"Tell Me It's Not True": Long-Running Blood Brothers to End London Run

By Andrew Gans
06 Aug 2012

Vivienne Carlyle
Vivienne Carlyle

The long-running London musical Blood Brothers will end its run at the Phoenix Theatre Oct. 27.

When it closes, Bill Kenwright’s production of Willy Russell’s musical will have played over 10,000 performances in London, making it the third longest-running musical ever to play the West End.

The musical, which is set in Liverpool, tells the "tale of the Johnstone twins, who are separated at birth and later reunited by a twist of fate."

The London cast currently features Vivienne Carlyle as Mrs. Johnstone, Philip Stewart as Narrator, Mark Rice Oxley as Mickey, Paul Christopher as Eddie, Abigail Jaye as Mrs. Lyons and Louise Clayton as Linda.

Blood Brothers began its journey as a school play, performed by a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981. It opened at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983 and transferred to the Lyric Theatre for a short run. It was then taken on by producer Kenwright, who opened a new production at the Albery Theatre in 1988 to great acclaim, transferring it to the larger Phoenix Theatre three years later. It has also enjoyed success on Broadway and across America.

Blood Brothers will continue to play all around the U.K. into 2013 and beyond.

A spokesperson for Bill Kenwright Ltd. said in a statement, “This is the end of a chapter, but by no means the end of Blood Brothers.”