Blood Brothers (musical)

Blood Brothers
20th Anniversary London Poster
MusicWilly Russell
LyricsWilly Russell
BookWilly Russell
Setting1950s-1980s Liverpool, England
Productions1983 West End
1993 Broadway
Several UK tours
1994 US tour
2015 Sydney
International productions
2019 UK Tour
2022-24 UK Tour
AwardsOlivier Award for Best New 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 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 the seed for Blood Brothers."[1]

Originally developed as a school play, 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 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.[2] Blood Brothers is often taught as one of the prescribed plays of GCSE English Literature in British schools.

  1. ^ "Willy Russell: 'I want to talk about things that matter'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Blood Brothers celebrates 22nd Birthday". Westendtheatre.com, accessed 17 December 2010