Blood Brothers
Louise Gold
starred as Mrs Johnstone at The Newbury Watermill, originally scheduled from 5
August - 6 September 1986, however in actual fact Ms Gold only appeared in it from 5 to 21 August 1986.
Cast
Mrs Johnstone - Louise Gold
Mickey - Peter Leeper
Eddie - Christopher Villiers
Linda - Kathryn Dimery
Mrs Lyons - Lesley Rooney
Mr Lyons - Peter Sutherland
Narrator - Jeff Pirie
Policeman, Doctor etc - Steve Botcher
Production Team
Author - Willy Russell
Original Production –
11 April 1983, Lyric Theatre,
The Orchestra - Anthony Ingle and Christopher Hobbs
Director - Ceri Sherlock
Musical Director - Anthony Ingle
Designer - Simon Banham
Lighting - John A Williams
Production Manager – David Lockwood
Company Stage Manager – Veronica Pettifer
Deputy Stage Manager – Juan Escandell
Assistant Stage Manager – Cathy Plant
Production Carpenter – Pete Brown
Production Photographer – Laurence Burns
Theatre Proprietors – Jill and James Sargant
Managing Director – Jill Fraser (Sargant)
Production Secretary – June Osment
Box Office – Liz Abbott, Kate Bishop, Bernadette Plank, and, Tom Osment
Housekeeper – Pam Durham
Catering and Bar Manager – Chris Burt
Head Waitress – Shirley Bates
Gardner – Colin Waters
Watermill Cats – Blossom, and, Tiger
According to The Stage (article titled ‘The
Power Of Lizzie’, dated 4 September 1986, page 2): Halfway through the
run however, on Friday 22 August (the Friday before the August Bank Holiday weekend)
the leading lady was indisposed, the show was cancelled (a mere 40 minutes
prior to curtain up) because of this. The theatre’s management went to some
lengths to find a replacement actress for the role. Gillian Bevan (who had been rehearsing in the London production)
was brought in as a replacement to play Mrs Johnstone for the performance on
Saturday 23 August, and the theatre put on an extra performance on the Bank
Holiday Monday, the 25 August (they were not originally scheduled to perform on
that Monday). However Gillian Bevan
was only available for the weekend, so the performance on Tuesday the 26 August
was also cancelled. Elizabeth Power
(who had not played the part for eighteen months) was then brought in, with
hardly any rehearsal, to play Mrs Johnstone for the last week and a half of the
run, from Wednesday 27 August to the end of the run on Saturday 6 September
1986.
Peter
Sutherland went on to become a
standby in Noel/Cole: Let’s Do It.
Louise Gold and Peter Sutherland, along with Gillian Bevan, may
also have gone on to appear together in Comedy
Tonight
Five years
later Gillian Bevan went on to
appear with Louise Gold in The Boys From Syracuse, and subsequently
in the Regent’s Park 70th
Anniversary Gala.
Gillian Bevan went on to appear in Kids At Heart,
and, may have taken part in Thing A Thon. Her
recording credits include: Magic Of The
Musicals, Centre Stage Showtime!, 100 Hits Musicals, and, The Great Musicals – From Broadway to
Hollywood.
Critics Comments
“In Cerl Sherlock’s compelling production Louise Gold
does well as Mum.” Roy Martin, THE
