I’m not even going to call this a “review”…I know fine well that it’s just going to end up being a post about how much I adore this show! “Blood Brothers” (if you haven’t seen it……..and without giving the story away) is the story of a Mother and her twin sons, who are separated at birth, and later become friends, each not knowing that the other is his brother. (And, tip if you haven’t seen it…take tissues when you go…just saying!).
I saw this show for the first time when TEN YEARS AGO! (Whaaaat?!) And I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen it since then…my guess would be about seven. The first time I saw it, I enjoyed it, but at the young age of around nine/ten, I didn’t fully understand what was going on – for a kid that age, it’s an awful lot of take in. But when I saw it again a couple years later…and again a few years after that…I fell head over heels in love with it! I went out and bought the script…went out and bought the original soundtrack…and went out and bought the 1995 soundtrack (yes, I loved it THAT much!). By the time I was fifteen, I’ll admit, I was a little bit obsessed, and I’m sure I drove everyone around me crazy. At a summer drama programme, I used Mickey’s “Nearly Eight” speech as a monologue for one of the classes, despite my not being a boy. The year after…I used the Narrator’s “Summer Sequence” monologue…again, despite my not 
being a man! (Don’t worry though, I played Mrs Johnstone in a scene…I redeemed myself…and that pretty much left me buzzing for the rest of my school years!) I probably drove my GCSE English class crazy when it came time to study this as one of our exam texts…and despite being a shy and reserved school pupil, I jumped at the chance to play the part of Mrs J when asked during class. To my sixteen year old self, for that one English class on my timetable, I was Mrs Johnstone, and I didn’t care who it bored, I was living the dream haha! (and then I would go back to being quiet and shy). In 2012 and 2013, I was even part of the cast for an amateur production of “Blood Brothers” (the play) – if you haven’t figured it out already, I love “Blood Brothers”.
So, why am I telling you all this? Because I am well and truly BUZZING! I saw “Blood Brothers” again TONIGHT at the Grand Opera House, Belfast. I hadn’t planned too, I surely wanted too, but I didn’t have a ticket, and I haven’t got pockets full of money. But I decided to be spontaneous and went super early to get myself a “stand-by ticket” (basically, if you’re a student/senior citizen/unwaged, you can get a ticket for half price from 6pm for that night’s show, Monday-Friday…it’s a fa
ntastic system, and I got a top price ticket for £15! BARGAIN! I’d definitely recommend the stand-by ticket!) I was so glad that I decided to be spontaneous!
In the past, I’ve seen both Linda and Maureen Nolan play the role of Mrs Johnstone, and I adore them both in the role. Maureen is the current touring Mrs J, and it is just so clear in her performance how much she loves the role she’s playing and how much she loves the show. Her rendition of the show’s most well-known song “Tell Me It’s Not True” was heartbreaking and powerful! Sean Jones played the role of Mickey. I’ve seen him in this show too many times to count, and he is my favourite Mickey. He’s outstanding in the role, and performs as a seven year old and near-thirty year old (and every age in between) perfectly. For me, Sean Jones IS Mickey Johnstone. Tonight was the first time that I had seen Joel Benedict in the role of Eddie, and he was brilliant at it, and his song “I’m Not Saying A Word” was beautiful. It was also the first time that I’d seen Kristofer Harding play the Narrator. The Narrator has always been one of my Dad’s favourites, and I’ll know an actor is playing the role well if my Dad turns to me and says “he’s a cool guy”. My Dad wasn’t with me tonig
ht to say that, but if he had been there, he would have most definitely said it. The Narrator was really well-sung throughout, and Kristofer Harding is my new favourite Narrator – it’s the best I’ve seen the role performed and heard it sung!
Kate Jarman was fantastic as Mrs Lyons, and she played the character in a way I’d never seen it played before – she brought a new side to Mrs Lyons, and I really enjoyed watching it. Danielle Corlass was brilliant as Linda and was an audience favourite. Tim Churchill, who played Mr Lyons, was very funny, particularly when he played other smaller parts such as the Milkman and Doctor. The last time I saw Blood Brothers, he had gone on as the Narrator (the role he understudies), and was impressive in the role – Dad thought he was a “cool guy”. One of my favourites was Graham Martin, who plays many roles in the show – but namely the roles of the Policeman and Teacher. I’ve seen him more times in the show that I’ve seen the show with him not there (if that makes sense), and so to me, he is huge part of the “Blood Brothers” experience for me. He is hilariously funny, and his parts of the show, though brief, are stand-out moments. The usual Sammy, Daniel Taylor (who I have see
n many a time, and thing is incredibly funny), wasn’t on tonight, but Graeme Kinniburgh did a wonderful job as his understudy and made the part his own.
The ensemble of the show (Tori Hargreaves, Ben Rowland, Ryan-Lee Seager and Lois Molloy) were stunning and stood-out in their individual parts. The offstage band were incredible, and I kept sneaking a peak at the monitor for the actor’s so they could see their musical director.
“Blood Brothers” is just such a great show! It’s got something for everyone and the music will literally enter your brain and never leave. It such a feel-good show (despite like the last 20 minutes of the show…that’s pretty depressing), and I leave the theatre absolutely buzzing every time. It’s 1:05am, and I still can’t go to sleep – “Blood Brothers” is just a natural high, I guess! It completely transports you to their world for 2 hours and 45 minutes, and you just forget about everything else that’s going on for that short time in the theatre. I would recommend “Blood Brothers” to anyone. Obviously, take the subject matter and bad language into consideration if you’re thinking about taking your kids (when my parents took me and my younger sister the first time, they just explained to us before we went in that we were gonna hear words that we don’t use – that’s all it takes).
When I think of how long some of these actors have been in “Blood Brothers”, it’s obvious that they love what they do, and that they just love “Blood Brothers”. Seeing this show reminds me why I want to work in the theatre, and why I love the theatre so much.
Girl From Sheffield 