six tour edinburgh

New cast announced for UK tour of SIX coming to Edinburgh Playhouse

The multi award-winning musical six, written by toby marlow and lucy moss, today announces a new cast for the uk tour..

Article Source: The Ambassador Theatre Group Last Updated: 9 March 2023 13:35

SIX will be at Edinburgh Playhouse from Tue 2 – Sat 6 May 2023: Tickets: https://prf.hn/l/b911qaO The current company will play their final performance on Sunday 23 April with the new company taking over from Tuesday 25 April 2023. The new touring Queens will be played by Nicole Louise Lewis (Catherine of Aragon), Laura Dawn Pyatt (Anne Boleyn), Erin Caldwell (Jane Seymour), Kenedy Small (Anna of Cleves), Lou Henry (Katherine Howard) and Aoife Haakenson (Catherine Parr). lzi Maxwell, Tamara Morgan and Ellie Jane Grant will be joining the cast as Alternates, with Super Swing/ Dance Captain Shakira Simpson. The cast are backed by the show's all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting. SIX follows the six wives of Henry VIII as they take to the mic to tell their own personal tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an SO-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Since its early days as a student production in a 100-seat room at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the show has fast become a global musical phenomenon. On the international stage, SIX currently has productions playing on Broadway at the Lena Horne Theatre and two concurrent North American tours, including a seven-week run in Las Vegas, with further stagings announced in Canada and Holland this autumn. SIX opens in Seoul, South Korea on 17 March and recently completed an Australian tour. Back on home turf, the London production continues its reign in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre (its third royal residence) and the UK and Ireland tour continues to break Box Office records. The UK tour is now booking through to 2024. Winner of 26 major international awards including the 2022 Tony Award for 'Best Original Score' and 'Best Costume Design' on Broadway, double Whatsonstage Award winner for 'Best West End Show' 2022 & 2023, and the 2020 BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for 'Best Musical', SIX was also nominated for five Olivier awards, including 'Best New Musical'. Celebrating the global success of its songs with over 500 million streams and over three billion views on TikTok, the original studio album of SIX officially turned Gold in 2021, with the Broadway album 'SIX - Live on Opening Night' nominated for a Grammy Award. Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, SIX is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, featuring choreography by Carrie-Anne lngrouille. The design team includes Emma Bailey (Set Design), Gabriella Slade (Costume Design), Tim Deiling (Lighting Design) and Paul Gatehouse (Sound Design). The score features orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton. Musical Director Caitlin Morgan and Associate UK Musical Supervisor Lauren Hopkinson. Casting is by Pearson Casting. SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles. SIX will be at Edinburgh Playhouse from Tue 2 – Sat 6 May 2023 Erin Caldwell (playing Jane Seymour) grew up in Glasgow and currently lives in Paisley.

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Six (2022), Festival Theatre, Review

SIX has returned to the Festival Theatre following its last pre-pandemic run at the venue in early 2020. Having grown from humble Edinburgh Fringe origins, the edutainment musical of the century (yes, it rivals Hamilton for that category) is a global sensation.

Taking back their power and their story, Henry VIII’s six wives are resurrected and returned to claim history (ehhem, herstory) for themselves. At first pitting themselves against the other to vie for the spot of #1 Most Wounded Wife, they ultimately come together in a megamix melding of queenly splendour, rising above their rivalry and banding together.

In truth, all 10 queens on stage deserve a mention - the six (EX)wives and the four women in the powerhouse, on-stage band, the “ladies in waiting” Jenny Deacon on keys and musical direction, Vanessa Dominique on drums, Laura Browne on guitar and Kat Bax on bass.

The sequined and studded monarchs are magnificent; however, the show’s crowning glory is the book and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss who’ve created cleverness beyond measure with this deservedly popular musical. While all six queens do take us on an energetic and fun-filled 80 minute journey, they don’t pack as powerful a punch as last tours’ queens; the comedic timing, chemistry and vocal range don’t quite match up (barring Chlöe Hart as Catherine of Aragon who was right on the money and Jennifer Caldwell who was hilarious as a deadpan Anne). (Hey! I thought this show was about rejecting comparisons!).

In place of a traditional musical set (Emma Bailey), lighting (Tim Deiling), choreography (Carrie-Ann Ingrouille) and costume (Gabriella Slade) reign supreme, all together exuding the energy of what must have existed in the early 90s at a Spice Girls concert though the subject matter be of 1500s consort.

With over 450 million streams worldwide, this girl power musical is worth the hype. Get your ticket now to this sell-out Tudor take-off before it (be)heads onto the next city on its #RoyalTour!

SIX booking info 

TUE 15 MAR TO SAT 26 MAR 2022

Tue - Thu 8pm | Fri 6pm & 8.30pm | Sat 4pm & 8pm | Sun 2pm

Running time (approx.): 1 hour 20 minutes (No interval)

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SIX The Musical

★★★★☆   spitting rhymes.

Festival Theatre: Tue 15 – Sat 26 March 2022 Review by Thom Dibdin

Six new queens have taken up royal residency in the cast of SIX , which drops into the Festival Theatre for an extended stay through to March 26 and returns to the Glasgow Theatre Royal in June.

Staged as if the six wives of Henry the Eighth had been reincarnated as a 21st century female supergroup, SIX is an empowering, compelling show that goes far, far beyond the well-know methods of their demise.

Chloe Hart, Jennifer Caldwell, Casey Al-Shaqsy, Aiesha Naomi Pease, Jaina Brock Patel and Alana M Robinson. Screen grab from promo film for new Queens.

This is history which spits rhymes, hits the high notes on big tunes and mashes down on the rhythms, while setting out lives that might not be exactly like our own but which are certainly relatable. What’s more, as a musical, SIX is fast-paced, clever and packs a very big emotional punch.

This much we knew already – Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s show which premiered at the Fringe of 2017, has won enough accolades, been featured in enough guest spots on TV and returned enough times already to be assured of a full – and expectant – house.

The question, then, is not whether this is a cracking night out. That’s a given, as the Queens set about a competition between themselves to each sell their back stories to the audience in a big solo number – appropriate to their lives and the manner of their deaths.

Rather, it is how well the new queens succeed in weaving themselves into the characters.

To be honest, the opening title number is so tight in terms of vocals and moves that you would never have thought that Edinburgh was their first full run with this combination of six on stage. They all slotted into the slickly choreographed number with ease.

strength and precision

For their big solo numbers, Chloe Hart has the musical chops and more for divorcee Catherine of Aragon, who thought she was going to be marrying Henry’s brother, only he died. She hits the big notes of No Way with strength and precision – and oozes personality

Chloe Hart, Jennifer Caldwell, Casey Al-Shaqsy, Aiesha Naomi Pease, Jaina Brock Patel and Alana M Robinson. Screen grab from promo clip of the new Queens.

There is much more spikiness to Jennifer Caldwell’s Anne Boleyn. She might not give the quite perfect vocal performance of Don’t Lose Ur Head , but her delivery brings the number alive in a way that a recording never can. And her constant strutting round the stage, dissing the other queens who kept their heads, is a hoot.

Casey Al-Shaqsy brings a proper sense of sorrow and fragility to Jane Seymour, who had a son with Henry but who died soon after. The anthemic love song Heart of Stone brings a heartfelt dynamic to the show which was not previously apparent.

Talking of anthems, the glow-in-the-dark staging of the rave anthem-cum-cabaret number House of Holbein , is the most obviously bravura display in the whole piece of just how precisely Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography, Paul Gatehouse’s sound design and Tim Deiling’s lighting work together.

Coming out of that slice of beautiful pomp, Aiesha Naomi Pease needs every ounce of her considerable stage presence for divorcee Anna of Cleves’ throbbing rap in Get Down . Her voice is a character all to itself and she owns the number, from the boot-quivering bass right up to her last triumphant sneer of survival.

understanding

With the least known about the life of decapitated Katherine Howard – beyond the minute details of her sex life used to condemn her – there is most space to bring a modern understanding to her life. If Jaina Brock Patel feels vocally underpowered for the opening verses of All You Wanna Do , the understanding she finds as it goes on is brilliant – the loss and confusion of a young woman constantly used by coercive and entitled men rings out loud and clear.

