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Until Saturday January 29
Blood Brothers Theatre Royal Windsor
If you’ve never seen Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers please book a seat now and be blown away by, in my opinion, one of the greatest pieces of contemporary musical theatre ever produced. A statement, backed up with the four rapturous standing ovations it received on the opening night, I was there.
The story of Liverpudlian twins, Mickey and Eddie, split up at birth and subsequently by class and fate and their birth mother’s heart-breaking secret she is forced to keep, is such a tour-deforce of emotional highs and lows. Even though you know at the overture the fatal conclusion of the twins, when the truth is revealed it is still a powerful gut punch, but. boy, what a journey.
With such a faultless cast, it’s difficult not to mention everyone, but as my word count is limited, Niki Evans as Mrs Johnstone and Sean Jones and Joel Benedict as her unsuspecting twins, showcase musical theatre performances of the highest level.
From the writing to the memorable music and songs, along with perfectly understated direction, this excellent production will have you laughing and crying, toe-tapping and applauding, but most of all it will make you so pleased you took my advice and went to see ‘Blood Brothers’.
Terry Adlam