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71-704: The original Playhouse had opened as the Little Theatre in a converted church hall on Becket Street in 1948. In 1952, the company moved to another converted venue in Sacheverel Street and survived a major fire in 1956. In the 1960s and early 1970s the British government invested in the Arts Council of Great Britain's "Housing the Arts" fund. The fund enabled cities to renovate existing theatres and commission new ones. In response,

142-525: A baby but unable to conceive, suggests she give one of the babies to her ("My Child"). Mrs. Johnstone reluctantly agrees and is made to swear on the Bible to keep to the deal. Mrs. Johnstone has the twins, and names the two children Michael (known as Mickey throughout the play) and Edward, but then regrets having agreed to give one away ("Easy Terms"). After keeping her deal with Mrs. Lyons, she returns home with baby Michael and lies to her older children, saying that

213-524: A field in the countryside surrounding Skelmersdale, where Linda expresses her frustration at how Mickey has not yet asked her out, Mickey and Eddie meet by chance once again, revealing that the Lyons family moved close to Skelmersdale (where the Johnstone family now live) and they discover that they live near each other. Eddie gives Mickey humorously inexperienced advice on how to talk to Linda, and invites him to watch

284-412: A knife, but a now strong-willed Mrs. Johnstone fights back and kicks her out, with Mrs. Lyons fleeing in terror. Mrs. Lyons continues to deteriorate into insanity and it is implied that she has developed a reputation for madness. (“Mad Woman On A Hill”). Mickey, Eddie, and Linda spend each summer as teens together, taking the play to the end of the 1970s, when an 18-year-old Eddie reveals to Linda that he

355-479: A new council house in the nearby overspill town of Skelmersdale ("Bright New Day"). Act Two rejoins the twins when they are 14 years old, some time in the early-to-mid 1970s. The Johnstone family are enjoying a better life now they have moved to a new home and a new area, and they have not seen Eddie in all this time ("Marilyn Monroe 2"). Mickey has now developed a crush on Linda, who is obviously interested in him too, but Mickey does not know how to approach her and

426-650: A new cast The central role of Mrs. Johnstone has been played in various productions by, among others, Dee, Angela Richards , Barbara Dickson , Stephanie Lawrence , Debbie McGee , Clodagh Rodgers , Lyn Paul , Jane Rossington , Siobhan McCarthy , four of the Nolan sisters ( Linda , Bernie , Denise and Maureen), Anneka Rice , Melanie C (making her West End debut and receiving an Olivier nomination in 2009), Marti Webb , Vivienne Carlyle, Niki Evans , Amy Robbins , Natasha Hamilton , Helen Reddy , Rebecca Storm , Carole King and Petula Clark . Stephanie Lawrence played

497-425: A picture of herself and Mickey. Edward asks Mrs. Johnstone why she doesn't simply move away, causing her to dream about the seemingly impossible possibility of her moving away and beginning a new life ("Bright New Day (Preview)"). Mickey goes to visit Eddie but finds him gone ("Long Sunday Afternoon / My Friend"). During the early 1970s, the Johnstone family are moved from the condemned inner-city slums of Liverpool to

568-540: A popular part of the programme during Clements' tenure. During the Clements period the programme included a variety of work, ranging from classics such as Death of a Salesman , Aphra Behn's Lucky Chance and Shakespeare's Richard III , to contemporary drama such as Our Boys , The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Children of a Lesser God , and newly commissioned work such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles , Passion Killers and Blood Money . Musicals became an important part of

639-401: A pornographic film with him to "see how it's done". An increasingly mentally deranged and paranoid Mrs. Lyons further questions whether she is truly free from Mrs. Johnstone ("Shoes Upon The Table (Reprise)") as Mickey asks his mother for money to see a film while reintroducing Eddie. After she realises it is a pornographic film, the three have a humorous moment, before Mrs. Johnstone gives them

710-638: A production at the Liverpool Playhouse , opening on 8 January 1983, starring Barbara Dickson (Mrs. Johnstone), Andrew Schofield (narrator), George Costigan (Mickey) and Andrew C. Wadsworth (Eddie). It was only a modest success. Nevertheless, the show transferred to London's West End on 11 April 1983 at the Lyric Theatre and ran until 22 October 1983, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical and another Olivier for Dickson's performance. This

