TGtS Meets...Mark Hutchinson & Sean Jones

Having both had long and successful associations with Blood Brothers, Mark Hutchinson and Sean Jones spoke to TGtS about their sheer delight at reprising their iconic roles.

Tell us a little about your roles in Blood Brothers...

Shaun: I'm the short scruffy one, I play Mickey Johnstone who is born to a working class woman in 1950s/60s Liverpool. He's brought up in the slums of the city with no Father, plenty of siblings and no money. 

Mark: I play Eddie, the twin who's given away, people often refer to me as the posh twin. I get brought up going to nice schools, wearing nice clothes and spending time with my nice middle class family. It's a lovely part to play and it's great to work with Shaun.  

What initially attracted to the role?

Shaun: I saw the show when I was 19 and fell in love with the part, there's only ever been two times that I've gone I WANT TO PLAY THAT ROLE! The first time was Jimmy in Quadrophenia and the second was Mickey in Blood Brothers. 

Mark: When I first saw Blood Brothers I was blown away. For years Mickey was the role that I wanted to play mainly because we shared a very similar background but when Bill Kenwright first cast me he told me that I'd be perfect in the role of Eddie, he turned to me and said in his strong Scouse accent "No mate, you can't be Mickey you've got Eddie's eyes" - after that I certainly wasn't going to argue with him. 

What made you want to reprise your roles?

Shaun: I heard that it was coming to Swindon...No, but seriously there's obviously some mercenary value behind it, as an actor it's a precarious lifestyle and you don't turn down work when somebody offers it to you. However it would be an incredibly tedious job and lifestyle for us if we just didn't love doing it. The people that we work with are lovely, particularly the lady who plays Mrs Lyons - she's my wife, so I have to get on with her really. We travel around with our child and dog, we've basically turned the tour into a family circus. 

Mark: I keep coming back because it's the most wonderful piece of theatre that I've ever been involved with, as an audience and especially as an actor. I left the show for 5 years and thought that I'd never play the role again, and for some reason if a song came on the radio I'd have to switch it off because it would make me emotional. I grieve in a way when I leave the show, I don't think that I'll ever get something this fulfilling as an actor ever again. To get the chance to be back and work with Shaun, I couldn't turn it down. 

What can audiences expect from the show, we’ve heard that it’s a bit of a tear jerker?

Shaun: It's a total theatrical experience, I know that sounds like hyperbole but actually it is, it's got everything that an audience member likes when they go to the theatre, they get to laugh, they get to cry they and they get to feel real emotion. Without it going into pantomime there's a lot of audience participation. The audience feel like they're being taken along on the journey of the performance, rather than just observing. And it has songs - what more could you want?

Mark: It will make you and it will make you cry and you'll think about it for weeks afterwards. I think that it's one of the few musicals that can actually attract a new audience, you get lots of school children coming along to watch the show because it's on the syllabus. You see them sat there during the matinée and you think they're going to hate us, they're going to throw sweets at us but by the end you can see them captivated by the show, crying and really moved by what they've seen. 

What initially made you want to become an actor?

Shaun: I was a class clown and that essentially is the first step towards becoming an actual clown. I was a professional show off at the time and was expelled from my school. I don't think that becoming a performer is something that you'd choose to do, I think it's something that you can't help but do. Once that seed gets planted in your head that it's your natural impulse is to show off it can lead you into a career. 

Mark: I was a very shy child, but I just loved musicals and I just wanted to be on the stage. It's quite a strange thing really but I'm still terribly, terribly shy but I can stand in front of 1200 people and play a part. I moved from Liverpool to London and said "bye mum and dad I'm going to be in musicals". 

Are there any other theatre roles that you’d love to play?

Shaun: I'd love to play Arturo Ui in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, it's about a gangster in Chicago who works his way up all the way through the ranks to become the leader of the underworld but it was written in 1932 Germany and it was an allegory on Hitler and it depicted his rise to power. Although you'd be playing a gangster in Chicago he's actually got all of Hitler’s mannerisms. If anyone out there ever wants to cast me anything you know where to find me. 

Mark: I'd love to be in anything by Sondheim, his musicals are just breathtaking. I actually do love musical theatre, if I get the chance to do a play or a musical, I'll always choose the musical. I think people assume that musicals are always fluffy and light but I go to musicals when they're really depressing. If Elaine Page is ever on holiday I'd love to fill in for her and do her Sunday radio show!

What would you say has been the highlight of your career?

Shaun: The day that I got cast as Mickey was one of my proudest moments. I think the highlight of my career was getting a mortgage, in all seriousness it's Blood Brothers that gave me that. If someone told me that I'd still be working 20 years down the line and I'd have a mortgage and a family off the back of it I'd have taken that really. 

Mark: Getting this role and taking it to Broadway was rather fantastic. 

What advice would you give to anyone looking to become an actor?

Shaun: It has to be beyond everything else that you want to do. Peter Cushing once told me "The world of theatre is a wonderful thing to be a part of but it takes a great deal of sacrifice to get there" and he wasn't wrong. 

Mark: I'd say be prepared to undertake secondary jobs that you can fall back on, whether it's teaching or directing be prepared to do those in between parts. As an actor you can be doing a great job and then be out of work for a year. It's all about taking the rough with the smooth. 

Following sell-out seasons in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan, the international smash-hit musical Blood Brothers will return to the Wyvern Theatre from Monday 10th to Saturday 15th March.