Alana M Robinson would light up any musical theatre stage and her almost casual delivery of Catherine Parr in I Don’t Need Your Love , belies a deep understanding of the whole piece and its complexities. Parr survived Henry, but in her marriage to him, she gave up her own one-true love.

If the opening is tight – as is the triumphant finale – the new cast still have a bit of a journey to make in their delivery of the show’s turning point, when the whole piece is resolved. And in a musical which is justifiably celebrated for its word-play and lyrics, there are certainly a few more nuances to squeeze out in that area.

But overall, the weave is strong on these new Queens who, with their equally on-point backing band, ensure that SIX will carry on raising the roof on its continuing tour, with its triumphant celebration of girl power.

Running time: One hour and 20 minutes (no interval) Festival Theatre , 13/29 Nicolson Street EH8 9FT. Phone booking: 0131 529 6000 Tuesday 15 – Sunday 26 March 2022 Tue- Thu: 8pm, Fri 6pm & 8.30pm; Sat 2.30pm & 8pm, Sun 2pm Tickets and details: Book here .

Glasgow Theatre Royal , 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA Tuesday 14 – Sunday 19 June 2022 Tue-Thur: 8pm; Fri: 6pm, 8pm; Sat: 4pm, 8pm: Sun: 2pm. Tickets and details:    Book here .

Screen grab from promo clip of the new Queens.

Tags: Aiesha Naomi Pease , Alana M Robinson , Carrie-Anne Ingrouille , Casey Al-Shaqsy , Chloe Hart , Festival Theatre , Jaina Brock Patel , Jennifer Caldwell , Lucy Moss , Musicals , Paul Gatehouse , Review , Six The Musical , Tim Deiling , Toby Marlow

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Six the Musical Tour

Six the Musical tour is bringing its critically-acclaimed show to a venue near you – full tour schedule is below. Sign up to our mailing list and we will keep you informed of further dates and casting as they are announced.

