THREE STARS

"My dad doesn’t like musicals,” a friend remarked recently, “but he’s seen Blood Brothers 12 times.” Sure, the show achieved a 24-year continuous run in the West End, and has developed its own cult following along the way. But what is it that entices non musical-lovers back as well?

Perhaps it’s Willy Russell’s strong storyline. Just in case you don’t remember, Mrs Johnstone lives in an area of Liverpool where bailiffs frequently call. Discovering she’s pregnant with twins is, therefore, bad news. She has to give up one of the twin boys for adoption, and Eddie ends up at the more prosperous end of town, with Mr and Mrs Lyons. Both Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons are determined that the twins will never meet, let alone discover the truth.

“Let’s throw some stones through them winders,” says Mickey, the twin who has remained with Mrs Johnstone. Now aged eight, he’s cooking up mischief with a gang of friends. Twin Eddie, meanwhile, is packed off to private school, wearing neatly pressed shorts. The timeline is never made entirely clear, but it smells like the early 1960s.

At the New Theatre this week, Blood Brothers is strongly cast. In the key role of Mrs Johnstone, Maureen Nolan (one of four Nolan sisters to play the part) delivers Willy Russell’s numbers with power, authority, and a suitably hard edge to her voice. Sean Jones is also particularly impressive: at first painting Mickey as a bouncy, spirited kid (Jones, you feel at this point, must be getting ready to play Buttons in panto this Christmas), he vividly portrays his character’s total collapse as an adult. Mark Hutchinson is an excellent foil as Eddie — brought up to be courteous and polite, he is nonetheless obviously made of the same spirited material as his twin.

Meanwhile Tracy Spencer contributes a convincing, nervy Mrs Lyons, and Olivia Sloyan (a Liverpudlian herself) is excellent as Mickey’s youthful sweetheart and eventual wife. Warwick Evans makes the most of what is surely the show’s most unrewarding role: acting as Narrator, he is forever lurking in the shadows as he looks censoriously upon the unfolding drama. Perhaps Russell intends him to represent the Roman Catholic Church?

“Have you been crying?” a New Theatre usher asked a departing patron at the end. A good question: this isn’t the greatest musical ever written, but it continues to pack a powerful punch.

Until Saturday

New Theatre
Tour continues
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