Blood Brothers (musical)

Blood Brothers
20th Anniversary London Poster
Music	Willy Russell
Lyrics	Willy Russell
Book	Willy Russell
Productions	1983 West End 1993 Broadway Several UK tours 2006 US tour 2015 Sydney International productions
Awards	Olivier Award for Best New Musical

Blood Brothers is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell. The story is a contemporary nature versus nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins Mickey and Eddie who were separated at birth. The twins' different backgrounds take them to opposite ends of the social spectrum, one becoming a councillor and the other unemployed and in prison. They both fall in love with the same girl, causing a tear in their friendship and leading to the tragic death of both brothers. Andrew Lamb wrote that the musical is based loosely on the 1844 novella The Corsican Brothers by Alexandre Dumas, père, but in a 2012 interview with the Daily Telegraph, Russell denied the influence of Dumas's work, saying that his work was based on a one-act play that he read as a child "about two babies switched at birth ... it became the seed for Blood Brothers."

Originally developed as a school play, Blood Brothers debuted in Liverpool before Russell transferred it to West End for a short run in 1983. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and went on to a year-long national tour before returning for a revival in the West End in 1988 where it stayed at the Albery Theatre for 3 years, transferring to the Phoenix Theatre in 1991. The revival ran for more than 24 years in the West End, and played more than 10,000 performances, becoming the third longest-running musical production in West End history. It finally closed in November 2012. The musical has been produced with success on tour, on Broadway and elsewhere, and it has developed a cult following.

Production history

Original production

Willy Russell originally wrote and presented Blood Brothers as a school play in 1982, in conjunction with Merseyside Young People's Theatre (MYPT, Now operating as Fuse: New Theatre For Young People). He then wrote a score and developed the musical for a production at the Liverpool Playhouse, in 1983, starring Barbara Dickson, Andrew Schofield (narrator), George Costigan (Mickey) and Andrew C. Wadsworth (Eddie). It was only a modest success. Nevertheless, the show transferred to London's West End on 11 April 1983 at the Lyric Theatre and ran until 22 October 1983, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical and another Olivier for Dickson's performance. This was followed by a 1984 UK tour.

1988–2012 West End

Blood Brothers year-long national tour beginning in 1987, produced by Bill Kenwright (and directed by Kenwright and Bob Tomson), starring Kiki Dee as Mrs Johnstone, Warwick Evans as the Narrator, Con O'Neill as Mickey and Robert Locke as Eddie, leading to a revival at the Albery Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre), directed by Tomson, with the same cast. O'Neill won an Olivier Award for his performance, and Dee was nominated. It opened on 28 July 1988 and moved out of that theatre on 16 November 1991. The musical transferred to the Phoenix Theatre on 21 November 1991, where it closed on 10 November 2012. Due to close on 27 October, its run was extended by 2 weeks with returning favourites in the closing cast, including Lyn Paul, original narrator Warwick Evans, Sean Jones as Micky, Mark Michael Hutchinson as Eddie and Jan Graveson as Linda. It played more than 10,000 performances in London, making it the third longest-running musical to ever play in the West End. The UK tour is scheduled to continue at least into 2013.

The central role of Mrs. Johnstone has been played in various productions by, among others, Dee, Angela Richards, Barbara Dickson, Stephanie Lawrence, Clodagh Rodgers, Lyn Paul, Siobhan McCarthy, four of the Nolan sisters (Linda, Bernie, Denise and Maureen), Melanie Chisholm (making her West End debut and receiving an Olivier nomination in 2009), Marti Webb, Niki Evans, Amy Robbins, Natasha Hamilton, Helen Reddy, Rebecca Storm, Carole King and Petula Clark. Stephanie Lawrence played the role more times than anyone else. Mickey has been played by O'Neill, Stephen McGann, Paul Crosby, Antony Costa, Stefan Dennis and David Cassidy, among others. Notable actors to play Eddie include Hutchinson and Shaun Cassidy. Narrators include Evans, Carl Wayne, David Soul and Marti Pellow. Alex Harlan played the small role of the postman in more than 4,000 performances.

