Stephanie Lawrence in Blood Brothers

[bigbelterbaby]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 9:03am

thoughts on her and her performances?

She was so cool and had a great voice. Sad she died in 2000 when she was just 50.

[ajh]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 9:06am

When she was on form she was amazing, and -for once- a Mrs Johnstone that justified the copious references to Marilyn Monroe (a role SL played in the ill-fated 1983 musical in the West End). When she wasn't on form, towards the end of her career, it could all be a bit of a car crash...very sad.

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 9:26am

I saw a few times on Broadway and she was very good. I didn't know wasn't alive anymore.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 10:32am

She was a really lovely lady- she brought so much soul to the role of Mrs J.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 3:39pm

She was most persuasive in the role. Heartbreaking.

Also thought her Eva was wonderful. And saw her in STARLIGHT EXPRESS, in which she had the showstopper "Only He" until they cut it (after she left the cast). "Only He" was the "Memory," except it was reprised even more.

But BLOOD BROTHERS was a show that you could giggle at ("Shoes on the Table") one minute and then find yourself in tears. The brilliant British actor who played her most troubled son -- Con O'Neill -- deeply moved me, and his song "Sunday Afternoon" was a singular moment, to me the best ever written about the loneliness of adolescence. He and Lawrence were superb.

Updated On: 12/16/12 at 03:39 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 6:51pm

I believe she died of Cirrhosis, very young. So sad.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 7:08pm

I saw her in Blood Brothers on Broadway and she was fantastic. She had the strong belt voice needed for the singing, and had the acting chops to be believed as a poor cockney mother, moving brilliantly between the comic and the tragic moments of the show. And as mentioned above, she was believable in being (constantly) compared to an older Marilyn Monroe. She made the mediocre material much better than it is.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 7:20pm

"the acting chops to be believed as a poor cockney mother."

Blood Brothers is not cockney. It is set in Liverpool.

[Rainbowhigh23]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 7:22pm

I saw her on Broadway in BB and thought she was fantastic. I think we stagedoored and got photos with her and the cast - she had sunglasses on at night and a hat from Boogie's Diner. I was a fan of Eastenders so I wanted to get a picture with Jan Graveson, as well.

[jo]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 8:46pm

I saw the show on Broadway - even the male member of the audience sitting next to me was sniffing

Stephanie and Con were superb! Glad Broadway brought them over.

On an aside, I think the role played by Con was what Russell Crowe performed onstage in Australia early in his career?

[Leadingplayer]

Posted: 12/16/12 at 10:52pm

Isn't there a tape of her doing Tell Me on I Sunday?