It has been described as a human story filled with “warmth, tenderness, love, laughter and sadness”. Blood Brothers, which has been running in England for 20 years, will soon be performed in Malta, thanks to the initiative of one of Malta’s most dedicated producers of musical theatre, Ray Mangion.

Written by Willy Russell, the musical is set in Liverpool during the 60s and 70s which is where it began its run. In fact, at first it met a lukewarm reception and almost never made it to the West End. However, after a slow start, it gained momentum and is today considered one of London’s best-loved shows.

The story revolves around twin brothers, separated at birth, one of whom grows up with his working-class family, while the other is raised by a wealthy couple. Their lives eventually cross paths, although they are unaware that they are related.

Ray has obtained special permission from the producers to put the show on in Malta. Those who went to see the production of Beyond the Barricade last year might remember that a few songs were performed from this very same musical.

I went to the Manoel Theatre to meet with Ray, Julie James and a group of young British actors who were cast in the main roles after an audition in England.

“Not only are there very few people who can do dialects in Malta, we are also very short of male actors. Since I’m a British citizen and am a member of an agency in the UK, I advertised in a trade magazine. Initially, I went up to audition actors for the two brothers but we had about 80 applicants who were all fantastic. So I said to my wife Alison, “it’s silly to have all these people here and not cast more roles. For example, when I saw Josh I could see him doing another character, which is the elder brother who has to be very rough and aggressive,” Ray points out.

On their part, Lucas Rush, Daniel Turner and Josh Reynolds had just finished their training at the Italia Conti college. The college has its own agent, who sent their photos off for the audition. Simon Turner graduated from another college in Birmingham, and his agent also put him forward for the part.

“It was really just by coincidence that I found my brother Daniel was also up for a part, and we both got cast,” says Simon.

Simon has been given the daunting cast of playing several roles as Ray explains:

“He is literally on stage doing one character, but instead of going off, he just takes off his jacket and becomes another character, which is a very difficult job. He’s got something like six parts to do.”

“Actually, it’s eight at the moment!” Simon adds.

Another challenge for the young men is that they have to “grow up” on stage, portraying kids as young as eight until they become adults.

Part of their training in college includes learning how to do different dialects, which was another factor crucial to this production. A dialect coach has also been roped in by Ray Mangion to iron out any difficulties with the Liverpudlian accent.

An added bonus for the young actors was the fact that it was going to be performed in Malta. They have come here for five weeks, which means three weeks of intense rehearsals and two weeks for the show which will run for two consecutive weekends. They are staying at the Manoel Theatre apartments (so there are no excuses for being late for rehearsals!).

“This is a luxury for me to have actors available during the day,” says Ray.

“Once I’ve woken up I’m fine,” jokes Julie, a veteran of ActReact productions. “This role of the working-class mother is completely different to anything I’ve ever done. As soon as I started learning the script, it is so well-written, it almost tells you the accent. I more or less got it, I hope. You can’t be too broad otherwise no one would understand it. You can’t have people walking out saying, ‘what the hell was that?’!”

Ray himself is the narrator, the voice which moves the story along. Each character has certain songs which become recognisable as “a running theme”.

The cast point out that the melodies are catchy, but with lyrics which are poetic and very meaningful, no doubt due to the fact that the whole musical was written by one person.

Those who have seen the production before have been moved by it in different ways.

“I would describe it as earthy. When I saw it in London I came out saying, ‘oh my God, that’s just so amazing’. There are some lovely funny moments, but there is also some tragedy. I’m glad I’ve seen it to get the feel, but it was in 1998, so I think I can still bring a fresh approach to my role,” Julie says.

Daniel and Lucas are familiar with the musical since they were in a production of Blood Brothers at college. Daniel got a feel of his own character and is building on that and chose not to see another production of it, “I think you can’t help but be influenced by the way someone else plays it and I prefer not to do that.”

As usual with ActReact productions, there will be a live orchestra, made up of nine musicians directed by maestro Paul Abela. Set designer Saviour Camilleri has gone to see the show in London to be able to adapt the set for the Manoel theatre. Costumes are by Gianella Azzopardi and lighting by Anton Borg Olivier

Although this season has been marked by different companies putting on musicals, Ray Mangion is confident that the Maltese will still flock to see the show. “ActReact has a good reputation for putting on good quality productions. The challenge of this musical is that it’s very different to anything I’ve attempted before. Each character develops in an individual way, but it has to be gradual. For example Mickey’s transformation has to be conveyed to the audience to let them know that he is becoming more and more temperamental until by the end of the show he has literally lost it.”

Josh explains how the musical has underlying themes such as class differences, superstition, and the danger of keeping guns in the home.

Asked how he would respond to any criticism for casting British actors instead of Maltese, Ray simply replies, “I have offered leading roles to certain Maltese actors who I believe are very talented, and they let me down, they didn’t even bother to call me back. So I’m not going to beg or go on my knees. If they don’t want to do it then I’ll go and look somewhere else. I shouldn’t have to be put in a position to beg people to do things, it should be the other way round!”

The rest of the cast is made up of actors who are either Maltese or half-Maltese like Edwin Camilleri, Hannah Mizon, Katherine Brown, Emily Jones, Deborah Riddell and Samaria Bezzina.

Although it may not be an immediately recognised musical, such as Cats or Phantom of the Opera, the cast is convinced that it will go down well with the Maltese public.

“I can’t imagine anyone seeing this musical and not liking it,” says Julie.