At Comedy Theatre, Melbourne from July 15, 1994
Reviewer: Kate Herbert around 15 July 1994
This review was published in the Melbourne Times after 15 July 1994
Twins are known to have an uncanny bond, and those separated at birth experience a pervasive and perpetual sense of loss. Willy Russell's Tony award-winning musical, Blood Brothers, has two such boys at its heart.
One twin, Eddie (Ross Girven) is illegally adopted by an infertile but wealthy woman, while Mickey (Stefan Dennis) remains with his Liverpool mother who pops a babe a year. In spite of their mothers' attempts keep them apart, the boys become intimate friends, blood brothers for life - and to the death.
David Soul of Starsky and Hutch fame, has a potent stage presence and rich voice as the doomsaying bogeyman, the portentous Narrator who speaks their fates. Delia Hannah is exceptional as the boys' superstitious mother, with a powerful voice and warm, unaffected style.
Stefan Dennis meets her level as the tragic working-class boy. He has perfected every detail and mannerism of a boy at 8 and 14 and is totally credible. His performance is warm, funny, accurate and, by the final scenes, his character is truly heart-breaking. Ross Girven and Tina Regtien are charming as his twin, and his girlfriend.
The first act of Blood Brothers is light, entertaining, but a little slow. After interval though, all stops are out. The songs are more singable, the narrative weightier, the plot shifting away from melodrama to genuine drama and, finally, to tragedy. Russell, writer of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, has injected a rare depth into this musical.
The chorus is strong, but John Wraight stands out in several hilarious, broad comic cameos. The invisible live band was terrific. The music and lyrics also by Russell, range from the pedestrian to the hummable to the invigorating. Dennis's yearning song "Long Sunday Afternoon" is charming and "Bright New Day" was a fine joyful ending to Act One.
"Tell Me It's Not True", sung movingly by Hannah and company, capped off this tear-jerker. Take a box of tissues for the finale. This is a real weeper.
KATE HERBERT
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