Review of Blood Brothers at Milton Keynes Theatre

So, did you hear the story of the Blood Brothers musical, the show that would live on and on?
And, did you never hear of how it would thrill, entertain and make audiences cry for nearly forty years?
And, did you never hear of how the show would pack out theatres night after night?
And, come, judge for yourselves how good this show truly is, or maybe let me explain why it is here…

Written by Willy Russell initially as a school play and first performed in 1983, Blood Brothers tells the story of the Johnstone twins, separated at birth with one given away in desperation by their mother, and on a journey through time to both their deaths on the very same day. This is a sad, funny and highly emotional masterpiece of theatre.

This was the third time I have had the pleasure of seeing the show, and it loses none of its power from repeated viewing. Indeed, as the curtain call ended last night, I just wanted to sit right back down and watch it all over again.

This show’s packed to the very brim with magnificent performances, leaving no weak links. As Mrs Johnstone, Niki Colwell Evans is truly stunning, she has one of the most magnificent voices and superb stage presence and, with no doubt, as witnessed by her emotion at the curtain call, very much living the role. She is, simply put, amazing.

Also, living the role is Sean Jones as one of the twins, Mickey. And Jones, truly is living the role in more ways than one, having first played the role twenty-two years ago and having continued to tour and tour ever since. You can see why he continues to be the first choice as he has this character to perfection, taking the nearly seven-year-old through to fourteen, and to eighteen, and to his eventual demise, with performance perfection. The audience simply loves him and his performance, and with this reported to be Jones’ final tour in the role, one of many reasons to get to see this show right now.

Jay Worley is excellent as Mickey’s twin Eddie, so much the polar opposite, and brilliant comic timing in his “soft” but eventually caring character. Jones and Worley make a lovely partnership on stage. Carly Burns is a captivating and minxy Linda, effortlessly gaining the love of both twins. Paula Tappenden plays the icy Mrs Lyons nicely, portraying the decline of character as she continues in her descent of paranoia at Mrs Johnstone’s and Mickey’s pursuits to love and be friends with Eddie, respectively.

Finally, from the cast, Richard Munday provides everything you could wish for in the Narrator’s role, lurking in the shadows menacingly and then bringing himself to the fore, presenting his musical moments with a stunningly strong vocal performance.

Blood Brothers doesn’t have the most complicated staging of a musical with the set generally remaining the same throughout, but as a result, this keeps it simple to follow and allows the drama and humour to live through its cast. The musical numbers are all brilliantly staged with my particular favourite remaining Miss Jones, with it being such a jolly song, for such a poignant moment in the story, the true turning point of everything to come.

The full company is also superb in both extremely strong act closing numbers Bright New Day and Tell Me It’s Not True. Also, Marilyn Monroe continues to be one of the cleverest songs of musical theatre adapting constantly throughout the story.

There is very little to fault from this production bar the spots being extremely unreliable on this opening night at Milton Keynes, virtually always missing the opening moment of the narrator’s key dialogue, and having a habit of drifting at high emotional moments. However, this truly is nitpicking, really.

Blood Brothers is devoid of a superfluous happy ending, the sort of ending you might expect from a musical, all up and dancing in the aisles. However, because of that, the emotional impact it has on its audience is probably so much more. As the audience leaves, you can see the drain of emotion on their faces, and the joy of what they witnessed. You don’t really need any more recommendations to see a show than to come and witness such raw emotional right at the end of a show.

A truly magnificent musical, which will live on and on and needs to be seen.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Performance reviewed: Tuesday 30th August 2022 at the Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes.

Blood Brothers runs at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 3rd September 2022.

For further details about Milton Keynes see their website at http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre/

Production photos: Jack Merriman

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