BLOOD BROTHERS
By Willy Russell
Directed by Noah Morowitz
Produced by John Allnutt

“Tell me it’s not true, say it’s just a story…” so begins one of the most popular British musicals ever, the show that thrilled audiences in the West End for 24 years – over 10,000 performances. A noirish tale of twin brothers separated at birth, raised on opposite sides of the tracks and doomed to follow their destiny… a spirited satire of working-class life… a haunting folk opera filled with love and desire… This is Blood Brothers.

Tech Week

Friday June 2 -Thursday June 8
Performances at Kensington Town Hall
Friday June 9—8pm, Saturday June 10—8pm, Sunday June 11—2pm
Friday June 16—8pm, Saturday June 17–2pm & 8pm, Sunday June 18—2pm
Friday June 23—8pm, Saturday June 24—2pm & 8pm

The action takes place in Liverpool and Skelmersdale, UK in the 1960s and 1970s.

AUDITIONS:

Auditions will be held on Monday and Tuesday March 20 and 21 at 7 pm at Kensington Town Hall (The Armory), 3710 Mitchell Street, Kensington, MD 20895. Please bring a head shot and credit list if available. All callbacks will be in person by invitation only at 7pm on Thursday, March 23.

For all roles, please prepare a one-minute monologue AND a one-minute song excerpt. A piano accompanist will be provided if you bring sheet music. Virtual auditions can be submitted to noahdmorowitz@gmail.com by Tuesday, March 21.

PLEASE NOTE: For people auditioning for the roles of Mrs. Johnstone, Narrator, Mickey &

Edward, please consider preparing part of the following sides/songs:

Character List:

Mrs. Johnstone, 25-45, is Mickey, Edward and Sammy’s mother. Forever scrambling to get by, she is big-hearted and has a strong sense of right and wrong. She dreams of a better life for her family but is not surprised when destiny bring her grief. A loving and caring figure, she is the emotional core of the show. OPTIONAL PREP SONG FOR AUDITION: “Tell Me It’s Not True.”

The Narrator, any adult age, man or woman. Charismatic, all-knowing and slightly menacing, he comments on the action and reminds us of the terrible choice that set the story in motion…and that no one can escape fate. Appears out of nowhere; often unnervingly still and watchful.

OPTIONAL PREP FOR AUDITION: Opening Monologue:

“So did y’ hear the story of the Johnstone twins?
As like each other as two new pins.
Of one womb born, on the self same day,
How one was kept and one given away?
An’ did you never hear how the Johnstones died,
Never knowing that they shared one name,
Till the day they died, when a mother cried
My own dear sons lie slain.
An’ did y’ never hear of the mother, so cruel,
There’s a stone in place of her heart?
Then bring her on and come judge for yourselves
How she came to play this part.

Mickey Johnstone, one actor plays ages 7, 15-18, early 20s. Mickey has a rough and tumble childhood but at his core he is honest and sincere. He descends from being an open and honest boy to an embittered young man, beaten down by losing his job, spending time in prison and drug addiction.

OPTIONAL PREP FOR AUDITION: Mickey playing alone as a wild 7-year-old with big emotions:

I sometimes hate our Sammy
He robbed me toy car y’ know.
Now the wheels are missin’ an’ the top’s broke off,
An’ the bleeding thing won’t go.
An’ he said when he took it, it was just like that,
But it wasn’t, it went dead straight.
But y’ can’t say nott’n when they think y’seven
An’ y not, y’ nearly eight.
Y’ know our Sammy
Y’ know what he sometimes does?
He wees straight through the letter box
Of the house next door to us.
I tried to do it one night,
But I had to strand on a crate,
“Cos I couldn’t reach the letter box
But I will by the time I’m eight.

Edward Lyons, one actor plays ages 7, 15-18, early 20s. Like his twin Mickey, Edward is an honest and good-natured boy. His sheltered upbringing has made him more innocent and trusting than his lower-class brother. He gets every opportunity that money can buy, attending the best schools in the country. Eventually he begins an affair with Mickey’s wife, Linda, who Edward has loved for years. OPTIONAL PREP SONG FOR AUDITION: “I’m Not Saying a Word.”

Mrs. Lyons, 25-45. Desperate to have her own child. She manipulates Mrs. Johnstone into giving up Edward and raises him as an upper-class boy. Her guilt turns into suspicion, paranoia and madness, and she eventually becomes so convinced she will lose her son that she tries to kill Mrs. Johnstone. Some believe this character was a comment on Margaret Thatcher.

Linda, one actress plays ages 7, 15-18, early 20s. She begins the story as kind, confident and tomboyish young girl, but morphs into an object of desire for both of the twin brothers. She only has eyes for Mickey, telling him she loves him long before their first kiss. But after years of poverty and Mickey’s imprisonment she turns to Edward for comfort and they begin an affair.

Sammy Johnstone, one actor plays ages 9, 18, mid 20s. A juvenile delinquent and notorious trouble-maker, as a teenager he tries to rob a bus. The adult Sammy turns to a life of crime and persuades the unemployed, down-and-out Mickey to help him. Attempted robbery ends with a murder, sending Sammy and Mickey to jail.

Mr. Lyons/Managing Director, 35 – 60. A wealthy businessman, he is too oblivious and self- involved to realize that Edward is not his child. As Mrs. Lyon plunges into madness, he becomes increasingly alarmed, but at heart remains paternalistic and preoccupied. As the managing director he fires hundreds of employees without any remorse or regret.

ENSEMBLE 6 actors and actresses of assorted ages combine to play various roles.