Following a previous sold out Australian tour two years ago, Mrs Brown’s Boys is back and will kick-off their national tour in Wollongong with “Good Mourning Mrs Brown” from Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Around one million Aussies watched each episode of the hit TV show though it originally began on the stage.
Brendan O’Carroll plays Irish family matriarch Mrs Agnes Brown with most of the cast played by members of his actual family.
O’Carroll’s wife Jennifer Gibney stars at Cathy Brown, Mrs Brown’s only daughter, and told Sunrise it was the family vibe that helped their success.
“I think the warmth of the family comes across,” she said.
O’Carroll said it was their “edge” because nobody on TV spoke like “real people”.
Rory Cowan plays Mrs Brown’s flamboyant third son, and while he’s not technically a relative he may as well be having been with the troupe for nearly two decades.
Stevie Wonder would recognise I was gay if I walked into the room, but I got two marriage proposals from women.
- Rory Cowan
He began as O’Carroll’s publicist but was asked to take over the role last minute in 1999, two days out from opening night in Liverpool.
The previous actor had left the industry to become a train driver, to the disbelief of Cowan, who had never dreamt of going on stage.
“I thought he was joking,” he told the Illawarra Mercury. “But he did leave, he was getting married and trying to get a mortgage but they wouldn’t give it to him as an actor, so he had to get a proper job.”
Cowan said what set Australian audiences apart from the rest of the world was our wildness.
“We’re used to a level of reaction [in the UK and Ireland] but it was nothing compared to what happened in Australia,” he said.
After each show the cast are happy to sign autographs and take selfies, but unlike their home crowd, hundreds of Aussies would line up to say “hi” or offer marriage proposals.
“I’m gay and it’s obvious, I mean Stevie Wonder would recognise I was gay if I just walked into the room, but I got two marriage proposals from women last time,” laughed Cowan. “They knew I was gay but it didn’t bother them, they just thought we’d be great and live happily ever after.”
“We’ve had nothing but fond memories of the last time we were here … it’s the most desired thing to arrive in a country you’ve never been to before and have hundreds of fans at the airport.”
