Blood Brothers Plays YLT 3/18-20

Set in Britain, Willy Russell's hit musical Blood Brothers tells the story of fraternal twins who are separated at birth and end up on opposite ends of the social spectrum. One brother is raised in a family of great privilege and the other brother is raised in poverty. Even with their different socioeconomic backgrounds, the two boys end up becoming best friends until a misunderstanding leads to a tragic ending.

The production is in its 23rd year in London and has developed a world-wide cult following. It is one of the longest-running musicals in London theatre and was called by the Daily Mirror "The best musical in the West End." The London Sunday Times called it "One of the best musicals ever...vibrantly and grippingly alive!"

The Broadway production opened in 1993 at the Music Box Theatre and closed in 1995 after 840 performances. Petula Clark made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Johnstone, with David Cassidy and Shaun Cassidy as her sons. Mrs. Johnstone was played by other 1960s pop singers, including Carole King and Helen Reddy. The first Australian production, in 1988, included Russell Crowe in the role of Mickey and rocker Chrissy Amphlet as Mrs Johnstone.

York audiences will have a chance to see this extraordinary musical produced locally as Blood Brothers will open on March 18 at York Little Theatre. The show is directed by Melissa McGinley, of York, who says, "I was privileged to see the show on its final Broadway preview night. I was amazed at how affected the audience was by it. People relate to this story on a very personal level." McGinley's production team includes Ken Bateman as Musical Director, Tom Beam as Assistant Director, Heather Wallen as Costumer, Mario Ricchiuto as Stage Manager and Set Designer, Justin Thillman as Lighting Designer, Dan Burke as Fight Choreographer, and Allison Weaver as Sound Designer and Assistant Stage Manager.

YLT's Blood Brothers features a local cast of 15 including Cara Giambrone as Mrs. Johnstone, James Shumate as Narrator, Andrew Matseur as Mickey, Aaron Dalton as Eddie and Melissa Rosenfield as Mrs. Lyons. McGinley describes her cast as "ridiculously talented. Every single one is amazing and they work so hard." One challenge for the cast is the dialect. The show takes place in Liverpool so the majority of the actors are using the lesser-used Scouse dialect. "We have made speech samples and phonetic transcriptions available for them and have spent nights where the dialect is the focus of the work," explains McGinley.

Blood Brothers is a story of contrasts as it explores nature vs. nurture and rich vs. poor, but it also takes a page from Ancient Greek writings and asks whether it is possible to run from a prophecy or, in doing so, do you only cause it to happen. Despite the darker aspects of Blood Brothers' themes McGinley describes it as "a wonderfully funny show."

Blood Brothers is sometimes called, "The musical for people who hate musicals," says McGinley. She describes the score as beautiful and simple, and adds that the "music always serves to advance the plot. It's not the kind of musical where people burst into song for the sake of it."

McGinley says the play is so well-written and so affecting, that "people have either never heard of it or they love it." She adds, "I think that it is such a strong story that you can't help but find something in it that speaks to you." Blood Brothers is the winner of the 1983 Olivier Award for Best New Musical and was nominated for 6 Tonys including Best Musical and Best Book.

Performances are on March 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 at 7:30; March 20 and 27 at 3:00. Tickets are $10 -22 and group discounts are offered. More information and tickets are available by calling the box office at 717-854-5715, 11 - 5, Monday through Friday, or visiting www.ylt.org. Blood Brothers is sponsored by Win and Harvey Bradley, Media Sponsor, Flipside.

York Little Theatre, now enjoying its 78th season of shows, is a nonprofit community theatre which values and nurtures the irreplaceable role of the arts and is dedicated to engaging and enriching its entire, diverse community in the dramatic arts through a broad range of professionally directed, entertaining, stimulating, and sometimes provocative performances.
York Little Theatre is located at 27 South Belmont Street, York PA, just south of Market Street at the intersection of I83.

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