A glance at the figures for the triumvirate of long-running musicals in London's West End reveals startling results. Les Misérables, an epic story of revolution and restitution in 19th-century France, presides (not surprisingly) at the top. As the longest-running musical in West End history, it has given more than 10,000 performances over its 25-year reign. Phantom of the Opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber's love story about a ghost who inhabits an opera house, has given 9,500 since it opened in 1986 (he is currently working on the sequel, Love Never Dies).
And Blood Brothers, about twins who are separated at birth but fall in love with the same girl, has clocked up 8,700 performances. It is the latter whose numbers Dubai audiences will have the chance to add to during a 12-day run that begins tonight. Adapted from Willy Russell's play of the same name, it has taken on a sort of cult status, and its gut-wrenching closing song, Tell Me It's Not True, is considered one of the great moments in musical theatre. First shown in Liverpool in 1983, Blood Brothers did not become a hit until after its 1988 relaunch in London.
"At the time," says John Payton, the production's director and co-producer, "with Cats, Starlight Express and Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber was dominating. Blood Brothers came in and did something unique. It didn't have huge effects or a chorus of 25 or 15 musical numbers. Most musicals go away from reality. They're about a ghost in an opera house or a revolution on a barricade. Blood Brothers is a kind of domestic musical."
Domestic though it may be, it won a clutch of Tony Awards when it moved to Broadway in 1993. It remained there for 840 performances. The London production has recently been given a revamp, with the former-Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm earning rave reviews for her performance in the role of Mrs Johnstone, the downtrodden working mother who is forced to give up one of her newborn twins. So what, after all this time, keeps audiences coming back to see this warm-hearted but gritty tale of reunion, love and poverty in northern England?
"It's a story about everybody's life," Payton says. "The first act is about two boys growing up together, and childhood and loss of innocence. And then the second act is all about losing all of that. It's a very normal story but it's told in a very expressive and exciting way." Though able to draw audiences in numbers that traditional plays can only dream of, musicals still have their detractors, many of whom see their brashness as an inferior dramatic form.
"There are some musicals that don't really have much depth to them," Payton concedes, "and they're not claiming to, either." Mamma Mia! - a relatively new addition to the list of long-running musicals - has been successful, he says, "because it doesn't take itself too seriously". "It's got a great set of tunes and that's what appeals to people. Lots of people don't want to go to the theatre to have two hours of doom and gloom."
The snootiness, Payton adds, comes partly from musical theatre's relatively recent appearance on the scene. "At about 120 years old, it's quite a modern phenomenon. Before that it was just opera, and opera is very serious." The ability of Blood Brothers to marry the serious and light-hearted has played a part in its longevity, Payton says. "Unlike most musicals, for example, in the second act there is scene after scene that is really gritty stuff, and it's fantastic writing."
While one might expect audiences to reach a saturation point with long-running productions, Blood Brothers is attracting new generations of theatregoers 20-odd years on, Payton says. "When Mel C took over as Mrs Johnstone, there was a big relaunch for the show. It's completely galvanised the audiences, and they're all coming to see it again. Sometimes the problem with these long runners is that they can get very stale if it's the same production and it doesn't get reworked."
Even without celebrities and dramatic tweaks to boost audience numbers, the music is what ultimately holds mass appeal, Payton says. "We've all got a connection with music at some point in our lives. And there is something about a well-written song that can make you feel something beyond just words." Blood Brothers will be at the Madinat Theatre from tonight until February 6. For tickets visit www.madinattheatre.com.
