What’s it about?
Blood Brothers tells the story of two twins, Mickey and Edward, separated at birth, and their gravitation towards each other throughout their childhood as their mother frets over the superstition that should they ever discover they are brothers, they will die. Liverpudlian mother of seven Mrs Johnston (Olivier award nominated Linzi Hateley) has just got back onto her feet with enough money to maintain her seven children and the one more on the way, when she finds out the one is in fact two. Lost at how she’ll afford two more children, she gives one away to a woman whose house she is paid to clean, Mrs Lyons. Blood Brothers follows the lives of each boy, and both mothers’ fears as the twins continue to reconnect.
What makes it good?
The comic ability of Alexander Patmore and Joel Benedict in their roles of Mickey and Edward, equally as impressive as their profound ability to convey all the right emotions in all the right ways during the more sombre, anguished moments of the show. The alluring tone of Linzi Hateley in her reprisals of Marilyn Monroe (brilliantly performed throughout the show as a song that’s both playful and mournful as the show progresses) and Tell Me It’s Not True, the song that (both opening and concluding the show) brought most of the audience to tears, such was the sentiment with which Hateley performed it.
The best bits
The attributes of this show which enthralled me the most were the hilarious antics of Micky and Edward, accompanied by the affable and equally entertaining Linda (Danielle Corlass) – and the skill with which each moment was made so hilarious by the actors on stage, the direction from Bob Thompson and Bill Kenwright, and of course the musical’s creator Willy Russell. These moments had the audience in hysterics for a great deal of the show, only to reduce them to tears as it all came to a tragic conclusion, my other personal highlight. Linzi Hateley, with her elegant voice and emotionally charged portrayal of Mrs Johnstone, was the pillar of this production, drawing tears and laughter from the audience. With such sensational performances the standing ovation came as no surprise.
The Blood Brothers UK Tour is on at the Winter Gardens Blackpool until Saturday the 27th of April, and will then go onto Southend on Sea and finally, Leeds. Book tickets for Blackpool here.
