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 Friends - The Musical Parody at Milton Keynes Theatre

The One Where 2026 starts in a world of confusion. And so, 2026 is upon us and for my first trip to the theatre this year, one of my most significant reviewing challenges was to occur. Touring to Milton Keynes Theatre is Friends - The Musical Parody , based, unsurprisingly, on that little American show that ran to a few audience members for ten years. However, I confess that I was not, and have never been in that audience, never having seen a single episode of the show. However, always up for a review challenge and doing my due diligence by having a Friends superfan as my plus one, I headed to Milton Keynes with anticipation. For those unfamiliar with the show, I could say I can’t help; however, a quick review of some of the information you might need (thanks, Google and my plus one). Running for ten years between 1994 and 2004 with 236 episodes (quiz question, you are welcome), the main characters consisted of Phoebe (ditzy, writer of sad songs), Monica (in possession of an unfeasibly...

Review of making second Kontakt with the R&D Youth Theatre at Royal & Derngate (Underground), Northampton

As I said in my first Kontakt review, I wasn't really sure that I wanted to see this show. However come Sunday and a second opportunity to see it, I was genuinely looking forward to it. With the show now having departed, for my second review I will elaborate a touch more on happenings, which initially I shied away from as spoilers. My actor for my second encounter was 15 year old Michael. He had the enviable task unlike Michael before him of dealing with someone who knew quite a bit of what was coming. As those surgical gloves went on I this time was certain that the R&D were not going to overstep the boundary and do a full medical. I had also learnt that a crisp sandwich was something that should be left in the memory, so cheese was a much more sensible option. I was able to complete the calculation generally unaided and managed to express an exaggerated shock at the latter outcome. The game of Jenga managed to stay stable once again and rather amazingly managed to bring t...

Review of Frankie Goes To Bollywood at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

There is no question that Rifco Theatre Company, the producers of Frankie Goes To Bollywood , now running at Royal & Derngate as part of a UK Tour, have come up with a cracking title for their show. However, as Bollywood descends upon Northampton, the question is, is this a gimmick title attached to a shallow show, or are we heading for Bollywood dreams? The show, unsurprisingly, follows a character named Frankie and tells the story of her dream to become a Bollywood star, a dream she shares with her best friend, Goldy. Following an opportune encounter with a famous Bollywood director, Frankie is invited to audition for his next movie, and her adventures begin. However, will the dream be the one she truly imagined? What is evident with Frankie Goes To Bollywood on stage is the love for creating a big, bold production. The staging is colourful and tries very hard to be epic, just like the Bollywood movies that it tells its story through. Unfortunately for all the boldness on offer,...

A Small Mind At The Theatre

Search This Blog