UK tours

The musical has toured in the UK six times, the first beginning in August 1995, when it opened at the Birmingham Hippodrome with Helen Reddy as Mrs Johnstone. Other tours included ones in 2008 and 2010, with Marti Webb (in 2008) and Niki Evans (in 2010/2011) as Mrs. Johnston. The 2012 tour featured Maureen Nolan as Mrs Johnstone. Warwick Evans reprised the role of Narrator and Sean Jones played Mickey; Warwick and Jones were both invited back to play the last two weeks of the West End run at the Phoenix.

Australia

The first Australian production, in 1988, included Russell Crowe in the role of Mickey and Christina Amphlett as Mrs Johnstone.

A new production was presented at Hayes Theatre in Sydney in February 2015. Produced by Enda Markey with direction by Andrew Pole and musical direction by Michael Tyack, the production starred Helen Dallimore as Mrs Johnstone, Michael Cormick as the Narrator, Bobby Fox as Mickey and Blake Bowden as Edward. This production will tour to Melbourne in July 2016 with Josh Piterman taking over the role of Edward.

Broadway and U.S. tour

The Broadway production opened on 25 April 1993 at the Music Box Theatre and closed on 30 April 1995 after 840 performances. It was co-directed by Tomson and Kenwright. Several of the British actors made their Broadway debuts, including Lawrence as Mrs. Johnstone, O'Neill as Mickey, Graveson as Linda, Hutchinson as Eddie and Evans as the narrator. Barbara Walsh was Mrs Lyons, and Kerry Butler made her Broadway debut in the ensemble. To boost box office sales during the run, Kenwright persuaded Petula Clark to make her Broadway debut, replacing Lawrence as Mrs. Johnstone, with David and Shaun Cassidy as her sons. The casting of the Cassidy half-brothers as the twins generated much publicity. The musical received Tony Award nominations for best musical, best book and best direction, and Lawrence (best actress), O'Neill (best actor) and Graveson (best featured actress) were all nominated for their performances in the original Broadway cast. Following Clark's portrayal, Mrs. Johnstone was played by other 1970s pop singers, with King and Reddy later playing the role on Broadway.

Clark and David Cassidy also starred in the US national tour from 1994–95. Clark and the Cassidys also recorded the international cast album, with Willy Russell as the Narrator. Many of the cast members were also in the Canadian run, which starred David Cassidy, Michael Burgess and Canadian singer-songwriter Amy Sky.

South African adaptation

David Kramer adapted and directed the South African version in 2012, which he set in District Six, a predominantly Coloured inner-city residential area in Cape Town during the Apartheid era, with black cast members. This was the first time that Willy Russell had allowed the musical to be adapted.

Other international productions

In addition to the above, the musical has also been produced in various theatres in Europe, and in Mexico, Japan and Canada.

Plot

Act One

Around the beginning of the 1960s, Mrs Johnstone is deep in debt and cannot support her seven children after her husband walks out on her, so she takes a job as a cleaner for a local middle-class couple, Mr and Mrs Lyons. Soon she finds out she is pregnant, but she can barely afford to raise another child. Mrs. Lyons is desperate for a baby but is unable to conceive, and would like to adopt a child but her husband does not agree. Mrs Johnstone finds out that she is going to have twins and explains to Mrs Lyons that she cannot afford to raise two more babies. Mrs Lyons then suggests that Mrs Johnstone gives one of the babies to her. Mrs Johnstone apprehensively agrees to this and is made to swear on the Bible to keep to the deal. Mrs Johnstone has the twins, and names the two children Mickey and Edward, but then regrets having agreed to give one away. After keeping her deal with Mrs Lyons, she lies to her other children, saying that the other baby had died and gone to heaven.

Mrs. Johnstone continues to work for the rich family, but Mrs Lyons soon feels that Mrs Johnstone is paying too much attention to the child that she has given up to her. She fires Mrs Johnstone, who wants to take the baby with her, but Mrs Lyons plays on Mrs Johnstone's superstitions by telling her that "if twins separated at birth learn that they were once one of a pair they will both immediately die". Mrs Johnstone refuses to take the money that Mrs Lyons offers her and leaves without it and without the child.

Almost eight years later, Mickey, the son Mrs. Johnstone kept, meets Edward, the other twin, by chance, and after learning they share the same birthday, the two boys make a pact to become blood brothers, with Mickey calling Edward "Eddie". Mrs Johnstone finds them and sends Eddie away, telling him not to come round again or else the "Bogey-man" will get him. Later in the day, Mickey goes to Eddie's house, but Mrs Lyons throws him out when she comes to the realization that he is Edward's separated twin. She and Eddie argue on the subject, and Eddie swears at her. Mrs Lyons slaps him and immediately regrets her reaction. She realises that he has learned to swear from Mickey.

Mickey is playing with some neighbourhood children including his friend Linda. Afterwards, he takes her to see Eddie, and the three of them sneak off to play, but are caught by a police officer when about to throw stones through a window. Mrs Lyons becomes worried about Eddie's friendship with Mickey, as she has started to believe the superstition that she herself had made up. She decides to move and persuades her husband, who realizes she is becoming ill and the sees the effect the poorer children are having on his son. When Eddie says goodbye, Mrs Johnstone gives him a locket with a picture of herself and Mickey, and the boys separate.

The scene shifts to the time around the end of the 1960s when the Johnstone family is being rehoused from the condemned inner city slum area of Liverpool to a new council house in the nearby overspill town of Skelmersdale.

Act Two

It is now the mid 1970s and Eddie, Mickey and Linda are 14 years old. The Johnstones' lives have improved since moving, and they have not seen Eddie in all this time. Mickey has a crush on Linda, who is obviously interested in him too, but Mickey does not know how to act with her. Both of them are suspended after insulting their teacher. Meanwhile, Eddie is suspended from his boarding school for refusing to give up his locket to a teacher, but he will not tell his mother about it, even after she sees the pictures of it. Mrs Lyons sees Mrs Johnstone near her house and her worries are renewed, and she fears for her life. Eddie and Mickey bump into each other in a field, but do not recognize each other. They become friends again, each wanting to be like the other before finally realizing who the other is and meeting up with Linda. Mrs Lyons confronts Mrs Johnstone and accuses her of following her family to stay close to Edward; Mrs Lyons then flies into a rage and tries to kill Mrs Johnstone, but loses her nerve at the last minute and instead runs away.

Four years later, an 18-year-old Eddie has feelings for Linda, but will not say anything, as he knows Mickey likes her too. Eddie leaves for university, but not before encouraging Mickey to ask Linda out. During Eddie's absence, by the beginning of the 1980s, Mickey is made redundant from his factory job due to the recession, which forces him onto the dole. He soon discovers that Linda is pregnant, and they decide to get married. Eddie returns at Christmas ready to party and have fun, but Mickey realizes that they are now very different; after a small fight with Eddie, they part. To get money, Mickey assists his brother Sammy in a robbery that goes wrong, and becomes an accessory to a murder committed by Sammy. He is sentenced to seven years in prison.

In prison, Mickey falls into a deep depression. When released early for good behaviour in the mid-1980s, he is still dependent on anti-depressants, and he becomes turns away from Linda. Linda, unable to get Mickey off the anti-depressants, contacts Eddie, who is now a councillor, and he gets them their own house and Mickey a job. Linda worries about Mickey and meets up with Eddie. Mrs Lyons sees them together and tells Mickey about it. Mickey, distraught over Eddie and Linda's affair, grabs the gun that Sammy hid before he got arrested and then storms down to the council offices to confront Eddie.

There, Eddie is giving a speech when Mickey storms in with the gun. Mickey asks why, even though Eddie has everything and Mickey has nothing, Eddie would take away the one good thing that Mickey had – Linda. Eddie denies this intention, and the police enter, demanding that Mickey put the gun down. Mrs. Johnstone runs in and, in an attempt to stop Mickey from shooting Eddie, tells the two brothers the truth. Mickey despairs that he was not the one given away, because then he could have had the life given to Eddie. Mickey, distraught, gestures carelessly with the gun towards Eddie. The story ends when the police misinterpret this action and gun Mickey down as he accidentally shoots Eddie, killing them both. Mrs Lyons's superstitious prediction has come true, and the Narrator questions whether class was more to blame than superstition.

Characters

• The Narrator, also Joe the milkman, who tells the audience of several goings-on before the play
• Mickey Johnstone, the youngest Johnstone child who is kept by his mother; he becomes blood brothers with Eddie (his actual brother).
• Edward Lyons, Mickey's twin brother who was taken by Mrs Lyons, and brought up as a Lyons; he becomes blood brothers with Mickey (his actual brother).
• Linda, a childhood friend of Mickey and Eddie and later Mickey's wife
• Mrs Johnstone, the Lyons' cleaner who single-handedly supports her seven (later eight) children
• Mrs Jennifer Lyons, the employer of Mrs Johnstone, who takes one of her twin sons to raise as her own
• Mr Richard Lyons, Mrs Lyons's husband, who is unaware of Eddie's parentage
• Sammy, the elder brother of Mickey, who was dropped on his head as a child and commits many crimes
• The Policeman, who finds Mickey, Eddie and Linda throwing stones at windows
• Miss Jones, Mr Lyons's secretary, who is fired from the firm as a result of the recession
• Donna Marie, one of the elder Johnstone children, who dropped Sammy on his head as a child; by Act II, she is married with three children

Musical numbers

Act I

• Overture – Orchestra, Company and Narrator
• "Marilyn Monroe" – Mrs. Johnstone and Company
• "Marilyn Monroe" (Reprise) – Mrs. Johnstone
• "My Child" – Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs Lyons
• "Easy Terms" – Mrs. Johnstone
• "Shoes Upon the Table" – Narrator
• "Easy Terms" (Reprise) – Mrs. Johnstone
• "Kids' Game" – Linda, Mickey and Ensemble
• "Bright New Day" (Preview) – Mrs. Johnstone
• "Long Sunday Afternoon" / "My Friend" – Mickey and Eddie
• "Bright New Day" – Mrs. Johnstone and Company

Act II

• Entr'acte – Orchestral piece
• "Marilyn Monroe 2" – Mrs. Johnstone and Company
• "The Devil's Got Your Number" – Narrator
• "That Guy" – Mickey and Eddie
• "Shoes Upon the Table" (Reprise) – Narrator
• "I'm Not Saying a Word" – Eddie
• "Miss Jones" – Mr Lyons, Miss Jones and Company
• "Marilyn Monroe 3" – Mrs. Johnstone
• "Light Romance" – Mrs. Johnstone
• "Madman" – Narrator
• "Tell Me It's Not True" – Mrs Johnstone

Albums

• 1983 Original London Cast Recording
• 1988 London Cast Recording
• 1995 Australian Cast Recording
• 1994 Broadway Cast Recording
• 1995 London Cast Recording
• 1995 International Cast Recording

Awards and nominations

Original London production

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1983	Laurence Olivier Award	Best New Musical		Won
		Best Actress in a Musical	Barbara Dickson	Won

1988 London revival

Year.	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1988	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actor in a Musical	Con O'Neill	Won
1988		Best Actress in a Musical	Kiki Dee	Nominated
2010	Laurence Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Musical	Melanie Chisholm	Nominated

Original Broadway production

Year	Award Ceremony	Category	Nominee	Result
1993	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actor in a Musical	Con O'Neill	Nominated
		Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical	Mark Michael Hutchinson	Won
	Tony Award	Best Musical		Nominated
		Best Book of a Musical	Willy Russell	Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Con O'Neill	Nominated
		Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical	Stephanie Lawrence	Nominated
		Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical	Jan Graveson	Nominated
		Best Direction of a Musical	Bill Kenwright and Bob Tomson	Nominated

External links

• kenwright.com Official website
• Blood Brothers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Interview with Lyn Paul, who plays Mrs Johnston, Liverpool Daily Post, 28 December 2007