Blood Brothers is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell and was produced by Bill Kenwright until his death in 2023 and the production was then picked up by Bill Kenwright Limited, a company founded by the late producer. The story is a contemporary nature versus nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins Mickey and Edward, 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. 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."
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 three 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."Blood Brothers celebrates 22nd Birthday". Westendtheatre.com, accessed 17 December 2010 Blood Brothers is often taught as one of the prescribed plays of GCSE English Literature in English schools.
Production history Original production (Liverpool, West End and UK tour) 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). with Jane Hollowood as Mrs Johnstone, Catherine Hawkes as Mrs Lyons, Michael Strobel as Mickey, Geof Armstrong as Edward and Carrie Club as Linda
He then wrote a score and developed the musical for 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 (Edward)."Willy Russell Archive Catalogue Blood Brothers – Musical", Liverpool John Moores University libraries, 2012 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. The cast remained substantially the same as that at Liverpool Playhouse with Kate Fitzgerald taking over the role of Linda and, later in the run, Robert McIntosh taking over as the Narrator. winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical and another Olivier for Dickson's performance.
This was followed by a 1984 UK tour. starring Rebecca Storm as Mrs Johnston, former boxer John Conteh as Narrator, future Doctor Who Peter Capaldi as Edward and two of the McGann Brothers Mark as Mickey and Joe as Sammy. Willy Russell also stepped into the role of the Narrator for part of the tour.
West End (1988–2012) Blood Brothers year-long national tour began in 1986/1987, 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 Edward, 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 was nominated. It opened on 28 July 1988 and moved out of that theatre on 16 November 1991."Natasha Hamilton 'Mrs Johnstone' in Blood Brothers 24 Jan" londontheatre.co.uk. London Theatre Guide, 5 November 2010
The musical transferred to the Phoenix Theatre on 21 November 1991, With Stephanie Lawrence as Mrs Johnstone, While at the Phoenix in 1993 the show celebrated 10 years since the original production with Barbara Dickson returning for a limited run, the current productions 10th anniversary with a gala performance on 28 July 1998, featuring Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone, Keith Burns (Narrator) Andy Snowden (Mickey) & Mark Hutchinson (Edward), the shows 18th anniversary with Maureen Nolan and Anthony costa as Mrs Johnstone and Mickey, 20th anniversary with Lyn Paul as Mrs Johnstone in 2008 and 21st anniversary with Niki Evans and Melanie C both as Mrs Johnston in 2009
The show closed its West End run on 10 November 2012. Due to close on 27 October, its run was extended by 2 weeks."Warwick Evans, Lyn Paul and Mark Hutchinson back in Blood Brothers" westend.broadwayworld.com, 27 October 2012 The closing cast included Lyn Paul as Mrs. Johnstone, Warwick Evans as the Narrator, Sean Jones as Mickey, Mark Hutchinson as Edward, Vivienne Carlyle as Mrs. Lyons, Jan Graveson as Linda, Michael 'Suv' Southern as Sammy, and Kevin Pallister as Mr. Lyons. It played more than 10,000 performances in London, making it the third longest-running musical to ever play in the West End.Ellacott, Vivyan. "London Musicals 2012" , Over the Footlights, pp. 20–24 In 2025 it was overtaken by Mamma Mia, but Blood Brothers remains the longest running West End Revival.
The UK tour continues to present day.
The central role of Mrs. Johnstone has been played in various productions by, among others, Kiki Dee, Angela Richards, Vivian Parry, Barbara Dickson, Stephanie Lawrence, Clodagh Rodgers, Lyn Paul, Siobhan McCarthy, four of the Nolan sisters (Linda, Bernie, Denise and Maureen), Melanie C (making her West End debut and receiving an Olivier nomination in 2009), Marti Webb, Vivienne Carlyle, Niki Evans,Cole, Simon."X Factor's Niki Evans Joining 'Blood Brothers' Tour" whatsonstage.com, 25 May 2010 Amy Robbins, Natasha Hamilton, Helen Reddy, Rebecca Storm, Carole King and Petula Clark. Stephanie Lawrence played the role more times than anyone else.
Mickey has been played by Con O'Neill, Russell Boulter, Stephen McGann, Paul Crosby, Antony Costa, Russell Crowe, Stefan Dennis, Andy Snowden and David Cassidy among others. Sean Jones has been playing Mickey for over 20 years, and can still be seen in the role in the Spring Tour 2025.
Notable actors to play Edward include Mark Hutchinson and Shaun Cassidy.
Narrators include Warwick Evans, Carl Wayne, Adrian Zmed, David Soul and Marti Pellow.
Alex Harland played the role of the postman in more than 4,000 performances, and has been playing Policeman/Teacher on the UK Tour since 2024.
Australia and New Zealand 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 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 Delia Hannah as Mrs. Johnstone, David Soul and Warwick Evans once again as the Narrator, Stefan Dennis as Mickey, Ross Girven as Edward, Elaine Smith as Mrs. Lyons, Tina Regtien as Linda, Andrew Laing as Sammy, and David Ashton as Mr. Lyons. David Soul and Stefan Dennis would reprise their roles in London and UK tour in 1995/96.
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, 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 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 Helen Dallimore as Mrs. Johnstone, Michael Cormick as the Narrator, Bobby Fox as Mickey, Blake Bowden as Edward, Bronwyn Mulcahy as Mrs. Lyons, Christy Sullivan as Linda, Jamie Kristian as Sammy, Matt Edwards as Mr. Lyons. 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.
Broadway and US tour 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 the British actors made their Broadway debuts, including Stephanie Lawrence as Mrs. Johnstone, O'Neill as Mickey, Graveson as Linda, Hutchinson as Edward 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 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."Blood Brothers Broadway" Playbill (vault), accessed 4 December 2019 Following Clark's portrayal, Mrs. Johnstone was played by other 1970s pop singers, with King and Reddy later playing the role on Broadway.
Clark and David Cassidy also starred in the US national tour from 1994 to 1995.Blood Brothers at PetulaClark.net 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.
South Africa David Kramer adapted and directed 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.
Czech Republic and Slovakia