Blood Brothers

About the book

A Liverpudlian West Side Story: twin brothers are separated at birth because their mother cannot afford to keep them both. She gives one of them away to wealthy Mrs Lyons and they grow up as friends in ignorance of their fraternity until the inevitable quarrel unleashes a blood-bath. 'Willy Russell is less concerned with political tub-thumping than with weaving a close-knit story about the working of fate and destiny ...it carries one along with it in almost unreserved enjoyment" Guardian One of the longest-running and most successful ever West End musicals, Blood Brothers premiered at the Liverpool Playhouse in January 1983.

Reviews

Twin brothers are seperated at birth because their mother cannot afford to keep them both. She gives one of them away to wealthy Mrs Lyons and they grow up as friends, in ignorance of their fraternity until the inevitable quarrel unleashes a blood-bath.

Quotes

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Willy Russell Biography

William Russell (born 23 August 1946) is an English dramatist, lyricist and composer. His best known works are Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers and Our Day Out.

Early life

Russell was born in Whiston, Lancashire (which is now Merseyside). On leaving school, aged 15, he became a ladies' hairdresser, eventually running his own salon, until the age of 20 when he decided to go back to college. This led to him qualifying as a teacher. During these years, Russell also worked as a semi-professional singer, writing and performing his own songs in folk clubs.At college, he began writing drama and, in 1972, took a programme of two one-act plays to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where they were seen by writer John McGrath, who recommended Russell to the Liverpool Everyman, which commissioned the adaptation, When The Reds…, Russell's first professional work for theatre.

Career

Russell's first play was Keep Your Eyes Down (1971), written while he trained as a teacher at Saint Katherine's College of Higher Education in Liverpool and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1971.In 1974 Russell wrote John, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert, a musical about The Beatles. Commissioned by the Liverpool Everyman, it ran for a (then) unprecedented eight weeks before transferring to the West End where it ran for over a year, winning the Evening Standard and London Theatre Critics awards for the best musical of 1974. It premiered at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, and then transferred to the Lyric Theatre in the West End in 1974.Alongside further stage works, One for the Road (1976) and Stags and Hens (1978), Russell was a screenwriter with television films, Death of A Young Young Man (1975, BBC1), Daughters of Albion (1979), Our Day Out (1977) and the five-part serial One Summer (1983).Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Educating Rita premiered at the Warehouse, London in 1980 and transferred to the West End Piccadilly Theatre, London in August 1980, and starred Julie Walters and Mark Kingston. Since its premiere and long West End run (the play ran to "at least" June 1982), the play has been translated and produced in almost every part the globe garnering awards both for its author and for many of the actors who have played the roles of Rita and Frank.Returning to the Liverpool Everyman in 1986, Russell wrote Shirley Valentine which went on to an acclaimed West End run, earning Olivier Awards for both its author (Comedy of the Year) and star Pauline Collins (Actress of the Year in a New Play). The play transferred to New York for a highly successful Broadway run in February 1989 to November 1989, and a Tony Award as Best Actress for Collins.Both Educating Rita (1983) and Shirley Valentine (1989) became feature films with Michael Caine, Julie Walters and Pauline Collins all receiving Oscar nominations for their respective roles, as did Russell for his Educating Rita screenplay.Russell's other worldwide theatrical ... Read full biography