Blood Brothers’ journey started as a school play, performed by a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981. The musical opened at The Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 and transferred to London’s Lyric theatre for a short run. It was then taken on by producer Bill Kenwright who opened a new production at the Albery Theatre after a two year tour to great acclaim, transferring it to the larger Phoenix Theatre Three years later. The production also enjoyed success on Broadway and across America.
Bill Kenwright’s production of Willy Russell’s tale of twins separated at birth, who are and later reunited by a twist of fate, played over 10,000 performances in London, making it one of only three musical to have achieved this length of run in the West End. Hailed as one of the greatest musicals of all time, Blood Brothers has triumphed across the globe, scooping up no less than four Best Musical awards in London and seven Tony Award nominations on Broadway. It has been affectionately christened the Standing Ovation Musical, as inevitably it “brings the audience cheering to its feet and roaring its approval” Jack Tinker, Daily Mail.
For the final two weeks ex-cast members returned to the production to bid farewell to the show.
Original cast member Warwick Evans returned as ‘The Narrator’, and was joined by Mark Hutchinson and Jan Graveson, who accompanied Warwick in London and co-starred with him on Broadway as Eddie and Linda. Lyn Paul, one of the show’s longest serving and favourite leading ladies, made her debut over sixteen years ago as ‘Mrs Johnston’ and also returned for the last two weeks. They were joined by Sean Jones, as ‘Mickey’ who has performed in Blood Brothers more than any of the aforementioned... though he is not quite as prolific as one of the ensemble, Alex Harland, who played ‘The Postman’ over 4,000 times!
I was lucky enough to have a ticket for the final performance - and what a special performance it was. The audience were understandably emotional and applauded after almost every single joke. It is impossible to pick out any stand out performances as each and every cast member was just incredible. However I have never before seen Sean Jones or Jan Graveson as Mickey and Linda. Both were outstanding, possibly my all time favourite Mickey and Linda.
After the show ended a screen was brought onto stage. They played a slide show of each and every cast member to ever perform in the production. Then Bill Kenwright came on stage and made a very moving speech. He was very emotional and repeatedly had to pause to gather his emotions. It was amazing to see how passionate everyone is about the show which will clearly be missed.
Blood Brothers will continue to play all around the UK into 2013 and beyond. A spokesperson for Bill Kenwright Ltd said “This is the end of a chapter, but by no means the end of Blood Brothers.”
I was there for the final night, 24 years after I first saw Kiki, Con et al at the Albert. In between were 16 other visits seeing a wide range of casts. The final cast was excellent. Lyn Paul, who I've seen before in the role, is a strong Mrs Johnstone with a voice that suits the roe well. All the roles that night were perfectly cast. I especially enjoyed Sean Jones as Mickey. Whilst Con O'Neill will slaYs bey favourite, his was a compelling performance. Blood Brothers remains as compelling as ever. It is and will always be the greatest British musical ever
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