Review by: Paul Towers, 16 October 2017
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
A Bill Kenwright production in association with Bob Swash
DeMontfort Hall 16 – 21 October 2017
“well deserved the standing ovation”
When I was told I was reviewing Blood Brothers at DeMontfort
Hall I thought all my Christmases had come early. Willy Russell’s musical about
twin boys separated at birth only to be reunited in death is my all time
favourite show.
Unusually for a story this tale starts at the end, the
brothers dead on the ground. Guided by the Narrator (Dean Chisnall) we are
taken back to before they were born and Mrs Johnstone’s habit of popping babies out at a rate of knots provides her with her first
set of twins to add to the brood she was struggling to bring up in a two up, two
down terrace in Liverpool.
The mainstay of this show is whoever is playing Mrs
Johnstone, the twins’ mother. Advertised was Lyn Paul, formerly of the group
The New Seekers. Unfortunately she was indisposed and we had her understudy,
Sarah Jane Buckley. Wow, what a voice! She steered the show right from the
beginning and never put a foot wrong and well deserved the standing ovation she
shared with the entire cast at the end.
The set is a very unspectacular street with two rows of down
at heel terraced houses and a gantry across the back.
The talented cast backing up Buckley and Chisnall included
Sean Jones and Mark Hutchinson as the twins and Danielle Corlass as Linda.
Blood Brothers is at DeMontfort Hall until Saturday 21st
October. Grab a ticket if you possibly can
First published on Western Gazette
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