SIX THE MUSICAL TOUR 2024 DATES & TICKETS

Six the Musical Tour CANTERBURY Tue 05 Mar – Sat 09 Mar 2024 Six the Musical Tour WOLVERHAMPTON Tue 27 Feb – Sun 03 Mar 2024 Six the Musical Tour NORWICH Tue 20 Feb – Sat 24 Feb 2024 Six the Musical Tour LLANDUDNO Tue 13 Feb – Sat 17 Feb 2024 Six the Musical Tour CHELTENHAM Tue 30 Jan – Sat 10 Feb 2024 Six the Musical Tour AYLESBURY Tue 23 Jan – Sun 28 Jan 2024 Six the Musical Tour SOUTHEND-ON-SEA Tue 16 Jan – Sun 21 Jan 2024 Six the Musical Tour SWANSEA Wed 10 Jan – Sun 14 Jan 2024 Six the Musical Tour BRIGHTON Tue 19 Dec – Sat 06 Jan 2024 Six the Musical Tour STOKE-ON-TRENT Tue 05 Dec – Sat 09 Dec 2023 Six the Musical Tour NORTHAMPTON Tue 28 Nov – Sat 02 Dec 2023 Six the Musical Tour NOTTINGHAM Tue 21 Nov – Sun 26 Nov 2023 Six the Musical Tour TORQUAY Tue 14 Nov – Sat 18 Nov 2023 Six the Musical Tour POOLE Tue 31 Oct – Sun 12 Nov 2023 Six the Musical Tour SKEGNESS Tue 24 Oct – Sat 28 Oct 2023 Six the Musical Tour PORTSMOUTH Wed 11 Oct – Sun 15 Oct 2023 Six the Musical Tour CHESTER Tue 12 Sep – Sat 16 Sep 2023 Six the Musical Tour GLASGOW Tue 29 Aug – Sun 03 Sep 2023 Six the Musical Tour BATH Mon 14 Aug – Wed 23 Aug 2023 Six the Musical Tour CARDIFF Tue 08 Aug – Sat 12 Aug 2023 Six the Musical Tour MANCHESTER Tue 18 Jul – Sun 23 Jul 2023 Six the Musical Tour BLACKPOOL Tue 11 Jul – Sat 15 Jul 2023 Six the Musical Tour NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE Tue 04 Jul – Sat 08 Jul 2023 Six the Musical Tour YORK Tue 27 Jun – Sun 02 Jul 2023 Six the Musical Tour PETERBOROUGH Tue 06 Jun – Sun 11 Jun 2023 Six the Musical Tour HULL Tue 23 May – Sun 28 May 2023 Six the Musical Tour ABERDEEN Tue 09 May – Sat 13 May 2023 Six the Musical Tour TUNBRIDGE WELLS Tue 25 Apr – Sat 29 Apr 2023 Six the Musical Tour HIGH WYCOMBE Tue 18 Apr – Sun 23 Apr 2023 Six the Musical Tour BELFAST Tue 11 Apr – Sat 15 Apr 2023 Six the Musical Tour DUBLIN Tue 04 Apr – Sat 08 Apr 2023 Six the Musical Tour CAMBRIDGE Tue 14 Feb – Sat 25 Feb 2023 Six the Musical Tour WOKING Tue 31 Jan – Sun 05 Feb 2023 Six the Musical Tour DARTFORD Tue 24 Jan – Sun 29 Jan 2023 Six the Musical Tour CHICHESTER Tue 22 Nov – Sun 27 Nov 2022 Six the Musical Tour INVERNESS Tue 08 Nov – Sat 12 Nov 2022 Six the Musical Tour BRADFORD Tue 01 Nov – Sat 05 Nov 2022 Six the Musical Tour MALVERN Tue 25 Oct – Sat 29 Oct 2022 Six the Musical Tour SWINDON Tue 04 Oct – Sat 08 Oct 2022 Six the Musical Tour COVENTRY Tue 27 Sep – Sun 02 Oct 2022 Six the Musical Tour TRURO Tue 06 Sep – Sun 11 Sep 2022 Six the Musical Tour DERRY / LONDONDERRY Tue 23 Aug – Sat 27 Aug 2022 Six the Musical Tour EASTBOURNE Tue 31 May – Sun 05 Jun 2022 Six the Musical Tour KINGSTON UPON THAMES Tue 17 May – Sun 29 May 2022 Six the Musical Tour GUILDFORD Tue 01 Mar – Sat 12 Mar 2022 Six the Musical Tour MOLD Tue 22 Feb – Sat 26 Feb 2022

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Official Website: https://sixthemusical.com

WHAT IS SIX THE MUSICAL ABOUT?

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.

All this time They’ve been just one word in a stupid rhyme So they picked up a pen and a microphone History’s about to get overthrown.

From Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII finally take the mic to tell their tales, remixing five hundred years of her-storical heartbreak into a 75-minute celebration of sisterly sass-itude.  Powered by an all-female band and with songs including Ex-Wives, Haus of Holbein and Don’t Lose Ur Head.

The modern retelling of King Henry VIII's six wives turned divas had its humble beginnings in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was presented by history-loving Cambridge students. The concept of the show was born in a poetry class. As research for the show, Marlow read  Antonia Fraser ‘s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” whilst Moss watched  Lucy Worsley ‘s documentary series  Six Wives.

Since making its professional debut, the musical has crossed the pond to Broadway. The West End production has been nominated for 5 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best Musical, whilst the Broadway production was nominated for two Drama League Awards.

Now the phenomenal SIX is ready to embark on its first UK tour bringing this piece of uplifting musical theatre to a venue near you…

Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE in concert!

