Blood Brothers at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow Review
Blood Brothers
Kings Theatre, Glasgow
4-15 November 2014
Reviewed by Stella Young
Having read lots of great reviews on this show, I was really looking forward to my trip to see it. Having been to King’s Theatre on many occasions before, I booked a restaurant close by to have a bite to eat beforehand and make an evening of it. There is an abundance to choose from to suit any palates with plenty of pre-theatre deals being offered.
We then made our way round to the theatre, where there was a queue of eager theatre goers and a bit of a buzz in the atmosphere, as people chatted looking forward to the forthcoming show. We made our way to our seats in the Grand Circle, which gave a great view of the stage. Being that I can be a bit of a scatterbrain at times, I’d forgotten to bring my glasses, but there were binoculars at hand to hire for £1 for the duration of the show.
As the curtain rose, we were transported to Liverpool back to the 1950’s. A sombre scene, with the death of two men. The narrator (Marti Pellow) is a powerful figure, who explains the men were brothers, twins, separated shortly after birth who never knew they were brothers. Their mother Mrs Johnston (played by Maureen Nolan) enters the stage, and the narrator asks us to judge her story…
In the next scene, Mrs Johnston sings on stage, telling the story of how she met and fell in love with her husband when she looked like Marilyn Munroe, but 7 children later he waltzed off with a younger woman. She then discovers she is pregnant again, with twins!! Leaving her fearing that some of her children would be taken in to care. She gets herself a job, cleaning for an influential couple Mr & Mrs Lyons. The couple have been trying to conceive for some time, so when Mrs Lyons hears of Mrs Johnston’s plight, she offers to bring up one of the twins as her own, assuring Mrs Johnston that she can see the child every day when she’s working. However, once the boys are born, Mrs Lyons gets increasingly jealous and sacks her, offering her money to leave. She convinces her there is an omen, meaning that if the boys ever find out about each other, they will both die.
After 7 years, the boys are reunited by chance, after Mickey has been playing Cowboys and Indians outside the Lyons house. Edward Lyons comes looking for him, the boys become firm friends, and when they realise they have the same birthday they make a blood brothers pacts. However, when their respective parents realise what is going on, they forbid the boys from seeing each other ever again. And they don’t, until they are reunited again by chance when they are 14. These years, the boys are played by adults, Sean Jones (Mickey) and Joel Benedict (Edward), and also Mickey’s love interest Linda features in many of these scenes, with Edward encouraging Mickey to ask her out. There are many hilarious scenes in these years, as the boys friendship grows, but again once the mothers find out, they are split again but the boys defy them.
After the interval, the second half takes on a darker feel than the comical first half. As the boys lives lead them down completely different paths, Mickey very much influenced by an older brother. They both ultimately in love with Linda, who is now Mickey’s wife and the mother of his child, we know from the opening scenes that there isn’t going to be a happy ending. But I won’t go in to too much detail as to spoil how it goes. The audience loved the show, from start to finish, and appreciation was shown with a standing ovation at the end.
The music throughout is fabulous, Maureen Nolan is just fantastic and has a huge presence on stage. Marti Pellow, barely recognisable from his pop star days, as the bellowing narrator and has a superb stage singing voice. I absolutely LOVED Mickey’s character, he was definitely a loveable rogue.
I would give Blood Brothers 5/5, it has been running for 23 years, and it is obvious to see why. It is a show I would go to see again.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £12.90 to £50.90 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Blood Brothers is at the King’s Theatre Glasgow until 15 November 2014. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 0844 871 7648.
King’s Theatre. 297 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JN | 0844 871 7648