781-608: A salesman, and Rea (nee Mathieson-Macbeth). In World War II, he served in the British Army, joining straight from school and rising to second lieutenant. When he was demobbed in 1947, Ham joined the Architectural Association to start his studies as an architect, where he would return later in his career to teach. In 1954 he set up his own practice, and due to his love of amateur dramatics, decided to concentrate on theatre design. His early work included alterations to

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852-432: A teacher. Meanwhile, Mickey refuses to pay attention or co-operate during a class in his school, insulting the teacher, and is suspended. Linda is also suspended for defending him. When he returns home, Eddie refuses to tell Mrs. Lyons about the locket's contents, and when she takes it and sees the picture inside she panics, and immediately assumes it is a picture of Eddie. She grows paranoid, having once thought she had buried

923-452: A wealthy family, the other in a poor family. The different environments take the twins to opposite ends of the social spectrum, one becoming a councillor, and the other unemployed and in prison. They both fall in love with the same girl, causing a rift in their friendship and leading to the tragic death of both brothers. Russell says that his work was based on a one-act play that he read as a child "about two babies switched at birth ... it became

994-441: A younger, more attractive woman. Now a single mother, she discovers she's pregnant yet again (" Marilyn Monroe "). Heavily in debt and unable to support her seven children alone, Mrs. Johnstone takes a job as a cleaner for a local upper-middle-class couple, Richard and Jennifer Lyons. While talking with Mrs. Lyons, she mentions she's found out she's carrying twins, but can only afford to raise one more child. Mrs. Lyons, desperate for

1065-401: Is embarrassed by her honesty to being attracted to him. During their journey to school Sammy, Mickey's older brother, pretends to be 14 to get a cheaper bus ticket. When he is confronted his violent nature becomes obvious; he swears violently at the driver, threatens him with a knife, steals some money and escapes. Eddie is suspended from his boarding school for refusing to give up his locket to

1136-603: Is leaving for university in Liverpool the following day, but has not told her or Mickey. Linda reveals that Mickey still hasn't asked her out, prompting Eddie to tell her what he would say to her if he were Mickey. Secretly, he is revealing his true feelings but has not acted on them out of respect for Mickey ("I'm Not Saying A Word"). Eddie leaves for university in Liverpool, but not before encouraging Mickey to ask Linda out. During Eddie's absence, Linda gets pregnant, and she and Mickey quickly marry and move in with Mrs Johnstone. Mickey

1207-428: Is persuaded to assist his brother Sammy, who now engages in criminal acts, in a robbery, to earn money to support Linda and their baby daughter Sarah. The robbery goes bad, and Mickey becomes an accessory to a murder committed by Sammy. He is sentenced to seven years in prison, and the incident destroys Mickey mentally. In prison, Mickey is diagnosed as chronically depressed . When released early for good behaviour, he

1278-626: Is still dependent on anti-depressants. He becomes withdrawn and turns away from Linda ("Marilyn Monroe 3"). Linda, unable to get Mickey off the anti-depressants, contacts Eddie, who is now a local councillor, who gets them their own house in Liverpool and Mickey a job ("Light Romance"), taking the focus of the play back to Liverpool. Linda worries about Mickey and continues to meet up with Eddie. A mentally ill Mrs. Lyons, now seemingly wanting to get back at Mrs. Johnstone in any way possible, even if it involves possibly being harmful to Eddie, sees Eddie and Linda together and tells Mickey about it, suggesting that

1349-400: Is then made redundant from his factory job due to the recession of the early 1980s , which hits Merseyside particularly hard, and Mickey joins thousands of other Merseysiders on the dole shortly before Christmas (“Take A Letter, Miss Jones"). Eddie returns at Christmas ready to party and have fun, but Mickey realises that they are now very different; after a small argument, they part. Mickey

1420-562: The 11th Duke of Devonshire . The company experienced financial difficulties in 2002, running a trading deficit of £400,000, the biggest in its history, and nearly closed. By 2004 it had recovered and was breaking box-office records. Geoff Sweeney, the company's Development Director at the time, suggested that it might seek new larger premises on the River Trent . However, the company again ran into serious financial problems in 2007 which ultimately spelled its demise. On 29 November 2007, following