SIX THE MUSICAL UK TOUR - CAST & CREATIVE

Six the Musical 2024 Tour Cast :

• Nicole Louise Lewis – Catherine of Aragon 
• Laura Dawn Pyatt – Anne Boleyn 
• Erin Caldwell  – Jane Seymour 
• Kenedy Small  – Anna of Cleves
• Lou Henry – Katherine Howard 
• Aoife Haakenson – Catherine Parr
• Izi Maxwell – Understudy
• Tamara Morgan – Understudy
• Ellie Jane Grant – Understudy
• Shakira Simpson – Ensemble
• Natalie Pilkington – Ensemble

The cast are backed by the show's all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting:

• Guitar –  Lola Barber
• Bass –  Jikea Oh
• Drums – Amanda Dal

Book, Music & Lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss

Directed by  Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage

Choreography by  Carrie-Anne Ingrouille

SIX THE MUSICAL TOUR TRAILER - WATCH THE VIDEOS!

Listen to music from six the musical, did you find this useful if so, would you 'like' our facebook page, thank you we are new, and every 'like' goes a long way :).

• Bournemouth
• Derry / Londonderry
• High Wycombe
• Kingston upon Thames
• Milton Keynes
• Newcastle Upon Tyne
• Northampton
• Peterborough
• Southampton
• Southend-on-Sea
• Stockton-on-Tees
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Wolverhampton

• West End & London
• Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024

Six The Musical UK tour cast

Here’s who’s currently making up the cast of Six The Musical on its UK tour!

The hit show has announced brand new tour dates across the country throughout the year ahead.

Six The Musical tour cast

Making up the Queens are Nicole Louise Lewis (Catherine of Aragon), Laura Dawn Pyatt (Anne Boleyn), Erin Caldwell (Jane Seymour), Kenedy Small (Anna of Cleves), Lou Henry (Katherine Howard) and Aoife Haakenson (Catherine Parr).

They will be joined by alternates Izi Maxwell, Tamara Morgan and Ellie Jane Grant, super-swing Shakira Simpson and universal swing Natalie Pilkington .

As ever, the cast are backed by the show’s all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting.

Find tickets

Currently touring until 28 September 2024

SIX tour dates ➤

Hit musical Six tells the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power.

Six is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss and is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage. The show has choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille with set design by Emma Bailey, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting by Tim Deiling and sound by Paul Gatehouse.

Alongside the tour, the show continues its run in the West End and on Broadway, as well as US tour.

More on: Six the musical Features

Josh is Stageberry's editor with over five years of experience writing about theatre in the West End and across the UK. Prior to following his passion for musicals, he worked for more than a decade as a TV journalist.

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SIX: how the musical became a worldwide phenomenon

Tim Bano Monday, September 11, 2023

Tim Bano speaks to SIX's creators and producers to uncover why this pop musical about Henry VIII’s wives has such enduring, widespread appeal

It’s February 2023. Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have just been to the Grammys, decked in matching green metallic moiré and black corsets. ‘It was very exciting,’ says Marlow on a Zoom call from LA a few days later. ‘And very long,’ adds Moss.

When they sat down at a piano in Cambridge in 2017 to write a musical about the wives of Henry VIII, they were inspired by some of the greatest women in the pop world, J Lo and Beyoncé among them. Six years later (how appropriate!), they’re at an awards ceremony nominated alongside them.

We were consciously trying to make it as unalienating as possible

It’s quite a journey for a musical that started life as a student project to be showcased at the Edinburgh Festival. SIX is now not just a national phenomenon but a global one. In addition to its ongoing West End production and UK tour, it has two US tours (which included a Las Vegas residency last September), a Broadway run, cruise-ship productions and an Australian season under its belt; a Korean run began in late March, and more performances are planned for later this year in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Toronto. The Queens have gone global.

The cast of SIX (photo: Pamela Raith)

So how do its writers, Marlow and Moss, feel about it all? ‘It’s been a lot of admin,’ Marlow laughs. Moss squeezes in next to him. ‘Being near Beyoncé was very cool.’

