For our second day in London, we saw a second musical, this time it was Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road. The main reason I wanted to see this show is because Melanie C was playing the lead role of Mrs Johnstone. Other than this fact I knew nothing about the production.
I'm a massive Melanie C fan. I was always, and remain, a big Spice Girls fan, but Melanie C was never my favourite when I was younger. This was probably due to her being Sporty Spice and looking a bit chavvy. I now realise she had the best voice of any of the girls, and that she has had the most consistantly fantastic musical output since the group split. While she had a lot of success (and number 1's) with her first album, the next 3 didn't fare so well, despite the fact they're all wonderfully crafted pieces of pop.
I've never had the opportunity to see Melanie C perform, since I decided how great she really is (I wasn't paying the ridiculous prices the Spice Girls reunion tour was charging - I'm still pissed off with them for not releasing a DVD, grrr!), so when I saw on www.melaniec.net that she was going to be appearing in Blood Brothers I got my Mum to buy me an early Christmas present!
- Act I
- Overture – Orchestra, Company and Narrator
- Marilyn Monroe – Mrs Johnstone and Company
- Marilyn Monroe (Reprise) – Mrs Johnstone
- My Child – Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons
- Easy Terms – Mrs Johnstone
- Shoes Upon The Table – Narrator
- Easy Terms (Reprise) – Mrs Johnstone
- Kids' Game – Sammy, Linda, Mickey and Ensemble
- Shoes Upon the Table (Reprise) – Narrator
- Bright New Day (Preview) – Mrs Johnstone
- Long Sunday Afternoon/My Friend – Mickey and Eddie
- Bright New Day – Mrs Johnstone and Company
Act II
- Marilyn Monroe – Mrs Johnstone and Company
- Shoes Upon the Table – Narrator
- That Guy – Mickey and Eddie
- Shoes Upon the Table (Reprise) – Narrator
- I'm Not Saying A Word – Eddie
- Miss Jones – Mr Lyons, Miss Jones and Company
- Marilyn Monroe – Mrs Johnstone
- Light Romance – Mrs Johnstone
- Madman – Narrator
- Tell Me It's Not True – Mrs Johnstone and Company
I was not disappointed by Melanie C's performance. She seemed born to play the part, and her singing has a real melancholic edge to it sometimes that fit the mood of many of the songs to a T, plus she can act! Aside from Melanie C, the rest of the cast were terrific - Sean Jones as Mickey (his involvement was announced with a paper insert to the programme - I was terrified it was going to see that Melanie C was ill or something, luckily she hadn't
done a Barrowman) was particularly good, by turns hilarious, cute and amzingly easy to like. Richard Reynard's Eddie, the other 'blood brother' was great too, and they both were great at portraying the characters, believably, as they aged from 7 to their twenties. This conceit concerning the age of the actors and the characters they were portraying helped make it believable that 35-year old Melanie C could be a mother of 7.
The show is less a musical than a play with songs, which is to say that the songs don't seem to form the bulk of the plot/running time. The songs seemed to act as either windows into the conscience of the characters, or to serve as 'montages' that moved the time along, serving as narration, particularly during 'Miss Jones'. The Narrator was an actual character, a creepy presence who interacted with the characters occasionally, but mostly looked on making ominous pronouncements - the end of the show, when the brothers die, is sign-posted from the opening scene, so the Narrator adds to the tension and reminds you how things are going to turn out. Despite knowing how the show will end, it still comes as a shock when events unfold - I suppose that is part of the power of the drama and the performances (and is used to similar great effect in Romeo & Juliet, Titanic and Moulin Rouge, to name a few).
However much I enjoyed Blood Brothers - and I really did - one of the highlights of the evening came after the show when we waited outside the stage door and I met Melanie C. I've never met a celebrity in such a way before (I got my photo taken with Dave Gorman after one of his stand-up shows, but that was an organised thing). After waiting about half an hour (with 10 or so other fans), Melanie C finally emerged. I had been debating not staying to see her - they say you shouldn't meet your idols - but I need not have worried, she was as lovely as I'd expected. I didn't really say much to her beyond 'thanks' as she autographed my programme and posed for photos with me, and then with my partner. I admit to being very star-struck. It was all too brief, but it was the highlight of my life year! Amazing.
