Blood Brothers
by Willie
Russell
It's been called
"chilling," "a masterpiece," and even
"devastating" in reviews of its many
performances on Broadway and in London. Sundog
Theatre, in co-production with Snug Harbor
Cultural Center, presents the musical "Blood
Brothers" for the first time on Staten Island.
The show that garnered six Tony nominations,
won three Olivier awards, ran for two years on
Broadway, and is still playing in London after
17 years opens August 5, 2005 at Veterans
Memorial Hall.
An intense social drama, the musical is
comparable to a modern Greek tragedy, telling
the story of a woman who gives up one of her
twins due to her financial situation. Everyone
bears the consequences of that action. As much
as the boys are kept apart, they find one
another, secretly become blood brothers until
they are again separated, and coincidentally
meet up as young men. The play follows them
until a threatening superstition materializes
at the climax.
John Griffin, Andy Meyers
(Photo: Susan Fenley)
Rebecca Mercer, John Griffin, Nathan Freeman, Nicole Lauren, Kira Coviello
(Photo: Jan Somma-Hammell)
Nicole Lauren, Doc Burkhardt, Nicole Libby
(Photo: Susan Fenley)
Sundog Theatre’s Latest is in Musical-Drama Vein
By Todd Hill – Staten Island Advance
August 6, 2005 – Excerpts from review
The core of “Blood Brothers” is the Greekest of tragedies. A mother, remarkably fertile but bereft of the funds to support her brood, is forced to give away one of her two newborn twins.
The childless woman whose house she keeps is more than eager to adopt the child, in fact disturbingly so. She and her wealthy husband will no doubt provide well for the child, but nothing good can come of this arrangement.
And why? Because this is one of those stories in which a misdeed, however well-intended, will inevitably come back to haunt all parties. A sin committed by one is to be shared by many. Except that “Blood Brothers” isn’t finally about this, because it’s a British play, and the British somehow always manage to inject class into everything.
Make no mistake, this is what gives the play its force, even for an American audience like the one that filled Snug Harbor’s Veterans Memorial Hall last night and enthusiastically applauded at the end. Greek tragedies can easily show their age, but who among us can’t relate to a story of haves and have nots?
This popular play (two years on Broadway and six Tony Awards, not to mention 17 years and counting on London’s West End) is handled well by director Christopher Catt and his cast.
A big show on a small stage it could’ve felt claustrophobic, especially given the exuberance of youth so evident on that stage. The actors are young – Andy Meyers plays Eddie, the rich adopted twin; John Griffin is Mickey, the other left behind in poverty, while Rebecca Mercer is the girl loved by them both – but for the bulk of this production they’re playing much younger.
The first act finds the trio at age 7, the second at 18, until it finally concludes with them confronting the realities inequality has wrought in adulthood. The challenge here for these actors is to play all these ages in an adult body, and all three take to the challenge with both hands (or in the case of Griffin, both hands, both feet, and anything else that comes to mind). They’re each thrilling to watch, and yet what a relief too that as Mrs. Johnstone, the mother of the twins, Nicole Lauren is here to keep the proceedings grounded.
Lauren also has more singing to handle here than anyone, and thankfully can hold those long, high notes without getting thin. The strength of this play, and in the production, are in the book, not the lyrics, for when isn’t it bittersweet to see childhood friends losing that bond as they grow older and apart, in this case one to college, the other to the local factory, be they brothers or no? And who among us hasn’t experienced that dynamic in our own lives?
Nicole Juliett Libby, as Eddie’s mother, is scary from the get-go, while doc Burkhardt as the narrator keeps us pointed in the right direction, although his interludes do seem to have a “Phantom of the Opera” schmaltziness to them.
When a company has gotten hold of a strong, moving show, however, and its director and cast completely get it, something special happens.
Of course, anyone who saw “Blood Brothers” last night knows this already.
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