1491-881: The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich , which was built from 1977 to 1979, followed by the Sackville theatre at Sevenoaks school in Kent, in 1981. In 1961, Ham was one of the founding members of the Association of British Theatre Technicians and was elected a Fellow in 2012. With Peter Moro, he produced a series of information sheets on aspects of theatre design that were published by the Architects' Journal . Ham developed this work into his 1972 book Theatre Planning , and his 1987 publication Theatres: Planning Guidance for Design and Adaptation . He

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1562-564: The Phoenix Theatre in 1991. The revival ran for more than 24 years in the West End, and played more than 10,000 performances, becoming the third longest-running musical production in West End history. It finally closed in November 2012. The musical has been produced with success on tour, on Broadway and elsewhere, and it has developed a cult following . Blood Brothers is often taught as one of

1633-745: The South African version in 2012, which he set in District Six , a predominantly Coloured inner-city residential area in Cape Town during the Apartheid era, with black cast members. This was the first time that Willy Russell had allowed the musical to be adapted. "Pokrvní bratia" - "Blood Brothers", adapted in the Czech-Slovak language - has been produced several times in the Czech Republic and Slovakia,

1704-553: The 2015 Nová Scéna revival, are scheduled to reprise the role in the 2017 Nová Scéna encore production. In addition to the above, the musical has also been produced in various theatres in Europe, Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Israel, and Canada. The Youth Action Theatre presented the musical in the USSR at Kyiv's Palace of Culture in May 1989. The play opens in the early 1980s, at the ending of

1775-484: The British actors made their Broadway debuts, including Stephanie Lawrence as Mrs. Johnstone, O'Neill as Mickey, Graveson as Linda, Hutchinson as Eddie and Evans as the narrator. Barbara Walsh was Mrs Lyons, and Kerry Butler made her Broadway debut in the ensemble. To boost box office sales during the run, Kenwright persuaded Petula Clark to make her Broadway debut, replacing Lawrence as Mrs. Johnstone, with David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy as her sons. The casting of

1846-493: The Cassidy half-brothers as the twins generated much publicity. The musical received Tony Award nominations for best musical, best book and best direction, and Lawrence (best actress), O'Neill (best actor) and Graveson (best featured actress) were all nominated for their performances in the original Broadway production. Following Clark's portrayal, Mrs. Johnstone was played by other 1970s pop singers, with King and Reddy later playing

1917-617: The Christmas production of Peter Pan , was cancelled. Roderick Ham Roderick Thomas Mathieson Ham (September 1925 – 19 January 2017) was a British architect, principally of theatres, who often worked with George Finch . He designed the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich , and the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead . Ham was born in Balham , South London. He was the son of Bob Ham,

1988-641: The Derby Playhouse Studio, under the various direction of John North, David Milne and Claire Grove, provided a year-round programme of productions and mounted community tours and a Theatre in Education programme. In 1987, Annie Castledine succeeded Christopher Honer as Artistic Director, and for the next three years, the Playhouse saw a completely different style of theatre. Revivals of plays such as The Innocent Mistress , The Children's Hour and The Dark at

2059-893: The Fahrner adaptation ran at the Slovácké Theatre  [ cs ] in Uherské Hradiště from 1 October 2001 to 7 June 2002 followed by a production (also à la Farhner) at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň which ran from 27 September 2003 to 9 June 2004 with Jitka Smutná  [ cs ] and Stanislava Fořtová-Topinková  [ cs ] alternating in the role of Johnstonová. The premiere Prague engagement of "Pokrvní bratia" - introducing an adaptation by Adam Novák - inaugurated its Palác Blaník  [ cs ] run 17 November 2004: this production would feature Daniela Šinkorová  [ cs ] and Sisa Sklovská alternating in

2130-665: The Festival theatre in Battersea Park and additions to the Royal Court. His first major project was designing, with George Finch, the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead within the shell of the disused 1930s Crescent Cinema, which opened in 1969. The building is now Grade II listed and won both a RIBA Award and a building for the disabled award in 1970. Ham designed the Derby Playhouse with George Finch, which opened in 1975, and

