Blood Brothers Is In Town With An Emotional Opening Halloween Night At The Bradford Alhambra, Its A 5 Stars From Me ✨️

I spent an emotional Halloween evening watching Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers last night at the Bradford Alhambra , this would be my 2nd time seeing the show and let me tell you I took extra tissues as I knew the plot line and the story this time round I knew I was in for an emotional roller coaster ride.

I now feel like this show is under my skin and I cannot stop thinking about the Johnstone twins.
For those who are unaware, Blood Brothers tells the tale of twin brothers who are separated at birth, both have a different upbringing raised in two different households and worlds apart from each other, the story is set on the basis of class divide.

Despite both boys taking different paths, Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie ( Joe Sleight) cross paths again as boys and become best friends with the solemn promise made as children that they would be ‘ Blood Brothers’, but where will the tragic tale end, I have been lucky enough to see Sean Jones take on the role of Mickey before and both times he has blown me away what an absolutetly fantastic actor and he definetly followed through with the president he set the first time round.

If you are not a massive fan of musicals don’t let it put you off, its so much more than a musical for me,  Blood Brothers is gritty, heart-breaking and all things in between, I am so glad I packed tissues as I felt all emotions watching the story unfold.

Looking at what the Johnstone’s had to do to survive, the tale looks at class and privilege and the massive divide what we still see to this day and really makes you think about life, you are always reminded at times of laughter and lightness throughout of the tale from the foreboding narrator (Danny Whitehead), lingering in the shadows waiting to remind the 2 ladies of making a deal with the devil so the song says.

I loved the songs and Mrs Johnstone, played by the utterly fabulous Niki Colwell Evans who plays the twins biological mother, blew my socks off with her renditions of the catchy Marilyn Monroe and truly broke my heart with ‘Tell Me It’s Not True’. Mrs Johnstone had to be once again the uttertly outstanding stand out performance of the evening, her voice belted through the whole of the theatre and you could hear the love, compassion and sadness in her tones, she was amazing, one again I was lucky enough to see Niki taking on the massive role and once again she was brilliant, she deserves all the awards and standing ovations she had the audience in the palm of her hands, hitting everyone in all of the feels throughout the duration of the show.

The stage and settings throughout are kept simple, with the dismal streets of the working-class estate where the Johnstone’s live allowing the narrator to pass in and out of the lives of the characters, always reminding the audience of the bad times coming. The live orchestra were brilliant too.

All in all, a fabulous evening of live theatre this Halloween night at my favourite little spot The Bradford Alhambra, listening to the audience, it was clear to see that everyone had been taken in by the story, I felt everything from happy to sad to devastation as the plot unfolded,  there were cheers, whispers as we were all guided through all the twists and turns of the plot and the whole audience gave a standing ovation at the end.

Blood Brothers is most definitely a once in a lifetime must see, but it’s a show with a captivating story you will want to see again and again.

Blood Brothers is playing at The Alhambra Theatre Bradford 31st October - Saturday 4th November Book your tickets now!

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