Profiles

Willy Russell's Blood Brothers has been performed in countries all over the world, shown on Broadway and continues to play to large audiences in London’s West End.

But in addition to being an award winning playwright, Willy Russell is also a successful musician, song and screenwriter.

He returned to the stage at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall for the final events in Liverpool University's Public Lecture series in December 2008.

He told Angela Heslop how he feels when he sees a production of Blood Brothers.

Blood Brothers ran at Liverpool Empire in early 08

“I don't see that many productions these days, I was very involved in it for a long time and I remember watching it on Broadway and I realised then that it had finally grown up, I could leave it alone, y'know, and let it look after itself.

“I'm always very, very glad when it’s in Liverpool because it does matter more to me when it’s on here than anywhere else in the world... Apart from anything else people here are extremely vocal in their reaction... They see you in the street and they've not liked something... there’s a kind of compliment in the fact that they'll blame me for it”

Willy has already written a screenplay for Blood Brothers with Alan Parker but is waiting for the right moment to make the film.

“I was rather apprehensive at first and then it transpired that he was apprehensive. We were both wary of each other cos we'd known each other years ago and both of us are kind of known for some degree of telling it like it is.

“Within a few days of working with each other we just got on brilliantly, it was such a good job to do. But the film that we wrote was a film that would cost in today’s money between 50 and 60 million dollars. It’s not a 6, 7, 10 million dollar British movie... and people are not queuing up at the moment to spend that sort of money to make musicals. We'll do it when it’s right to do it, there’s no point making the film we don't want to make”.

To listen to the interview in full, click on the link below.