Blood Brothers (musical)

Blood Brothers
20th Anniversary London Poster
Music	Willy Russell
Lyrics	Willy Russell
Book	Willy Russell
Productions	1983 West End 1993 Broadway Several UK tours 2006 US tour 2015 Sydney International productions
Awards	Olivier Award for Best New Musical

Blood Brothers is a musical with book, lyrics, and music by Willy Russell. The story is a contemporary nature versus nurture plot, revolving around fraternal twins Mickey and Eddie, who were separated at birth and one raised in a wealthy family while the other raised in a poor family. The twins' different backgrounds take them 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 tear 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."

Originally developed as a school play, Blood Brothers debuted in Liverpool before Russell transferred it to 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.

Willy Russell originally wrote and presented Blood Brothers as a school play in 1982, in conjunction with Merseyside Young People's Theatre (MYPT, Now operating as Fuse: New Theatre For Young People). He then wrote about a score and developed the musical for a production at the Liverpool Playhouse, in 1983, starring Barbara Dickson, Andrew Schofield (narrator), George Costigan (Mickey) and Andrew C. Wadsworth (Eddie). 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, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical and another Olivier for Dickson's performance. This was followed by a 1984 UK tour.