Mature Times reviews Blood Brothers at Bristol Hippodrome.
Blood Brothers, the musical, written by Willy Russell originally started off as a school play first performed in the unlikely setting of Fazakerley Comprehensive School in Liverpool some 40 plus years ago. In January 1983 a full stage production opened at the Liverpool Playhouse Theatre starring Barbara Dickson as Mrs Johnstone before, in April of the same year, transferring to the West End and going on to win double Olivier Awards for Best New Musical and Best Actress. It has since played over 10,000 times on the London stage making it the third longest-running musical production in West End history.
It had its first UK tour in 1987, produced by one of the UK’s most successful theatre producers, the legendary Bill Kenwright, who is also responsible for tonight’s performance, whilst the lead character, Mrs Johnstone, has been played by some of the best female voices ever to grace a West End or any other stage. The list includes, Kiki Dee, Barbara Dickson, Stephanie Lawrence, Clodagh Rodgers, Lyn Paul, four of the Nolan sisters, Melanie C from the Spice Girls, Helen Reddy, Carole King and Petula Clark and plenty of others, too numerous to mention here.
Blood Brothers is the tragic tale of the Johnstone family. The mother, living in poverty in the slums of Liverpool, her husband having left is constantly harassed by debt collectors, worried about money and struggling to feed the kids she already has. She finds she is again pregnant, this time with twins, but can’t afford to feed the mouths that she already has never mind the two new ones on the way.
Her employer, a well to do woman, is desperate for a child of her own, but can’t have children. Hearing of Mrs Johnstone’s predicament she offers to “bring up” one of the twins as her own, knowing full well that she can give the boy a far better life than his mother ever can.
We see the twins, Mickey and Eddie, at different stages throughout their lives, both growing up, Mickey continuing to live in or near poverty with his mother – life is hard, as are the life lessons he learns along the way. In contrast, Eddie lives a comfortable middle-class life seemingly without a care in the world and has everything that he wants provided by his wealthy parents. Inevitably, the twins lives go in different directions but also come together as their friendship grows, both of them unaware of their true and real bond with each other.
Prepare for an emotional ride as the tragic tale unfolds. Niki Colwell Evans (X-factor, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Kinky Boots) is excellent as Mrs Johnstone whilst Danny Whitehead (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables) is a brooding presence as the Narrator. But the true stars of the show are the brothers, Mickey played superbly by Sean Jones (Emmerdale, Hollyoaks) makes a suitable scally, hyper-active, always mischievous, but also surprisingly vulnerable at times. Meanwhile, Eddie is the perfect foil, played by Joe Sleight (Wicked, Peter Pan) easily led, and with many of life’s hard lessons to learn.
The show is an emotional roller coaster with peaks of joy as well as troughs of despair, aided by an excellent score, but most of all a moral tale on modern life. It’s an excellent performance you can see why the West End production ran for so long. If you like a musical with a good story don’t miss Blood Brothers, it won’t disappoint.
Blood Brothers is playing at Bristol Hippodrome until 02 September and then tours the country. For tickets and more information follow this link.
