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.
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.
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.
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.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