2201-548: The Lyons. In 2015 Enda Markey revived Blood Brothers for a 6 February – 15 March engagement at Hayes Theatre Co , reportedly affording the play its first professional production in Sydney since the September 1994 engagement of the play's New Zealand/Australian tour. The play was produced by Enda Markey and directed by Andrew Pole with musical direction by Michael Tyack : the cast included Blake Bowden as Edward, Michael Cormick as

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2272-591: The Narrator, Helen Dallimore as Mrs Johnstone, and Bobby Fox as Mickey. The production went on to play for three weeks at the Alex Theatre, St Kilda , Melbourne, from 14 July 2015, with Josh Piterman taking over the role of Edward. The Broadway production opened on 25 April 1993 at the Music Box Theatre and closed on 30 April 1995 after 840 performances. It was co-directed by Tomson and Kenwright. Several of

2343-589: The Novák adaptation for a production which premiered 2 June 2012 for a 25 performance run during which Hana Holišová and Markéta Sedláčková  [ cs ] alternated in the role of Johnstonová. The Ruppeldtová adaptation of "Pokrvní bratia" was produced at the Jonáš Záborský Theatre  [ cs ] in Prešov for a fifteen performance run premiering 21 September 2012 over which Svetlana Janišová played

2414-445: The Playhouse as Artistic Director in 1980. Over the next seven years, the Playhouse's major productions included All My Sons with Miranda Richardson , Piaf with Caroline Quentin , The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui starring Ben Roberts; new plays such as Rony Robinson 's The Brewery Beano and Don Shaw 's The Conspirator ; and box office successes such as Funny Peculiar , Having A Ball! and Blood Brothers . During this time,

2485-548: The Playhouse gained a national reputation for its productions, particularly the works of Stephen Sondheim , with in-house productions of Sweeney Todd , Into the Woods , Company and Merrily We Roll Along . Three of these productions featured Glenn Carter , who has also appeared in other non- Sondheim productions at the Playhouse. One of these was a new music drama, Moon Landing , in which he played Buzz Aldrin . Written, composed and directed by Stephen Edwards, Moon Landing

2556-464: The Playhouse to continue to operate, although on a smaller scale. According to Lyn Gardner writing in The Guardian , "it was Castledine's head that was demanded by the council as the price of underwriting the theatre's deficit." From the summer of 1990, when Castledine left the Playhouse to Christmas 1991, Executive Director, David Edwards, was in charge of scheduling the programme, which culminated in

2627-488: The Playhouse's production of Hobson's Choice winning the Theatrical Management Association 's Regional Theatre Award for Best Overall Production. In spring 1991, Mark Clements was appointed Artistic Director. His first season opened with a production of And A Nightingale Sang . The production of John Godber 's On The Piste , was repeated later in the year, and again in 2001, and Godber's work remained

2698-611: The Table"). Years later, a seven-year-old Mickey meets Edward by chance. After learning that they share the same birthday, the two boys make a pact to become blood brothers, with Mickey nicknaming Edward "Eddie." Mrs. Johnstone finds them and sends Eddie away, fearing they'll find out they're twins. Later in the day, Mickey goes to Eddie's house, but Mrs. Lyons throws him out when she realizes that he's Edward's twin. Mickey plays with some neighbourhood children, including his friend Linda ("Kids' Game"). Afterwards, Mickey takes her to see Eddie, and

2769-595: The Top of the Stairs together with re-interpretations of classics such as A Doll's House and Jane Eyre . There were also plays from the popular repertoire such as Arsenic and Old Lace , Gaslight and Noises Off alongside new work such as Sunday's Children , The Queen of Spades , Selling the Sizzle and Self Portrait and a series of co-productions with such companies as Shared Experience, Paines Plough and Temba. During this period,

2840-502: The company formed the New Theatre Trust to raise the local funding necessary for its own purpose-built theatre. Roderick Ham , who had previously designed the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead , was commissioned to design the new theatre. The Derby City Council offered the land (part of the new Eagle Centre shopping development). The new Derby Playhouse, with a seating capacity of 535, was officially opened on 20 September 1975 by

