Good Morning Buffalo: Thu 3/11/10

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Good Morning Buffalo: Theatre Alliance 11/5/09

TAB 11-05

Good Morning Buffalo: Theatre Alliance of Buffalo

TAB 10-22

Blood Brothers (Curtain Up Preview #2)

It’s not too often you see a musical in the round, but Blood Brothers at the Irish Classical Theatre Company is an exciting opportunity to not only see that, but see an infrequently performed (in the US) rock musical that has taken London and the UK by storm for over twenty years.

Telling the story of fraternal twins who are separated at birth but fall in love with the same woman, Blood Brothers explores some interesting themes, touching on how the boys upbringing shapes their lives, class differences, etc. It’s an exciting piece no doubt. ICTC describes it as follows:

Now in its 21st year of production on London’s West End, this enormously popular musical tells the deeply moving story of twins separated at birth who, unaware of their true relationship and living at opposite ends of society, declare themselves “blood brothers.”  The ensuing powerful narrative, by the author or Educating Rita, relates their tragic destiny as the brothers fall in love with the same girl.

This production is directed by Fortunato Pezzimenti (ICTC “Producing Director”) with music direction by Allan Paglia and choreography by Michael Walline.

It’s fascinating to see ICTC add a musical to their lineup, and see it be this one no doubt, a modern rock show. Their take is definitely going to be worth seeing – perhaps we’ll have a new producer of musicals in town! It’s also nice to see a more contemporary piece in their line up, perhaps it’s just my memory only stretching back a few years (well, it definitely is) but I’m only familiar with ICTC as a producer of classic works. Seeing them reach up to the last few decades is refreshing!

Blood Brothers opens Friday (September 11th, as do all Curtain Up! shows) and runs until October 11th (as do most Curtain Up! shows). Tickets are available at the ICTC website, IrishClassicalTheatre.com.

The cast list is as follows:

Loraine O’Donnell as Mrs. Johnstone
Brian Riggs as The Narrator
Jenn Stafford as Mrs. Lyons
Doug Crane as Mr. Lyons
David Autovino as Mickey
Steve Copps as Eddie
Nathan Winkelstein as Sammy
Cassie Gorniewicz as Linda
Ensemble – David Bondrow, Christopher Standart, Adrienne Lewis, Jessica Stuber

P.S. If anyone is interested in meeting up or saying hello at the Curtain Up party, get in touch! Email me, chris [at] backstagebuffalo [dot] com. I’d love to meet readers!