Bob Tomson Archives - North West End UK

12Mar

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Blood Brothers – Liverpool Empire

A centenary celebration is a milestone in itself, but having Liverpool’s iconic musical back in the city’s legendary theatre for its one-hundredth birthday is a new level of special. Audience members may have watched Blood Brothers countless times, I being not from the city, have only studied Willy Russell’s play, never seeing it performed. So, I had all hopes this would live up to expectation. Bringing Sean Jones back to re-imagine Mickey was a stellar move by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright. He was at home in that character and his ease in the role from age seven to eighteen is nothing but smooth and effortless. Together with Joe Sleight’s equally natural and charming Eddie, they make a magnicent pair, full of vivacity until the very end. This musical will never die. Just like the Em...

12Mar

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Ghost The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

We are all familiar with the 1990 film Ghost, with its iconic casting of Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore, the famous potter’s wheel scene and the soaring soundtrack of Unchained Melody – now this latest and slightly reworked touring production has manifested itself at the Sheffield Lyceum. This Bill Kenwright Ltd production with a masterful Book and Lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and Music and Lyrics by Eurythmics Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard had is first stage opening in 2011 and all will forever by judged by that stunningly visual production. Unfortunately, I found myself having to ‘suspend my disbelief’ as this production as it left me sporadically underwhelmed and at times - disappointed. The title alone leads us to expect supernatural / unexplainable occurrences and the special...

26Sep

By H.S. BakerNo Comments

Scotland

Blood Brothers – Edinburgh Playhouse

Blood Brothers is an emotional morality tale which is all about the narrative, less about the music. Poor and fecund Mrs Johnstone discovers she is expecting twins shortly after starting work as a cleaner for rich infertile Mrs Lyons. With her husband having done a bunk and too many mouths to feed already, Mrs Johnstone agrees to let Mrs Lyons have one of her twins. Conveniently Mr Lyons is away on business for nine months, so Mrs Lyons is able to create the pretence of pregnancy, fooling everybody including her husband, into believing the baby is hers. The show’s narrator constantly warns of the consequences of their actions and is the voice of impending doom throughout. Written by Willy Russell, directed by Bob Tomson and Bill Kenwright (resident director...

The Cheshire Drama Festival 2024 – Chester Little Theatre

26Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

The Cheshire Drama Festival 2024 – Chester Little Theatre

Seven very different productions took place over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th March at The Chester Little Theatre as part of the Cheshire Drama Festival. The festival gives companies from across the county the opportunity to compete for a place in the Northern Semi Final of the All England Theatre Festival. All of the one act plays performed were watched and scored by adjudicator Bob Tomson. Chester Little Theatre was the perfect venue for the festival weekend, the auditorium, which seats 124 was comfortable and there was plenty of space to walk around during the breaks between performances. The theatre has a welcoming atmosphere and is a hidden gem in the busy city. On Saturday evening, three performances took place. All original scripts. Starting with ‘Voyage of The Beag...

Ghost The Musical embarks on new UK tour

13Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Ghost The Musical embarks on new UK tour

Bill Kenwright Ltd is delighted to announce the triumphant return to the stage of the worldwide sensation Ghost the Musical, opening on 22nd August 2024 before embarking on a major national tour across the UK. Written by multi Brit Award winner Dave Stewart and Grammy award winning Glen Ballard, with a script by Bruce Joel Rubin based on his OSCAR winning screenplay, Ghost the Musical brings all the romance and magic of the classic story to life on stage. “Walking back to their apartment late one night, a tragic encounter sees Sam murdered leaving his girlfriend Molly alone, in despair and utterly lost. With the help of a phony storefront psychic, Sam, trapped between this world and the next, tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving her from grave danger...” Ghost has...

7Feb

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Blood Brothers – Floral Pavilion

Floral Pavilion, New Brighton welcomes Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers back for the start of its 2024 UK tour and tonight’s full house audience were lucky enough to be there to witness it. This venue is the nearest venue to the story’s origins of Liverpool on this tour and the audiences are fully behind this show with an almost sold-out week, give or take a few single seats throughout before the show has even opened. Directed by Bob Tomson and the late Bill Kenwright, this classic musical has been entertaining the masses for over 40 years and is a favourite that has audience members returning time and time again. The joy with this show is not just the story, but the music, the heart and the cast who return over and over to the point they become part of the family. Returning to the ...

29Mar

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

Wales

Catch Me If You Can – Theatr Clwyd

Hollywood has landed in the rolling hills of Mold, with a comedy-thriller that boasts more twists and turns than the Welsh road network. Catch Me If You Can, written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, and directed by Bob Tomson, is an adaptation of Robert Thomas’s French play Trap for a Lonely Man. We meet Inspector Levine, called to a house in the remote Catskill mountains to investigate the disappearance of newly married Elizabeth Corban. But when Elizabeth suddenly turns up, her husband Danny swears blind he’s never seen her before, launching a chain of events in which nothing is what it seems, and no-one is as they appear. It’s no wonder this has been adapted for the screen three times over; it’s full of intrigue and conspiracy that will keep the most zealous of armchair sl...

9Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Blood Brothers – New Wimbledon Theatre

Willy Russell's Blood Brothers is back and it's back with a bang. In the 40 years since the show was first performed in Liverpool, Blood Brothers has garnered global acclaim and success. The themes are broad - the class divide, nature versus nurture, poverty, friendship, sibling rivalry, family relationships. Twins Mickey and Eddie are born to working class mother Mrs Johnstone, already a mother of five, who is struggling to feed and clothe them all. Living on the "never-never", she has bailiffs at the door, so in the depths of her despair, she agrees to give up one of the new-borns to the wealthy Mrs Lyons who has been unable to have children. Mrs Lyons has one major condition in this arrangement; the boys must never find out that they are brothers. As the tale unfolds of the ...