2911-780: The company's last production. The theatre was subsequently sold to the University of Derby and reopened in October 2009 as the Derby Theatre . The new Derby Playhouse opened with My Fair Lady . The first season also included Hamlet and Alan Bates in The Seagull , a production which went on to play for a season in London. Mark Woolgar was Resident Director for the first five seasons, programming work ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw and Ibsen to Ayckbourn, Orton and Coward. Christopher Honer joined

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2982-412: The gun down. After being informed by Linda of the incident, Mrs. Johnstone runs in and, in an attempt to stop Mickey from shooting Eddie, tells the two brothers the truth. Mickey furiously despairs that he was not the one given away, because then he could have had the life given to Eddie. Enraged, Mickey gestures with the gun toward Eddie and accidentally pulls the trigger. The gun fires, killing Eddie, with

3053-739: The inaugural production - adapted into Czech-Slovak by Alexandra Ruppeldtová - premiering in December 1993 at the Nová Scéna Theatre in Bratislava and featuring Soňa Valentová in the role of Johnstonová [i.e. Mrs Johnstone]. "Pokrvní bratia" - newly adapted by Martin Fahrner - premiered at the East Bohemian Theatre  [ cs ] in Pardubice in February 2001: a subsequent production of

3124-471: The money and they leave. Mrs Lyons, by this point clearly mentally ill, discovers Mrs. Johnstone's house and confronts her, believing that she followed her after they moved. After she admits that she “never made him [Eddie] mine”, she offers to pay off Mrs. Johnstone again. After Mrs. Johnstone stands her ground and declares she will not be paid off again, stating that she has made a good life for herself, an enraged Mrs. Lyons attempts to attack Mrs. Johnstone with

3195-417: The other baby died. Mrs. Johnstone continues to work for the Lyons family, but Mrs. Lyons begins to feels she's too attached to Edward. She fires her, causing Mrs. Johnstone to demand her son back. Mrs. Lyons manipulates her into backing down by playing on her superstitious nature, telling her that "if twins separated at birth learn that they were once one of a pair, they will both immediately die" ("Shoes Upon

3266-404: The past by moving away, and questions Mrs. Johnstone's presence in their lives ("The Devil's Got Your Number"). Eddie and Mickey, now teenage and insecure, both reminisce over their blood brother status, and after seeing each other but not realising they are seeing their blood brother, think about how they wish they had the qualities the other guy has ("That Guy"). After Mickey and Linda walk through

3337-666: The play in the West End and on Broadway - ran in Melbourne and Sydney in the summer and fall having played dates in Wellington and Auckland NZ that spring: the cast included Stefan Dennis as Mickey, Delia Hannah as Mrs. Johnstone, and David Soul as the Narrator. In 2013 Blood Brothers was produced by the Harvest Rain Theatre Company of Brisbane playing the Cremorne Theatre 3–17 August: directed by Tim O'Connor ,

3408-435: The police then shooting and killing Mickey. As Mrs. Lyons had suggested all those years earlier, the superstition that the two brothers would die if they discovered the truth has finally materialised, and the narrator questions whether the differing backgrounds of the two boys was more to blame than superstition. ("Tell Me It's Not True"). In another version, Mickey has a fake gun. Mrs. Johnstone rushes to stop him and reveals

3479-454: The prescribed plays of GCSE English Literature in English schools. Willy Russell originally wrote and presented Blood Brothers as a school play first performed at Fazakerley Comprehensive School, Liverpool , in November 1981, in conjunction with Merseyside Young People's Theatre (MYPT; now operating as Fuse: New Theatre For Young People). He then wrote a score and developed the musical for

3550-550: The production featured Amanda Muggleton in the role of Mrs. Johnstone. Muggleton had previously played Mrs. Johnstone in the Metcalfe Playhouse ( Perth ) production of Blood Brothers which ran 11 November – 4 December 2011. The Chapel Off Chapel venue in Prahran hosted a production of Blood Brothers from 19 March – 6 April 2014: the cast included Chelsea Plumley as Mrs. Johnstone and Peter Hardy and Glenda Linscott as

