Megan Hilty as Mrs Johnstone

[WickedGinger]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 4:42am

Blood Brothers is long overdue a Broadway revival. With a little updating and a new take on the producton this would be phenomenal.

Can you just imagine Megan performing Tell Me It's Not True at the end!!!!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 7:27am

Yes, she would make a good Mrs. Johnstone. But the show never really warmed to American audiences. I think this is an instance where the off-Broadway scene has failed. This show could have a nice production off-Broadway, small but well done.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 8:39am

I like the show* but didn't it eventually work primarily because it recycled stars? I remember Petula Clark coming in (I went, delighted to see her), then everyone from Carole King to Helen Reddy. Wasn't that a factor in the run?

*"Sunday Afternoon" is one of the saddest, most haunting songs ever written about childhood. Simple, its eloquence tied to the lack of pretense.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 10:33am

I wish a revision would be done on the show. Cut down on the Marilyn Monroe motif and write one or two new songs.

[WickedGinger]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:35am

Any obvious choices for the narrator?

[Marway44]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 11:53am

I have 2 for the narrator. Tom Hewitt or Michael Cerveris.

[Trina55]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 5:25pm

It didn't work on Broadway because it's a show about Class. The Brits eat that stuff up, but Americans either don't get it, or don't want to hear about it.

The show was a massive hit in London just as it was. Revisions are not going to make it successful here. I happen to be a fan, but I think a New York revival would be a supremely bad idea.

[Marway44]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 6:39pm

I'm a fan too, but I think a limited run might do well, as it would play to the fans and to people who have never seen it. The show is really hauntingly beautiful, and can make you cry every time.

[theatregeek6]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 6:44pm

I would love to see this.

Btw. Helen Reddy was just incredible in this role when I saw her in the west end. Have seen a lot or Mrs Johnstons and she is my favorite

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/10/14 at 7:03pm

"It didn't work on Broadway because it's a show about Class. The Brits eat that stuff up, but Americans either don't get it, or don't want to hear about it."

I still think Americans want escapism in their musicals. I think the Occupy Wall Street movement gained enough traction to at least make people stop and ask the question if there is a Class problem in the United States.

The part of the Narrator is difficult because it's not a big enough role for there to be a major star in it. But I can think of several good actors who could do it. Possibly Jeremy Jordan?

I think some enterprising production company should do a production with a black cast. Audra as Mrs. Johnstone anyone? I don't know who the author would put in place of the Marilyn Monroe motif since so many of the lyrics scan with the "Monroe" sound. Redo the lyrics to fit Dorothy Dandridge or Billie Holliday?

[WickedGinger]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 7:10am

I think a re-working of the production and Audra as Mrs Johnstone would be wonderful. However, I dont think Willy Russell would ever go for that. From what i have read online I think he is very protective of the original material. I think this has a lot to do with the continuous UK tour pretty much mirroring the original production and staging.

The class divide is evident on both sides of the Atlantic. Maybe it has more to do with the upper class who would be buying the tickets in NYC dont want to admit it still exists!

[Marway44]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 7:37am

Gothampc,

Audra=OH YES! I would love to see her as Mrs. Johnstone! I would think Jeremy Jordan is a little young though.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 9:27am

Too often Blood Brothers becomes a show about the class system. But I think there's something deeper that doesn't get explored enough. In the story, there's an element of chance and luck. At one moment, one baby is picked over the other. What makes that baby more lucky? I think everyone understands how much of life is about luck. If there were a production that was able to capture the luck motif, I think it would be an even greater show.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 10:02am

When I first heard the album, learned the story, I thought the show was in many ways anti-adoption, victimizing the birthmother plight inordinately, making the adoptive mother a villainous heavy. Now, I don't think it has anything to do with adoption, ultimately. It's about poverty, yes, the deal cut between the two women really is a kind of adoption story point. But that's plot, not thematic; it's about fate, luck, chance and destiny. When you see it, the show hits the themes hard, too hard ("Shoes on the Table" etc.) The narrator keeps telling us about the bad luck. To look too deeply at its messaging is probably not useful. It's a story, it's sad, the songs are catchy. I am the first appreciate thematic intentions. But in impact? It's a tragedy about choices and fate.

Updated On: 12/11/14 at 10:02 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 12:33pm

"When I first heard the album, learned the story, I thought the show was in many ways anti-adoption, victimizing the birthmother plight inordinately, making the adoptive mother a villainous heavy."

This is why I wish Willy Russell would take a second stab at it. The way the musical is written, an audience member can walk away saying "What a beyotch Margaret Thatcher was." But the story is bigger than that. It's another look at the Prince and the Pauper story.

And one of the reasons I'd like to see Audra play the role is because I can see her moving from the young party girl (Dancing, Marilyn Monroe) to the beaten down, worn out mother. This character shift is so important to the story.

[GilmoreGirlO2]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 1:20pm

Funny, I’ve never really looked at it the show with class as the main focus. The whole chance/luck/Prince and Pauper theme always stood out to me much more.

I love this show and would love to see it revived on Broadway. Some updated orchestrations and a few other revisions would do the show well, I think.

I also think Megan or Audra would be wonderful in the role.

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 1:23pm

I really don't see Megan as Mrs J, just because she'll sing the big number well does not make her right for the part. Mrs J has to be downtrodden and look like she's suffered years as a lone parent to lots of delinquent children, while surviving on welfare. I could see Victoria Clark playing the role and Kelli O'Hara would be a fantastic Mrs Lyons.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/11/14 at 1:51pm

"I could see Victoria Clark playing the role"

The audience has to believe that the actress is still capable of bearing children. Victoria is a bit past that age.

[AngusN]

Posted: 12/12/14 at 8:53am

Only at the start of the show. She also has to be a convincing 50 year old woman at the end of the show.