Is that the Arm & Hammer logo on the poster?
Before discussing my amazing fall vacation, it's time for one more play review. But don't worry, "Blood Brothers" is amazing, too. It's hyped as the best musical of the past decade, and it's hard to argue when watching Willy Russell's masterpiece that debuted in 1988.
Like "Fat Pig", however, I still can't figure out the damn cast*. Oh well, since the sound of music was excellent here and this play is one of my favorite things we'll rate it on a scale of 1-5 Dame Julie Andrews*.
FIVE ANDREW'S out of five.
Written by Willy Russell
Now playing at Phoenix Theatre
Run Time: About two hours.
Now you understand the imagery on the poster.
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"Blood Brothers"
By Matt Levin
Two dead bodies corpses are covered, and carried off the stage. Thus, begins the tale of the Johnston twins: The story of two brothers who never knew it until the day they both died. “Blood Brothers” starts out like a dark fable—a cautionary tale.
Superstition plays a major role in the first act. The musical at the Phoenix Theatre begins with a destitute mother of seven giving up one of her newborn twins to a childless upper-class family.
Ominous music plays on the darkened stage as the aristocratic Mrs. Lyons announces to the impoverished Mrs. Johnstone that if the two separated twins ever learn of their true identity, they’ll both suddenly be struck dead.
Ah, if only it were that simple. But this play is no fairy tale. Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is a brilliant parable on class struggle. A story on how a difference in status can create gulfs between two people who are almost literally—the same person.
From the time they are seven the underprivileged Mickey Johnston and the noble Eddie Lyons become inadvertent best friends—blood brothers once they find out they’re born on the same day.
The dude who plays Johnston gives an epic performance as he takes his character from age seven to his death about 20 years later. The dude who plays Lyons is just as solid, although with less stage time—and less mood swings than his brother.
Directors Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright let the cast go wild early on. The music is fun, the dances are off-the-wall and sets are vibrant. The first act helps show the carefree nature of childhood before its contrasted with the harsh times of adulthood, in a much darker second act. It also establishes the relationship between the two best friends and the girl they both fall for.
Ms. Johnstone displayed best voice of the cast as told the mournful tale of her youngest sons, though at times you wish she would blathering on about her all tied in to Marilyn Monroe.
The narrator is also a divisive character (found too cheesy by half my class and loved by me and the other half) worth mentioning. Dressed in a black suit with a skinny black tie, the gangly Angel of Death speaks in a menacing rhyme as he recounts the tales. His song “The Devil’s Got Your Number” is the catchiest of the soundtrack.
The songs and themes grow more serious as the play reaches its climax. As you watch the two boys grow up, a pit in your stomach grows—knowing how it ends. As you observe the way it actually all unravels—in a fantastic and terrifying bang—the audience is left with more than just an amazing musical. It’s a blood-chilling glimpse into how society’s structure can cause even the closest of peoples to tear each other apart.
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Foot notes
*Russell Crowe played Mickey in the Australian debut of this play in 1989. It was this play that got him discovered and eventually made him a big Hollywood movie star. Not because he was talented, but just because he was kicking too many asses Down Under and Australia just wanted to get him out of the Outback. True story. Also, Petula Clarke played Mrs. Johnston in one variation of the play.
*I wanted to fit in even more "The Sound of Music" puns. But there's not much material to go with songs like "Do-Re-Mi" and "Sixteen Going on Seventeen." I should have gone with Mary Poppins, I guess. Who doesn't appreciate a classy supercalifragilisticexpialidocious pun?
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