MAKING a welcome return to the county is one of the most enduring musicals ever to appear on stage - Blood Brothers.


The international smash hit is set to visit theatres across the UK this autumn with the tour opening at Malvern’s Festival Theatre this Tuesday and it's bound to see the place packed to the rafters.

Having played its debut performance in Liverpool in 1983, this autumn tour will see the show make a welcome return ‘home’ to the Empire Theatre on Merseyside for two weeks from September 19.

No stranger to Blood Brothers, Lyn Paul - described in one newspaper as 'the definitive Mrs Johnstone' -  returns to the iconic role, one she first played in 1997.

Lyn also played Mrs Johnstone in the final West End performances at the Phoenix Theatre in 2012. She has also starred in the UK tour of Cabaret in 2013 as Fraulein Schneider, in Boy George’s musical Taboo and in Footloose - the Musical.

She rose to fame in the early 1970s as a member of the New Seekers and was the featured vocalist on their 1972 Eurovision Song Contest entry, ‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’, in which they came second, and lead vocalist on the 1974 number-one hit ‘You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me’.

Among the group’s other works, they recorded the song ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing’, adapted from an advertising jingle for Coca-Cola, which sold over 20 million copies and still remains one of the 100 best-selling singles in the UK.

Hailed as one of the best musicals of all time, Blood Brothers, was written by award-winning playwright Willy Russell and has triumphed across the globe.

Over the years it has scooped up no fewer than four awards for best musical in London and seven Tony Award nominations on Broadway, all of which indicates that Blood Brothers is simply unmissable and unbeatable.

This epic tale of Liverpool life ran in London’s West End for 24 years and exceeded 10,000 performances. It is one of only three musicals ever to achieve that milestone.

Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving story of twin boys separated at birth, only to be reunited by a twist of fate and a mother’s haunting secret. The memorable score includes A Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True.

When Mrs Johnstone, a young mother, is deserted by her husband and left to her own devices to provide for seven hungry children she takes a job as a housekeeper in order to make ends meet.

It is not long before her brittle world crashes around her when she discovers herself to be pregnant yet again – this time with twins!

In a moment of weakness and desperation, she enters a secret pact with her employer which leads inexorably to the show’s shattering climax. A sensational cast, incredible show stopping music, remarkable staging and five star performances make Blood Brothers an enthralling night of entertainment.

Willy Russell is undeniably one of this country’s leading contemporary dramatists. His countless credits include Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine.

Educating Rita, originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, enjoyed a two year run in the West End and was made into a movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Shirley Valentine also made the move from stage to screen in an enormously popular film starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti.


Blood Brothers will be appearing at the Festival Theatre from this Tuesday, September 13 through to Saturday, September 17. Tickets are on sale at the Box Office 01684 892277 and online at malvern-theatres.co.uk.