The story of SIX has been told almost as many times as the lives of its characters. It all started when Marlow was asked to write a piece for the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society. While day-dreaming in a poetry class (he was studying English Literature), the idea came to him to write about the six wives, present it as a pop concert, and put women and non-binary people front and centre.

Over 10 disparate days, Marlow and Moss sat at a piano with a shared Google Doc and created the show pretty much as it is today, all while revising for their final exams. ‘It was like, “I’ve got a tragedy paper tomorrow but I have to finish that bloody Anna of Cleves song”,’ describes Marlow.

Some of what makes SIX so unique was deliberate; some was pure necessity. In Edinburgh, shows don’t generally run longer than an hour, so they kept it short. But the pair wanted it to appeal to audiences who wouldn’t normally go to musicals. ‘Lots of our friends said they don’t like people bursting into song for no reason,’ says Moss. ‘So we were like, “What if the characters are pop stars?” Then there’s no question about why they’re singing, and we can use that format to talk directly to the audience. We were consciously trying to make it as unalienating as possible.’

Broadway producer Kevin McCollum thinks that explains why the show has been so popular. ‘Broadway at its height was the music of the popular day. Broadway songs were played on the radio. Toby and Lucy reverse-engineered it and said, “What is the popular music of the day?” and they used that vocabulary to talk about the wives of Henry VIII.’

So in August 2017, in a hotel conference room, Edinburgh audiences saw the show for the first time. Among them were producers Andy and Wendy Barnes – who had just set up their company Global Musicals to produce new Musical Theatre in the UK – and Kenny Wax, whose show The Play That Goes Wrong was running in London. For Andy it was a no-brainer. ‘What made it stand out was that the show knew exactly what it wanted to say, and it clearly resonated with people. There was none of this, “What are you trying to achieve here? What do you want us to go away thinking?” It was all there.’

After the first Edinburgh run, Marlow and Moss were inundated with offers. A lot of them suggested big structural changes, adding storylines, even removing the pop concert set-up. Global Musicals and Kenny Wax knew the show worked best as it was.

Marlow and Moss met both producers and, unusually, asked both to take on the show. The Barneses had never met Wax, but Wendy and Andy got together with Kenny and it’s been a golden relationship. Where Wax had worked in the West End and Broadway, Global had experience in Edinburgh and with artist development.

But SIX was not an obvious candidate for success. ‘It was written by two university graduates who nobody had heard of,’ says Wendy Barnes. ‘It wasn’t a title anyone had heard of, it didn’t have any artists in it that anybody had heard of, or any jukebox songs that anyone had heard of. So it had pretty much everything going against it.’

Adds Andy: ‘The biggest thing we’ve taken away from it all is showing the industry it’s possible, and saying to them: “Can we please be a bit more ambitious?”’

Their instincts after seeing the show were all different. Andy wanted to take the show back to Edinburgh as a jumping-off point for a future life. Wendy wanted to get the songs out to audiences as directly as possible and suggested recording an album. Wax had eyes on the West End, and thought that Monday nights at the Arts Theatre, which would otherwise be dark then, would make a perfect showcase. Instead of arguing the toss, they did all three.

And all three approaches worked. The show returned to Edinburgh in 2018, bringing with it a strong design, thanks to that iconic purple poster and Gabriella Slade’s costumes. All they needed were audiences. ‘On the first performance I sat in the middle of the seats, spreading out to try and make it seem like there were more people in the auditorium,’ recalls Andy.

‘A few days later,’ adds Wendy, ‘Phillip Schofield was tweeting that he couldn’t get a ticket. It was that quick.’ Back in London, the small size of the Arts proved, at 350 seats, to be the perfect proving ground for a show by two unknowns.

The album, meanwhile, surpassed anyone’s wildest expectations. Released in autumn 2018, within just six months it became the second-most-streamed cast recording in the world, behind only Hamilton . It harks back to when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice used studio recordings of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita to drum up audiences before the show was even on stage. ‘I grew up listening to those albums and then seeing the show,’ says Wendy. ‘This was new writing back in the day, that’s why they did it – and that’s why we did it too, to introduce people to these composers and songs, to let them know what we’re asking them to spend their money on.’

