Six, the hit pop musical about Henry VIII's wives, is headed to Broadway
Don’t lose your head — a musical about Henry VIII’s six wives is headed for Broadway.
Six, the musical which has drawn a cult following after successful runs in London and Chicago, is officially bringing its Tudor Queens to the Great White Way. The musical, which turns the notorious six wives of Henry VIII into a pop girl group à la The Spice Girls, is slated to open this spring at New York’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre (formerly the home of another female-driven project, Waitress, which is closing in January).
Six will begin performances on Feb. 13, 2020 before an official opening on March 12. The musical gives voice to each of the six wives — Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr — allowing them to reclaim their identities outside the shadow of their monarchical (and tyrannical) spouse. The female cast, soon to be announced, are backed by an all-female band, the “Ladies in Waiting.”
“We are UNBELIEVABLY excited about Six coming to Broadway, like actually what is going on!” writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss said in a statement. “We are so grateful that we get to share our show with an even wider audience, especially somewhere as iconic as the home of musical theatre – BROADWAY BABY!! The whole team across the pond are ridiculously amazing, and we can’t wait to share the show with you – NYC, thanks for having us!!!”
The show began at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 before transferring to an Off-West End production in 2018, touring the U.K., and returning to London in 2019 where it is currently playing an open-ended run at the Arts Theatre. Six made its North American premiere in May of this year at Chicago’s Shakespeare Theater where it is playing through August 4. According to a press release, songs from the studio album are streamed on average 300,000 per day, making it the second-highest streaming cast recording in the world.
“From its student beginnings at the Edinburgh Festival, via the West End we’re absolutely thrilled to bring Six to Broadway,” said the producers in a statement. “Toby and Lucy have created an empowering musical about six of the most misrepresented women in history that couldn’t be more timely. We can’t wait for New York audiences to see the production at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.”
Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes, George Stiles, and Kevin McCollum are producing the book and score by Marlow and Moss. All previous productions have been co-directed by Moss and Jamie Armitage, featuring choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille. The design team includes Emma Bailey (set design), Gabriella Slade (costume design), Paul Gatehouse (sound design) and Tim Deiling (lighting design). The score features orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton.
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