Bill Kenwright's award-winning production of Blood Brothers to hit the stage in Blackpool

Bill Kenwright's legendary, award-winning production of the international smash hit musical, Blood Brothers continues to tour across the UK with a run at the Winter Gardens Blackpool from Monday 03 Sep – Saturday 07 Sep 2024.   

This autumn will see Vivienne Carlyle returning to the iconic role of Mrs. Johnstone, having received nightly standing ovations for her powerful and poignant performance in the West End production.

 Sean Jones and Joe Sleight return to the production as twins Mickey and Eddie, with Gemma Brodrick reprising the role of Linda.

Also returning to the cast for 2024 are Sarah Jane Buckley (Mrs Lyons), Scott Anson (Narrator), Tim Churchill (Mr Lyons), Chloe Pole (Donna Marie), Alex Harland (Policeman/Teacher), Graeme Kinniburgh (Postman/Bus Conductor) and Jess Smith (Brenda), with James Ledsham (Sammy), Ben Mabberley (Perkins) and Dominic Gore (Neighbour) joining the production.

Vivienne Carlyle is an actor and singer with an international career as a musical theatre leading lady and recording artist. As well as her acclaimed previous appearances as Mrs Johnstone in the West End and touring productions of Blood Brothers, her theatre roles have included The Narrator in Bill Kenwright’s long-running production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grizabella in Cats, Mrs Walker in The Whos’ Tommy and Songbird in Cirque du Soleil’s long-running Saltimbanco.

Award-winning playwright Willy Russell’s epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play, performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981, before opening as a musical at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983. It has since triumphed across the globe, completing sell out seasons in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. Few musicals have been received with such acclaim as the multi-award-winning Blood Brothers, scooping up four awards for Best Musical in London and seven Tony Award nominations on Broadway. It is considered 'one of the best musicals ever written' (Sunday Times). Bill Kenwright’s production surpassed 10,000 performances in London’s West End, one of only three musicals ever to achieve that milestone. 

The superb score includes A Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It's Not True. 

Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on the opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences.  

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. 

Willy Russell is 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, it was also revived last year, completing a sell out West End run starring Sheridan Smith.

Tickets on sale now www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk