Award-winning playwright Willy Russell's epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play performed in the round at Fazakerley Comprehensive School in Liverpool in 1981 in collaboration with Merseyside Young People's Theatre. That (non-musical) version is the one most frequently performed across the UK today. However, it is the Bill Kenwright production of the show as a musical which is best known having played over 10,000 performances in the West End - one of only three musicals to have achieved this landmark. I first saw Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre in London around 1991 and fell in love with the show immediately. I saw it several times in London and later directed the non-musical version twice, once in Grimsby and once in Scunthorpe. It has been almost thirty years since my last viewing. So, I was looking forward to reviewing the 2024 touring production and I wondered if and how it would differ from my experience during the 1990s.
I have to say that the production remains faithful to the show I saw so many years ago, as best as I remember it from then. The set, the costumes and the musical arrangements all remain seared into my memory from those days and look pretty much exactly as I think I remember them, since then. I did question one or two musical arrangements in this new version that sounded a little thinner in terms of instrumentation but that could just be my ageing mind playing tricks on me. What I found incredible is that the vast majority of the book and lyrics were embedded in my head as I watched and I knew what was about to be said or sung before the words were uttered. That is the power of Blood Brothers. The result of that fact alone, prevented me from fully appreciating the power Willy Russell's play still retains over an audience less well-versed in the story. At its conclusion, the Skegness audience were visibly moved and compelled to rise almost as one to applaud the performers who gave their all.
Writing a review is difficult as there was no cast list available for this touring production, I bought a souvenir brochure at a cost of £10 expecting to find a list and cast biographies but no such luck. I think this does a real disservice to the performers in the cast and would rather have a smaller playbill that tells me who I am watching than a booklet with photos of performers I will never see in role. Over the years, I like to look back at programmes to see who I saw in which show and to note what the chorus members may go on to achieve. For example, I remember seeing a certain Craig Revel-Horwood in the company of Miss Saigon in the 90s. So, to be deprived of that is disappointing in a major touring production of one of the UK's favourite musicals. The programme bio is also something performers can look back on and reminisce too. I feel it is a poor showing not to include them in the merchandise for the tour. It also hampers my review. I have had to play detective and seek out the cast online. I apologise if I credit the wrong performers as a result.
The central role of the mother of the brothers in the title is Mrs Johnstone, played by Vivienne Carlyle, she has a strong maternal presence in the role and demonstrates a warm, loving and caring nature despite the many pressures on her as a single mother essentially raising a massive family alone and on credit. The news of the impending birth of twins is the worst possible news she could receive and she is manipulated by her childless, wealthy employer into giving up one of the twins on their birth. The scheming employer, Mrs Lyons, is played effectively by Sarah Jane Buckley in one of the best performances of the role I have personally seen. There is clear and obvious friction between the two characters enhanced by their performances and the power dynamic is well performed, though the audience sympathy is always going to fall to Mrs Johnstone.
But it is the performance of the twins, separated at birth that gives the show its real power. Mickey Johnstone is played by Sean Jones, who vocally sounded almost exactly like Con O'Neill who originated the role in the West End. Mickey is a boisterous young tearaway who has a fantastic imagination, loved by his mother and friend Linda, but tortured and tormented by his older brother Sammy. Edward on the other hand grows up as a spoiled and mollycoddled only child in wealth and privilege. Joe Sleight is convincingly naive and possesses a charm that wins audience sympathy and affection. The chemistry between the two actors is excellent and often had the audience in fits of giggles until events take a dramatic turn in the show. The pair would love to be inseparable, but events and the actions of others tear them apart, though they seem destined to always find each other in life. The one person who perhaps could come between them is Linda, Eddie's lifelong friend and wannabe girlfriend, played here by Gemma Brodrick. Her vampish attempts to seduce Mickey and to declare her love for him were hysterical. And she really makes an impact as 14-year-old-linda with a skirt so short no mother would allow her to leave the house like that.
The supporting cast all multi-role throughout but James Ledsham makes the most of his time as Sammy and gets some great audience response to the character. In the performance I saw on the show's opening night, Jess Smith played the role of Donna Marie and Miss Jones and had the honour of being the only cast member named to the audience as it was a cast change and she gave a fully committed performance throughout.
The songs and the humour still work really well, but for me, the power of the spectral narrator weaving his way in and out of the action didn't feel as effective as when I first saw the show and I found myself questioning why he is there, when he isn't a character within the narrative of the story. This is something that I never questioned years ago and accepted as functioning like a Greek chorus instead. Scott Anson worked hard to convince in the role and has a good voice but for me, he lacked the menace I would like to see as he drifts in and out of scenes.
As I mentioned above, the power of the show was lessened for me by knowing what would happen at every stage, and by knowing the jokes word for word. But the production still packs a punch and remains a delight to see. The audience loved it and many tears were shed at the show's tragic but inevitable end, signalled at the beginning so no spoilers from me! If you want a good night out watching a classic British musical, I can wholeheartedly recommend Willy Russell's Blood Brothers at the Skegness Embassy and across the UK for its 2024 tour. But I beg the producers to bring back a cast list and biographies, they are a staple of the UK theatre scene and are missed.
Andy Evans 12 September 2024
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