Blood Brothers is a musical written by English dramatist and composer Willy Russell. It depicts the lives of twin brothers, Mickey and Eddie, who were separated at birth. One ends up being raised by a rich family and becoming a local politician while the other grows up in poverty and becomes embroiled in violent crime. Both boys fall in love with their mutual childhood friend, Linda, a situation that ends in a terrible tragedy. The music features a number of rock and pop instruments, including drums, electric guitar, bass, saxophone, and synthesizer keyboard. Set to a lively soundtrack, the musical explores ideas of nature versus nurture, familial ties, and class. The storyline is loosely based on The Corsican Brothers, a novella by Alexander Dumas.
Russell initially wrote and staged Blood Brothers as a school play. It ran at Fazakerley Comprehensive School in Liverpool in November 1981. Russell said that the idea for the story came from a one-act play he read about two brothers who were switched at birth. He continued working on it, composing a score and adapting it into a musical for a performance at the Liverpool Playhouse. The musical opened on January 8th, 1983 then transferred to the Lyric Theatre on April 11th, 1983 and ran until October 22nd of the same year. It starred Barbara Dickson as Mrs. Johnstone, Andrew Schofield as the narrator, George Costigan as Mickey, and Andrew C. Wadsworth as Eddie. The play won an Olivier Award for Best New Musical as well as an additional award for Dickson's performance. These performances continued with a 1984 UK tour. The play met with modest critical success.
The play returned for a revival at the Albery Theatre for three years and then was transferred to the Phoenix Theatre in 1991. The play ran for 24 years in the West End and had over 10,000 performances, giving it the third-longest run of any musical in West End history. It closed in November of 2012. It has been performed subsequently on Broadway. Despite its mixed critical reception, it has developed a significant cult following in the years following its premiere.
