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The original production by Willy Russell was written as a school play and presented in 1981. Russell then developed the work into a full-blown musical, which opened in the Liverpool Playhouse, in 1983, starring Barbara Dickson and Andrew C. Wadsworth. It was only a modest success. The show transferred to London, where it played for only six months or so before closing, although it won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical. Bill Kenwright took over the show, and following a year-long national tour it reopened in the Albery Theatre in London in 1988 before transferring it to the Phoenix Theatre, where it has been running ever since. Con O'Neill, who played Mickey, won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in 1989 (1988 season) for his performance.