3621-411: The programme, starting with Grease , and including Little Shop of Horrors , Cabaret and Assassins , while the pantomimes written by Mark Clements and Michael Vivian drew in record numbers at Christmas time. In 2002 both Mark Clements and David Edwards left the company. Karen Hebden was appointed as chief executive, closely followed by Stephen Edwards as Creative Producer. Over the following years

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3692-466: The refusal of Derby City Council to advance £40,000 from their 2008 grant, the board of trustees of the theatre announced that it was going into voluntary liquidation and that performances would cease immediately. Nevertheless, the cast and crew of Treasure Island went ahead and put on that evening's performance. After the curtain call, the cast were joined on stage by the rest of the staff, with Karen Hebden (the theatre's chief executive and director of

3763-400: The role more times than anyone else. Mickey has been played by O'Neill, Russell Boulter , Stephen McGann , Paul Crosby, Antony Costa , Stefan Dennis , Andy Snowden , David Cassidy and Michael J. Cook among others. Notable actors to play Eddie include Hutchinson and Shaun Cassidy . Narrators include Evans, Carl Wayne , Adrian Zmed , David Soul and Marti Pellow . Alex Harland played

3834-589: The role of Johnstonová. "Pokrvní bratia" - as adapted by Fahner - was produced by the Liberec -based F. X. Šalda Theatre  [ cs ] whose engagement premiered 23 March 2007: this production would encore in September 2008 as the inaugural production of the Heineken Tower Stage at Tower 115 in Bratislava, where the F. X. Šalda troupe performed "Pokrvní bratia" over three nights. Brno City Theatre revived

3905-521: The role of Johnstonová. The Nová Scéna Theatre staged a revival of the Ruppeldtová adaptation of "Pokrvní bratia" with an 18 September 2015 premiere at the Nová Scéna Theatre with occasional performances til the end of October, with an announced encore run scheduled to premiere 22 March 2017: Jana Lieskovská and Miroslava Partlová  [ cs ] , who alternated in the role of Johnstonová in

3976-567: The role on Broadway. Clark and David Cassidy also starred in the US national tour from 1994 to 1995. Clark and the Cassidys also recorded the international cast album, with the musical's playwright, Willy Russell as the Narrator. Many of the cast members were also in the Canadian run, which starred David Cassidy, Michael Burgess and Canadian singer-songwriter Amy Sky . David Kramer adapted and directed

4047-603: The seed for Blood Brothers." Originally developed as a high school play in Liverpool , Blood Brothers debuted in Liverpool before Russell transferred it to the West End for a short run in 1983. The musical won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical and went on to a year-long national tour before returning for a revival in the West End in 1988 where it stayed at the Albery Theatre for 3 years, transferring to

4118-438: The show), Michael Hall, and Jonathan Powers (two former chairmen of the Playhouse board) who then addressed the audience and press, asking them to fight for the city's theatre and get the Playhouse open again. The following day, the board of trustees announced that the company had been put into administration . The administrators allowed the Playhouse to reopen on 7 December 2007 to finish its run of Treasure Island . The theatre

4189-518: The small role of the postman in more than 4,000 performances. The inaugural Australian production of Blood Brothers premiered August 1988 at the York Theatre in Sydney where it ran for three months: the cast included Chrissy Amphlett as Mrs Johnstone, Bob Baines as the Narrator, Zoe Carides as Linda, Peter Cousens as Edward and Russell Crowe as Mickey. In 1994 a production of Blood Brothers directed by Bill Kenwright - who had overseen

4260-678: The story. Mrs. Johnstone, surrounded by others, including Mr. and Mrs. Lyons, and the Narrator, is standing over the bodies of Mickey and Eddie and sings “Tell Me It’s Not True” (“Overture”). The Narrator introduces the “story of the Johnstone twins” to the audience and the play then flashes back to the late 1950s. 30-year old Mrs. Johnstone lives in the Victorian inner-city slums of Liverpool . She describes her whirlwind romance with her husband, who, once attracted to her because of how she looked "like Marilyn Monroe," lost interest in her after multiple pregnancies and weight gain, and eventually left her for

