Please note: publicity material appeared last year which gave the false impression that Lyn Paul would be appearing in concert with the New Seekers. Lyn Paul does not have any involvement with the current line-up of the New Seekers and will not be appearing at any of the group's shows. Please read Lyn's message to her fans.
On Tuesday, 31st August Lyn Paul will return to the West End production of Blood Brothers. Lyn's last night will be 23rd October and will mean that Lyn's run in the West End production spans an incredible 13 years. Are there any of the West End's leading ladies who can match that?
More Blood Brothers
Having joined the 2009 touring production for two weeks in August, Lyn was persuaded by producer Bill Kenwright to come back for the rest of the UK tour. In 2010 she signed on for another six months.
White Rock Theatre, Hastings
19th - 24th July 2010
Tel: 01424 462 288
Lyn Paul first played the part of Mrs. Johnstone in 1997, making regular appearances in the West End production, with occasional appearances in touring productions.
In 2007, having landed the role of Vi Moore in Footloose The Musical, it looked as though Lyn's Blood Brothers days might be over. However, at the end of the year Bill Kenwright asked her to return once again - this time at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool, to celebrate the city's year as European Capital Of Culture.
After four weeks in Liverpool Lyn returned to the West End production of Blood Brothers, completing her run on 27th September 2008.
In December 2008 Lyn was voted the 'Undisputed Mrs. J. of all time' by fans of the show at the Blood Brothers Online website.
18th December 2009
The word on the net...
"Lyn Paul is unbearably brilliant as Mrs. Johnstone, the long-suffering Liverpudlian single-mother-of-nine. Her singing pitch-perfect, her passionate portrayal of the story’s flawed heroine an object lesson in the genre, her eyes heartbreakingly emotive at every turn." (Andy Afford, Left Lion)
"Lyn Paul... offers thrilling vocal form as a working-class mother who gives away one of her twin baby sons... Paul’s musical experience has, like the production, spanned the decades and it shows...
With her strong voice, she can sing in a whisper and the audience hangs on every word. As the final tragedy unfolds, her resilience finally broken, she delivers the famous closing song 'Tell Me It's Not True' with raw, heart-rending intensity." (Ian Moore, Liverpool Confidential)
"Former 'New Seeker' Lyn Paul has been associated with the role of Mrs. Johnstone for over 10 years but she still vividly brings the anguish of this impoverished mother forced to give away one of her twin boys..." (Gerry Parker, Crackerjack)
"Lyn Paul has retuned to the role of Mrs. Johnstone again and again and you can see why. She brings an emotional depth and a singing voice that cuts through her apron strings and tugs at our heartstrings." (Nowt2Do.com)
Updated: 4th July 2010
Lyn Paul Late Night
CD, DVD and MP3 releases
Late Night
Lyn Paul's latest album is out now! Lyn, who last released an album in 1975, returned to the recording studios in 2005 with Rod Edwards, the musical director from Blood Brothers.
On 13th July Universal released a CD which, for the first time ever, brought together the New Seekers' hits for Polydor (featuring Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle) with their three more minor hits for CBS (featuring Eve Graham and Danny Finn). Backed by a TV ad campaign, the CD entered the Official UK Albums Chart at number 17, achieving first week sales of 9,287.
The CD also includes five tracks by the group that currently calls itself the New Seekers. The inevitable comparisons you make between then and now do not flatter the current line-up: inferior songs, inferior vocals, inferior all round. Piggy backing on the hits of the classic line-up, the group members are sure to make themselves some money out of this venture, but it's unlikely they'll convince the doubters that they really are the New Seekers or that they are as good as the New Seekersreally were.
There's nothing new for Lyn Paul fans here but fans of Marty Kristian will be pleased by the last track on the album, Just Another Lesson. It's a previously unreleased track from 1982, written by Marty and featuring him on lead vocal.
18th July 2009
Updated: 29th July 2009
On the net
New on YouTube
Lyn Paul on YouTube - an interview recorded at the Bristol Hippodrome.
There are many other great clips of Lyn Paul on YouTube. Click on the links below.
On 9th January 1971 the New Seekers appeared on US television as guests on The Andy Williams Show, "dueting" with Andy Williams on the Nillson song One before singing their latest single When There's No Love Left.
In 1973 the group sang two songs on the BBC show It's Lulu: You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me, which was about to take them to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, and We've Got To Do It Now.
Both clips are now available on YouTube Check them out via Lyn Paul website YouTube page.
Updated: 5th May 2010
TV and Radio
Happy Birthday, Peter
On 28th July we'll be raising a glass to celebrate Peter Doyle's birthday. This year the occasion is being honoured by UCA Radio's Angus Martin, who will be playing two hours of Peter's music on his Maverick's Music Box show.
The birthday tribute will be broadcast on Sunday, 25th July between 2.00pm - 4.00pm and will feature tracks from Peter's solo, Virgil Brothers and New Seekers days. Angus would like to include some of your special memories of Peter in his show, so please e-mail any contributions to Gwyneth @ the Peter Doyle website, who will pass them on.
UCA radio is a university-based radio station broadcasting on 87.7 FM from Ayrshire in Scotland and is also available on the internet - follow the 'Listen' link on the UCA's website.
"Meet me in the air, I'll be any place that you want me,
I'll see you in the air everywhere.
There's a tavern in the sky,
We can take the road that it leads to.
We'll raise the glasses high and we'll drink to you, drink to you."
('The Way It Goes', Peter Doyle)
19th July 2010
On 'The Hour'
On Monday, 28th September Lyn Paul was a guest on STV's afternoon show The Hour, hosted by Stephen Jardine and Aggie MacKenzie. Lyn talked about her appearances on Coronation Street as a child, about the her days with New Seekers and about life on tour with the Blood Brothers cast.
Yesterday is a cancelled cheque; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely. Kay Lyons
O, that a man might know
The end of this day's business ere it come! William Shakespeare, 'Julius Caesar' (Act V, Scene I)
What next?
Prediction is very difficult, expecially about the future. Niels Bohr
I have learned to live each day as it comes and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow. It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us. Dorothy Dix, 'Her Book'
I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. Albert Einstein
The future is hidden even from the men who made it. Anatole France
There are two options: adapt or die. Andrew S. Grove
My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there. Charles Franklin Kettering
It is not wise to look too far ahead; our powers of prediction are slight, our command over results infinitesimal. John Maynard Keynes
What we call our future is the shadow which our past throws in front of us. Marcel Proust
If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. William Shakespeare, 'The Merchant Of Venice' (Act I, Scene II)
Where next?
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. John Burroughs
It isn't where you came from; it's where you're going that counts. Ella Fitzgerald
