Mickey And Blood

[Othon Sdcd]

BloodBrothers is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell and produced by Bill Kenwright. The story is a contemporary nature versus nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins Mickey and Eddie, who were separated at birth, one subsequently being raised in a wealthy family, the other in a poor family. The different environments take the twins 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 rift in their friendship and leading to the tragic death of both brothers. Russell says 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."[1]

Originally developed as a school play, Blood Brothers debuted in Liverpool before Russell transferred it to the 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.[2] Blood Brothers is often taught as one of the prescribed plays of GCSE English Literature in British schools.

Willy Russell originally wrote and presented Blood Brothers as a school play first performed at Fazakerley Comprehensive School, Liverpool, in November 1981, in conjunction with Merseyside Young People's Theatre (MYPT; now operating as Fuse: New Theatre For Young People).[3] He then wrote a score and developed the musical for a production at the Liverpool Playhouse, opening on 8 January 1983, starring Barbara Dickson (Mrs. Johnstone), Andrew Schofield (narrator), George Costigan (Mickey) and Andrew C. Wadsworth (Eddie).[4] 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.[5] This was followed by a 1984 UK tour.[4]

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 Nol Coward Theatre), directed by Tomson, with the same cast.[4] 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.[6] The musical transferred to the Phoenix Theatre on 21 November 1991, where it celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala performance on 28 July 1998, featuring Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone, Keith Burns (Narrator) Andy Snowden (Mickey) & Mark Hutchinson (Eddie). The show closed its West End run on 10 November 2012. Due to close on 27 October, its run was extended by 2 weeks[7] with returning favourites in the closing cast, including Lyn Paul, original narrator Warwick Evans, Sean Jones as Mickey, 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.[8] The UK tour continued until 2013.[7]A new version has been released in 2022 with a new cast

The central role of Mrs. Johnstone has been played in various productions by, among others, Dee, Angela Richards, Barbara Dickson, Stephanie Lawrence, Debbie McGee, Clodagh Rodgers, Lyn Paul, Jane Rossington, Siobhan McCarthy, four of the Nolan sisters (Linda, Bernie, Denise and Maureen), Anneka Rice, Melanie C (making her West End debut and receiving an Olivier nomination in 2009),[9] Marti Webb, Vivienne Carlyle, Niki Evans,[10] Amy Robbins, Natasha Hamilton,[2] Helen Reddy,[11] Rebecca Storm, Carole King and Petula Clark. Stephanie Lawrence played the role more times than anyone else.[8] Mickey has been played by O'Neill, Russell Boulter, Stephen McGann, Paul Crosby, Antony Costa, Stefan Dennis, Andy Snowden, David Cassidy and Michael J. Cook among others. Notable actors to play Eddie include Hutchinson and Shaun Cassidy. Narrators include Evans, Carl Wayne, Adrian Zmed, David Soul and Marti Pellow. Alex Harland played the small role of the postman in more than 4,000 performances.[8]

The inaugural Australian production of Blood Brothers premiered August 1988 at the York Theatre in Sydney where it ran for three months: the cast included Chrissy Amphlett as Mrs Johnstone, Bob Baines as the Narrator, Zoe Carides as Linda, Peter Cousens as Edward and Russell Crowe as Mickey.[12]

In 1994 a production of Blood Brothers directed by Bill Kenwright - who had overseen the play in the West End and on Broadway - ran in Melbourne and Sydney in the summer and fall having played dates in Wellington and Auckland NZ that spring: the cast included Stefan Dennis as Mickey, Delia Hannah as Mrs. Johnstone, and David Soul as the Narrator.

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 Stephanie 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 Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy as her sons. The casting of the Cassidy half-brothers as the twins generated much publicity.[citation needed] 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 production.[20] Following Clark's portrayal, Mrs. Johnstone was played by other 1970s pop singers, with King and Reddy later playing the role on Broadway.[4]

Clark and David Cassidy also starred in the US national tour from 1994 to 1995.[21] Clark and the Cassidys also recorded the international cast album, with the musical's playwright, 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.[citation needed]

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.[8][22]

"Pokrvn bratia" - "Blood Brothers", adapted in the Czech-Slovak language - has been produced several times in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the inaugural production - adapted into Czech-Slovak by Alexandra Ruppeldtov - premiering in December 1993 at the Nov Scna Theatre in Bratislava[23] and featuring Soňa Valentov in the role of Johnstonov [i.e. Mrs Johnstone].[24] "Pokrvn bratia" - newly adapted by Martin Fahrner - premiered at the East Bohemian Theatre [cs] in Pardubice in February 2001: a subsequent production of the Fahrner adaptation ran at the Slovck Theatre [cs] in Uhersk Hradiště from 1 October 2001 to 7 June 2002[25] followed by a production (also la Farhner) at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Pilsen which ran from 27 September 2003 to 9 June 2004 with Jitka Smutn [cs] and Stanislava Fořtov-Topinkov [cs] alternating in the role of Johnstonov.[26] The premiere Prague engagement of "Pokrvn bratia" - introducing an adaptation by Adam Novk - inaugurated its Palc Blank [cs] run 17 November 2004: this production would feature Daniela Šinkorov [cs] and Sisa Sklovsk alternating in the role of Johnstonov.[27] "Pokrvn bratia" - as adapted by Fahner - was produced by the Liberec-based F. X. Šalda Theatre [cs] whose engagement premiered 23 March 2007: this production would encore in September 2008 as the inaugural production of the Heineken Tower Stage at Tower 115 in Bratislava, where the F. X. Šalda troupe performed "Pokrvn bratia" over three nights. Brno City Theatre revived the Novk adaptation for a production which premiered 2 June 2012 for a 25 performance run during which Hana Holišov and Markta Sedlčkov [cs] alternated in the role of Johnstonov.[28] The Ruppeldtov adaptation of "Pokrvn bratia" was produced at the Jonš Zborsk Theatre [cs] in Prešov for a fifteen performance run premiering 21 September 2012 over which Svetlana Janišov played the role of Johnstonov.[29] The Nov Scna Theatre staged a revival of the Ruppeldtov adaptation of "Pokrvn bratia" with an 18 September 2015 premiere at the Nov Scna Theatre with occasional performances til the end of October,[30] with an announced encore run scheduled to premiere 22 March 2017: Jana Lieskovsk and Miroslava Partlov [cs], who alternated in the role of Johnstonov in the 2015 Nov Scna revival,[31] are scheduled to reprise the role in the 2017 Nov Scna encore production.[32]

In addition to the above, the musical has also been produced in various theatres in Europe, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Israel, and Canada.[citation needed] The Youth Action Theatre presented the musical in the USSR at Kyiv's Palace of Culture in May 1989.[33]

30-year old Mrs. Johnstone lives in the Victorian inner-city slums of Liverpool. She describes her whirlwind romance with her husband, who, once attracted to her because of how she looked "like Marilyn Monroe," lost interest in her after multiple pregnancies and weight gain, and eventually left her for a younger, more attractive woman. Now a single mother, she discovers she's pregnant yet again ("Marilyn Monroe").

3a8082e126