fagin, and finally in a large musical production again as Fagin. I guess you could say I aged up!!! And then there’s “The Fantasticks” which I did Off-Broadway in 2012 and before that in 2006 at a regional theatre, playing Bellomy both times. I only mention this to show you that you may often return to shows you’ve done  before and in roles that may change with time…or maybe not!!!

Although I like to think talent has played a big part in my career, I also know that luck and serendipity has helped. I started out training just to be an actor. In college, I was an acting major only, but after being in New York I managed to do musicals (even on Broadway!!!) as well as plays even though the reality is I have never had a voice lesson. I also danced in movies and was dance captain of several shows like “West Side Story” and “Sweet Charity”, and yet I never really studied dance until I moved to New York and only then to enhance my abilities as an actor. So the truth is you just never know where you might end up.