Review of Blood Brothers at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

A theatre in the east midlands, a thousand people stand applauding and cheering towards a stage where fourteen people stand. There on the stage, they bow, and bow, an inordinate number of times. They depart after a time and the lights come up over the capacity audience.

So did you hear the story of the Blood Brothers show, how people flocked and came to see them play?
Did you never hear about how we came to be, standing applauding the brightly lit stage this November day?
Come judge for yourselves how this night did come to be.

Blood Brothers was a significant show for me back in 2014, being the first musical that I saw live. Hiding up in the upper circle of the Derngate back then, not really sure what to expect, it was it turned out perhaps the perfect show to graduate me from play to musical that I could choose as Willy Russell's gritty and solid story is as confident as a straight play that perhaps any musical is. So strong is the story of the Johnstone's twins, that it lived a life before as just a play, and one which I have also seen and credit equally in exceptional quality.

This version of Russell's tale has at it's heart a tremendously strong vocal performance from Lyn Paul. Sshe creates the rollercoaster this show is through her brilliant delivery of both songs and the dramatic life moments that are thrown at her character of Mrs Johnstone. Paul, delivers the quite brilliant tunes with power and of course the required emotion. From the many versions of Marilyn Monroe, through to Easy Terms, Light Romance and the finale Tell Me It's Not True. Really one of the best lead performances vocally I have heard personally on tour.

Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone and cast

Beyond the emotional heart of the show are perhaps two of the most challenging, yet for a performer surely most rewarding roles you could hope for, that of the twins themselves Mickey and Eddie. Very rarely, do roles offer such dynamic opportunity as these, playing characters of nearly eight through the traumatic teens and into the early twenties of the eventual sad ending. As Mickey, Sean Jones is a tremendous talent returning to a role he has played frequently before, playing the bouncing and energetic youngster with amazing skill. Slowly evolving over two hours into a lovestruck, and then troubled young man drawn into doing terrible things.

Mark Hutchinson provides the perfect opposite in character of the twins as Eddie, all posh and "soft" and happy to be led astray by his best mate and blood brother Mickey. Their adventures and misadventures are constantly fun and once they have the wonderful Linda (a vibrant Danielle Corlass) in tow, the fun really begins, as does the love triangle.

Dean Chisnall is a solid narrator, bringing his very much rock eighties tunes to proceedings including the brilliant Shoes Upon the Table. He also successfully skulks in the shadows or looms with suitable menace throughout many of the scenes.

The musical numbers are all very well staged as they were in my previous encounter, with the busy and exciting Kids Game one of the obvious favourites. Personally though, my favourite will remain the upbeat nature of the subjectively downbeat song Miss Jones. The set remains generally the same with little changed from the previous production, although I did admire the rather realistic brick effect if that doesn't seem weird.

It's a class show which generally appeals to all as clear from the reception it received and this touring version is stronger than my previous encounter with a better-suited lead, so if you have never seen the show, this is clearly the best opportunity to catch this "musical play", just don't expect the usual happy-clappy end to the average musical.

A stirring production of one of the most poignant musical shows out there.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Monday 6th November 2017 at the Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton.

Blood Brothers runs at the Royal & Derngate until Saturday 11th November 2017 before continuing its tour. Details at http://www.kenwright.com/index.php?id=590

For further details about the Royal & Derngate see their website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Danny Taylor as Sammy and Sean Jones as Mickey

Review of The Wizard Of Oz by the Northampton Musical Theatre Company at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The last couple of shows from the award-winning Northampton Musical Theatre Company has been a slightly mixed bag, with their last show at Derngate the rather difficult to get a grip on thrills of Grease , a woefully inferior stage version of the classic film despite being very well performed. Their best show recently was ironically Summer Holiday , hidden at the much smaller Cripps venue. Therefore still in the wake of the exceptional Sister Act , does The Wizard of Oz create the Derngate magic once again? The answer for me, is both yes and no, it is as always an exceptional production filled from top to tail with talent, as NMTC is so renowned for, and packing the audience in and thrilling them like perhaps nothing like Oz can in the musical department, you cannot question its selection really. However, like Grease , and to readjust a requote, "it's just Oz". This time I use it in the way that Oz is just a little over-familiar, I am desperate for the buzz that I go...

Review of Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

The Rambert Dance Company is the oldest such company in Britain having first performed in 1926. However, despite this, this was my first encounter with the group in my ten years of theatre-going. Coupled with this, it was also my first encounter with Peaky Blinders , having never seen the show, and only knowing a few vague things about it. My companion for the evening however was very familiar with the show, allowing some background behind the show. It turns out though, Rambert Dance in Peaky Blinders - The Redemption of Thomas Shelby needs a little more than a good bit of knowledge of the show, as despite this production having incredible style, there struggles to be a cohesive structure to the show and the storytelling. Much more than other dance shows as well. The first act does a whistle-stop tour of the first five seasons and while it is a feast on the eye, and on the ear, it gets extremely confusing at times. The second act is freestyle and drifts away from the stories tol...

Review of Mamma Mia! at Royal & Derngate (Derngate), Northampton

Ahead of my trip to see Mamma Mia! in Northampton, I had enough conversations about the show to discover that there appears to be no in-between with people over their love or hate of the work of ABBA (music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus). For your information, patient reader, I fall firmly in the love department and an audience member of Mamma Mia! like myself is always going to ride on a tidal wave of joy as this jukebox churns out an incredible selection of their numbers (and truly reveals a substantially great back catalogue, that even a hater could not deny), however, is the show they are weaved around actually any good? The answer is mostly, yes. It is though, a typical popcorn musical where you are just required to switch your brain off for two hours or so and ride that tidal wave to Kalokairi, and observe the bright colours and frivolous nature of the plot. The plot, such as it is, involves 20-year-old Sophie, who is heading towards marria...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog