UK Theatre Network

FORMER  X-Factor semi-finalist and West End leading lady Niki Evans is preparing to don the care-worn smile and cross-over pinny to play the iconic role of Mrs Johnstone in the smash-hit musical Blood Brothers at Darlington Civic Theatre. STEVE BURBRIDGE discovers why so many successful singers and recording artists are only too willing to trade a place at the top of the charts for a life on ‘the never-never’.

AT the beginning of the play, she’s the twenty-something Liverpudlian single mother ‘with seven hungry mouths to feed and one more nearly due,’ but, by the final curtain, she ends up a down-trodden, distraught grandmother who is struggling to comprehend the most tragic of situations.

The pivotal character of Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s musical, Blood Brothers, is anything but a glamorous part, so what is it about the role that attracts pop princesses and singing superstars by the dozen?

Well, the answer is, initially it didn’t.

When Willy Russell approached folk singer Barbara Dickson to play Mrs Johnstone, in 1982, she repeatedly turned him down.

‘I was so riddled with self doubt about whether I could actually do it, never having acted in my life,’ she said. ‘It worried me that I would not be up to doing it.’

After much persuasion and reassurance, she finally accepted his offer and the show opened at Liverpool Playhouse for a three month run in January 1983.

It was an instant success and transferred to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, in April of the same year, where it won an Olivier Award for Best New Musical and Barbara Dickson was named Best Actress in a Musical by The Society of West End Theatres.

Speaking of the role she was so instrumental in creating, Barbara said: ‘Mrs Johnstone is a role which is very dear to my heart and a hard act to follow. I couldn’t accept a role which was less than that and such parts are thin on the ground.’

The impact of the character upon Barbara Dickson was so profound that she has since reprised the role three times – once in the West End, to coincide with its tenth anniversary celebrations, and twice in Liverpool.

After two extensive national tours, Blood Brothers returned to the West End in July 1988. It played to packed houses at the Albery Theatre, where it starred Kiki Dee. Best remembered for ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, her 1976 hit duet with Elton John, Blood Brothers proved to be a significant event in her career, too.

‘It’s such a strong piece,’ she said. ‘You just have to graft and hope you’re doing a good performance.’

The musical ran at the Albery until the end of 1991 after which it moved to the larger Phoenix Theatre in Charing Cross Road, where it remains to this day.

Having enjoyed such critical and commercial success in the West End, it was only a matter of time before the show transferred to Broadway and it opened at the Music Box Theatre, West 45^th Street, in April 1993 and ran for two years.

The late Stephanie Lawrence, who had starred in the West End productions of Evita, Marilyn!, Starlight Express and Blood Brothers was rewarded with a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical and won the Theater World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut by an Actress for her portrayal of Mrs Johnstone, before returning to continue the role in London.

In an interview given in 1995, five years before her untimely death, she said: ‘I find the role emotionally exhausting. Mrs Johnstone is a character who has had so many knocks that there is not much left you can sling at her. She’s a fighter and a winner.’

Producer Bill Kenwright persuaded singing sensation Petula Clark to take over the role on Broadway, despite the fact that she experienced the same initial misgivings as Barbara Dickson had.

‘I thought it was total madness,’ she said. ‘I did a lot of soul searching before I finally said yes.’

Once settled in the role, and after garnering great acclaim from the New York critics, Petula admitted that she’d made the right decision.

‘The music fits me like a glove, it’s my kind of music. That was the big selling-point, really, for me.’

Clark led the production during a hugely successful American tour and was succeeded on Broadway by Carole King, the Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter responsible for the 1971 hit single, ‘It’s Too Late.’  Having been invited to watch the show with the proposition of performing the role of Mrs Johnstone, Carole was also unsure about taking on the part. However she’d made up her mind by the interval.

‘After the first act, I said: ‘I’m in.’ I love the show,’ she enthused. ‘The melodies are very comfortable for me to sing because they’re very like the ones I would write.’

For Australian-born Helen Reddy it was the strength of Mrs Johnstone’s character that appealed more than anything else. Echoing the sentiments of her 1972 feminist anthem, ‘I Am Woman’, she said: ‘If I didn’t think that Mrs Johnstone was a strong and invincible woman, I wouldn’t have been interested in playing her.’

However, Helen certainly was interested and went on to play the part on Broadway, in the West End, and also in Liverpool between 1995 and 1997.

At the same time, the UK’s 1971 Eurovision representative, Clodagh Rodgers, who came fourth with her hit song, ‘Jack In A Box’, joined the West End cast before touring the role until 1998.

Although some of the women who are chosen to play Mrs Johnstone agonise over whether they can rise to the challenge of performing such a demanding and emotionally-charged role, others instinctively know it will suit them down to the ground.

Former New Seekers singer, Lyn Paul said: ‘I saw the show and said to my husband then that it was a part I wanted to play.’

She wrote to theatre impresario Bill Kenwright to express her interest and was invited to meet him.

‘He sent me a letter back saying fine, come and see me and I was in the show the following week,’ she recalled. ‘Even though I hadn’t done musicals before, he took the gamble of taking me on.’

Lyn’s association with the role has spanned thirteen years from 1997, during which time she has starred in both West End and touring productions. In December 2008, she was voted ‘The Undisputed Mrs Johnstone of All Time’ by fans of the show on the Blood Brothers Online website.

In October 2009, former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm took over the role from X-Factor semi-finalist Niki Evans in the West End.  Despite being daunted by the prospect of playing such an iconic role, her six month run earned her great critical acclaim and a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical at the Olivier Awards earlier this year.

‘Playing Mrs Johnstone is quite a weight to have on your shoulders, but I was in such good hands and it really paid off,’ she said.

Perhaps one name is inextricably linked with Mrs Johnstone more than any other – Nolan. During the last thirteen years four of the sisters, Bernie, Linda, Denise and Maureen, have portrayed her, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most siblings to have played the same role in the same show at different times.

‘It’s such a brilliant piece and a great part,’ said Bernie. ‘It’s a gift, really, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing her.’

Linda agreed: ‘I was thrilled to be asked and I put everything into it. There’s been so many fabulous Mrs Johnstone’s and I wanted to be as good as them and put my own stamp on the part.’

Prior to taking on the role in 2005, Maureen had seen three of her sisters play Mrs Johnstone.

‘Before I was in it I had seen it 17 times!’ she admitted. ‘I was so enthralled and I thought: ‘If I ever do it I will never short-change anybody.’ I think for a woman of my age it’s the best role, really. It’s got everything – comedy, tragedy and music.’

When, in September 2008, Linda Nolan had to withdraw from the Blood Brothers tour due to illness, Marti Webb took over after a 24-hour decision. Webb was already an accomplished musical theatre actress and had achieved chart success with three top five singles in the 1980s.

‘It was literally decided in one day,’ she said. ‘I was like a rabbit in the headlights because I had to learn the songs and the script in twenty-four hours, but Mrs Johnstone is such an important role and I had a ball playing her.’

Now, though, Niki Evans is reprising the role once more and she is as enthusiastic about playing the part as she was when she first performed in the West End in 2008.

‘It’s just an unbelievable part,’ she explained. ‘I still have to pinch myself every night when I’m on stage to remind myself that I’m really there.’

Such is the dramatic power and cultural impact of Blood Brothers that, already the next generation of Mrs Johnstone’s are waiting in the wings.

Former Steps singer Faye Tozer is one of many who have publicly expressed an ambition to take on the role.

‘I’ve always wanted to play Mrs Johnstone,’ she said. ‘I’m probably still a little bit young for it, but I’d love to do it.’

And who’s to say that some time in the not too distant future she won’t be up there giving it her all?

Blood Brothers is at Darlington Civic Theatre from September 20 to September 25. Tickets cost from £18.00 to £31.00 (concessions available). To book, call 01325 486 555 or log on to www.darlingtonarts.co.uk 

The History of Hello, Dolly!

Hello, Dolly! is, undoubtedly, one of the biggest hits in the history of musical theatre. It played for 2,844 performances on Broadway at the St. James Theatre, winning ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for a Musical, 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Drama Desk Award. The London production played for 794 performances, over nearly three years, at the Drury Lane Theatre in the West End. A Hollywood film version, starring Barbra Streisand, was made in 1969 and won 3 Academy Awards.

 However, the road to success for Hello, Dolly! was a long and arduous one. The origins of the show can be traced back as far as 1835, when John Oxenford penned a short comedy play entitled A Day Well Spent. In 1842, an Austrian playwright, Johann Nestroy , ‘borrowed’ the plot and changed the title to Einen Jux will er sich machen (translation:  He Intends To Have A Fling). Nearly a century later, Thornton Wilder, an American novelist, further revised the piece and altered the title to The Merchant Of Yonkers.  In December 1938, it was staged at the Guild Theatre, New York, but failed commercially and only ran for 38 performances.

By the 1950s, Wilder had again reworked The Merchant Of Yonkers and changed the title to The Matchmaker. He added a major new character, Dolly Gallagher Levi, to the story – a decision that would prove monumental. The play was performed at the Royal Lyceum Theatre as part of the 1954 Edinburgh Festival, starring Ruth Gordon as Dolly. It transferred to London soon afterwards and received its American premiere just over a year later in December 1955.

In 1958, The Matchmaker was made into a movie. It starred Academy Award-winner Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins and Shirley MacLaine and was directed by Joseph Anthony. The decision to turn The Matchmaker into a musical led to yet another change of title. Initially, it was Dolly: A Damned Exasperating Woman, then Call On Dolly until, finally Hello, Dolly!  was selected.  

The result of the collaboration between Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman received a rather underwhelming pre-Broadway try-out. However, some modifications to the first act finale and an additional four musical numbers ensured that the show’s impact on Broadway, in 1964, was nothing short of sensational.

The title song has been recorded by many different artists including a French version by Petula Clark which charted in the Top Ten in both Canada and France. However, it is surely Louis Armstrong’s version that is the most famous, having reached the number one position in the American pop charts. The song garnered Jerry Herman several awards, including Variety’s Best Composer and Best Lyricist Award and a Tony Award.

Many accomplished actresses have played Dolly Levi on stage, including Carol Channing, Ginger Rogers, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, Betty Grable, Martha Raye, Pearl Bailey, Phyllis Diller, Dorothy Lamour and Dora Bryan.

The popularity of Hello, Dolly! shows no signs of waning – a major UK tour starring Anita Dobson iscurrently underway and the show continues to be a firm favourite within the amateur circuit, too.

Steve Burbridge.