The Saunders & Co Season of Blood Brothers
Isaac Theatre Royal, Christchurch
18/09/2025 - 27/09/2025
Production Details
Book, Music and Lyrins by Willy Russell
Directed by Ben Freeth
Musical Director: Caelan Thomas
Choreographer : Revlene Roe Hilaga
Showbiz Christchurch
Blood Brothers – the legendary British musical hailed as “the standing ovation musical” – returns to Christchurch in a strictly limited season.
From the creator of Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, this Olivier Award-winning phenomenon tells the gripping story of Mickey and Edward – twins separated at birth, raised in different worlds, but bound together by fate with devastating consequences.
A mother’s heartbreaking choice, a friendship that defies class, a love triangle tangled in secrets, and a haunting superstition that says twins parted must pay a terrible price.
With an unforgettable score and an ending that stops audiences in their tracks, Blood Brothers is a raw, moving tale of family, love and the questions that haunt us all: are we truly free to choose, or is our fate already sealed?
From the team who brought you Come From Away, Mamma Mia!, Kinky Boots and Matilda – this is the must-see musical event for 2025.
On stage at the Isaac Theatre Royal, 18–27 September. Book now — before destiny catches up.
*2 pm Saturday 27 September Audio Described Performance. This is for blind / low vision patrons.
Pricing
Platinum – $148
Premium – $118
A-Reserve – $108
B-Reserve – $73
Booking Link: https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=BLOODBRO25
PRODUCER………………………………………………………………………….. Showbiz Christchurch
DIRECTOR……………………………………………………………………………………………. Ben Freeth
MUSICAL DIRECTOR……………………………………………………………………… Caelan Thomas
CHOREOGRAPHER…………………………………………………………………. Reylene Rose Hilaga
PRODUCTION MANAGER…………………………………………………………………… Mandy Perry
SET DESIGN…………………………….………………………………………………………. David Bosworth
COSTUME DESIGN……………………………………………………………………………… Linda Harris
LIGHTING DESIGN…………………………………………………… Sean Hawkins (The Light Site)
SOUND DESIGN……………………………………………………………….. Ben Rentoul (BounceNZ)
Cast
Mrs Johnstone Roz Harper
Narrator Michael Sharp
Mickey Jake McKay
Edward Jordi Rea
Linda Krystal O’Gorman
Mrs Lyons Briar Patrick
Mr Lyons Jared Viljoen
Sammy Oscar Days
Ensemble
Craig Bingham
Jarod Bingham
Oliver Davidson
Eli Davis
Sophie Harris
Matt McMenamin
Ignacio Olmedo
Alyssa Parkinson
Sophie Ricketts
Darren Sundborn
Chris Symon
Meg Wyatt
Understudies
Mrs Johnstone Sophie Harris
Narrator Chris Symon
Mickey Craig Bingham
Edward Jarod Bingham
Linda Alyssa Parkinson
Mrs Lyons Sophie Ricketts
Mr Lyons Chris Symon
Sammy Oliver Davidson
Swings
Eli Davis
Meg Wyatt
Orchestra
Keyboard 1 / Musical Director Calean Thomas
Keyboard 2 / Clarinet Heidi Cooper
Saxophone Alex Boot
Trumpet Barrett Hocking
Percussion Craig Given
Drums Cam Burnett
Violin Sarah McCracken
Guitar 1 Heather Webb
Guitar 2 Dougal Canard
Bass Guitar Daniel Sinclair
Musical , Theatre ,
Times are approx. and subject to change at any time. Box Office Opening Time: 1 hour prior to event start Door Opening Time: 30 Minutes prior to event start Interval Length: 20 mins Running time: Approx. 2h 30m – excl. Interval
Well cast, acted, directed and sung, this production is not to be missed
Review by Tim Jones 20th Sep 2025
Blood Brothers receives a rather lukewarm reception at the Theatre Royal on Thursday night, with polite applause and not a single curtain call. And yet the audience had appears to be paying particularly close attention, laughing at the comedy, gasping at the many moments of dramatic irony and stunned into silence at the awful dénouement. The play’s intensity is quite something: having grabbed you by both shoulders it refuses to let go. Does this emotional intensity, both broad and deep, leave the audience too wrung out to applaud?
I intentionally call Blood Brothers a play. Its creator is a playwright and boy, does he know how to write a story. Operas and musicals alike are not noted for their narrative subtlety, but the story of this one has it all. I especially liked the moments when the players acknowledge that this is just a piece of theatre, but then manage to drag us back, forcing us to believe firmly in the characters and their stories. More than once Blood Brothers peeps over the cliff edge of the sublime into the ravine of the ridiculous, but it never takes that final step.
The raw material is therefore rich and substantial and this production did it full justice. Top of the bill was Sophie Harris who on Thursday stands in for the indisposed Roz Harper as Mrs Johnstone. Harris is absolutely secure in the role, with not the slightest suggestion that she is a late replacement. The combination of a fighting spirit with deep, fatalistic resignation is perfectly caught in her stance and her voice. Assuming Ms Harper recovers, this will be a hard act to follow.
As the two boys, Jake McKay and Jordi Rea were not far behind. They take their characters from boisterous children to gawky adolescents and on to messed-up adults with complete conviction. McKay’s physical presence is by turns hilarious and moving and always entirely authentic.
Michael Sharp as narrator probably needs to talk to the company’s technical team as some of his lines need a precision and authority that the amplification system did not seem to allow. Briar Patrick as a woman gradually losing her mind is most affecting.
Other parts are taken by Krystal O’Gorman, Jared Viljoen and Oscar Days, and a large ensemble dashes effortlessly between a whole catalogue of smaller roles that serve to urge the narrative along.
This, then, is a cast with no weak link, elegantly directed by Ben Freeth who judges the pace of each episode to perfection.
I find the music in Blood Brothers to be perhaps its least convincing element, though I acknowledge that you do not go to a musical to hear Beethoven. The band under Caelan Thomas absolutely fizzes with energy, though the frequent reprises of what is already pretty thin musical gruel becomes tiresome.
Melodramatic? Yes! Sentimental? Absolutely! Stock characters? Rather! And yet, as here, well cast, well acted, well directed and well sung, the effect is curiously moving. Twins separated at birth may sound like W S Gilbert at his quaintest, but in this production it is nothing of the sort and is the seed of an urgent narrative that soars from comedy to the darkest tragedy. Despite the lukewarm reception, this is not to be missed.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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