4331-553: The theatre's productions became known for the strength of their on-stage visual imagery, and the Playhouse was shortlisted for the Prudential Awards. In the summer of 1990, Derby Playhouse faced the prospect of greatly reduced funding as Derbyshire County Council had cut their entire arts budget, depriving the Playhouse of £130,000 of revenue grant. However, the City Council offered the theatre an additional grant, which enabled

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4402-427: The three of them sneak off to play. Mrs. Lyons worries about Eddie's whereabouts ("Gypsies in the Wood"). The three are caught attempting to throw stones through a window by a police officer, and escorted home. Mrs. Lyons, worried about Eddie's friendship with Mickey, persuades her husband they should move. Eddie goes to Mrs. Johnstone's house to say goodbye to Mickey and she gives him a locket, which she claims contains

4473-415: The truth, which provokes Mrs. Lyons to attempt to shoot Mickey in order to keep her own child. Eddie jumps in and takes the bullet, and Mrs. Lyons shoots Mickey in rage. This version ends with the narrator's monologue . 1983 1987 1993 1994 2015 2019 Sean Jones has played 'Mickey Johnstone' numerous times on both the UK tours and in London's West End. As of August 2023 he

4544-417: The two are having an affair. Distraught over Eddie and Linda's 'affair,' Mickey grabs the gun that Sammy hid before he got arrested and storms down to the council offices to confront Eddie ("Madman"), who is giving a speech as Mickey storms in with the gun. Mickey asks why Eddie would take away the one good thing that Mickey had – Linda. Eddie denies this intention, and the police enter, demanding that Mickey put

4615-449: Was being operated by a skeleton of essential staff, initially working unpaid to get it up and running again. A fund was set up to accept donations to keep the Playhouse going, as it was now operating as a charitable trust relying on ticket sales and donations alone. Tickets for a modified Spring/Summer 2008 season, which had already been on sale for some weeks before the closure, were put back on sale during December and January while an appeal

4686-470: Was elected Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1989. In 1955, he married Cara P. Aldridge. He died on 19 January 2017 at the age of 91. Blood Brothers (musical) Blood Brothers is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell and produced by Bill Kenwright . The story is a contemporary nature versus nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins Mickey and Eddie, who were separated at birth, one subsequently being raised in

4757-417: Was extended by 2 weeks with returning favourites in the closing cast, including Lyn Paul , original narrator Warwick Evans, Sean Jones as Mickey, Mark Michael Hutchinson as Eddie and Jan Graveson as Linda. It played more than 10,000 performances in London, making it the third longest-running musical to ever play in the West End. The UK tour continued until 2013. A new version has been released in 2022 with

4828-463: Was followed by a 1984 UK tour. Blood Brothers year-long national tour beginning in 1987, produced by Bill Kenwright (and directed by Kenwright and Bob Tomson), starring Kiki Dee as Mrs Johnstone, Warwick Evans as the Narrator, Con O'Neill as Mickey and Robert Locke as Eddie, leading to a revival at the Albery Theatre (now the Noël Coward Theatre), directed by Tomson, with the same cast. O'Neill won an Olivier Award for his performance, and Dee

4899-446: Was made to the Arts Council. However, the Arts Council refused the appeal in January 2008, and the theatre closed after the last performance of Treasure Island on 2 February 2008. At a meeting on 30 July 2008 the creditors voted to accept a rescue package put together by the company's new board of trustees. The theatre reopened on 13 September 2008 with The Killing of Sister George which ran until 18 October. However, it proved to be

4970-447: Was nominated. It opened on 28 July 1988 and moved out of that theatre on 16 November 1991. The musical transferred to the Phoenix Theatre on 21 November 1991, where it celebrated its 10th anniversary with a gala performance on 28 July 1998, featuring Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone, Keith Burns (Narrator) Andy Snowden (Mickey) & Mark Hutchinson (Eddie). The show closed its West End run on 10 November 2012. Due to close on 27 October, its run

5041-418: Was subsequently nominated in the Best Musical Production category of the 2008 TMA Awards. An original cast recording was also made, recorded live on the night of the final performance. The company's last production before its permanent closure was The Killing of Sister George starring Jenny Eclair and directed by Cal McCrystal . Its run ended on 18 October 2008. The rest of the 2008 autumn season, including

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