Recording the album has been one of the highlights of the journey for Marlow. The notes they bashed out at the piano or recorded into voice memos on their phone were transformed into professional pop songs. ‘Even when we were writing it,’ explains Moss, ‘we had a very good idea of what we wanted each song to sound like. We’d say things like “We want this verse to sound like this J Lo song” and orchestrator Tom Curran would come back with something that sounded exactly like we wanted – or something completely different but really interesting.’

‘Originally we had been like, “Make them sound like pop songs!’’’ Marlow adds. ‘But he was really good at saying: “OK, but how about we put in some bits that are more conceptual?” So he folded in the harpsichord sounds and things like that.’

Marlow and Moss thought the recording would be a useful promotional tool for that second Edinburgh run. They had no idea how crucial it would be in making SIX a global hit. The album has now been streamed more than 350 million times on Spotify alone. (The Broadway cast’s ‘ SIX : Live on Opening Night’, out last May, has had over 40 million streams and counting). Plus, every few months another clip of a track goes viral on TikTok, with views reaching into billions. ‘Those kids,’ says Moss. ‘Those crazy kids with their dance routines,’ chimes in Marlow.

That’s not to say there weren’t difficulties on the road to world domination. Outside of Edinburgh and London, tickets were harder to shift. A night in Southampton played to a mostly empty house. The producers were trying to arrange a UK tour for the show, and meeting a lot of resistance from theatres.

Andy explains: ‘There was no interval, which meant they couldn’t open up their bar. There were lots of people saying we needed to find another show to go with it, or we needed to put an interval in, or wanting things a certain way because it’s always done that way.’

No sooner had it settled in London, SIX started spreading out into the world with a US tour and a run at Sydney Opera House. But when it came time to take the show to Broadway, there was a big snag.

It was March 2020, and three hours before the curtain was due to rise on the show’s opening night, Covid-19 shut down New York. But even before that catastrophic series of events, there had been challenges in getting SIX across the Atlantic. Would American audiences go for a show about British history?

‘There was definitely a lot of conversation and maybe a fear around how it would play in the USA because of the historical stuff,’ suggests Moss. ‘But I think we knew we had something special and that people were going to like it.’

Broadway producer McCollum, behind hits including Rent , Avenue Q and In The Heights , had no such qualms. ‘I was clear that this was a Broadway show. Even though we’re not brought up with Tudor history in our schools, what we do know in our country is that everybody has a voice in the ideal notion of America. That was under threat. I saw the zeitgeist of today being articulated in a musical about women being defined by powerful men. It was more than Hamilton meets a Spice Girls concert. Like all great pieces of art, it speaks to our time in a robust way that’s wrapped in great entertainment.’

Welcome to the Haus of Holbein! SIX slays America with its royally fabulous 2023 Broadway cast (photography: Joan Marcus)

The US is one thing but, with the musical now opening in Seoul, what exactly is the international appeal of a show about the wives of a 16th-century English monarch? The producers all agree: it’s a brisk running time, it’s accessible, and its message is simple and strong. There’s very little narrative, and very little prior knowledge required.

There is still the thorny question, though, of translation. Although the Korean premiere will be in English, a Korean-language version will open soon afterwards. So how do you translate such witty, wordplay-laden and historically literate lyrics as those found in SIX into other languages? ‘You just hope that the translator’s good,’ Wendy laughs.

Moss explains: ‘You get sent a document that’s got the original lyric, the translated lyric in Korean and then the lyric translated back into English literally. Then we have several big chats and meetings and back- and-forth notes asking the intention behind a particular translation.’

Take this bit of libretto:

Seymour: We’re here to help you figure out which of us is…

Cleves: The Queen of the Castle.

Seymour: The rose among the thorns.

Howard: The Thomas Cromwell among the royal ministers between 1532 and 1540.

As Moss recalls, ‘They said, “In our country people don’t know Thomas Cromwell, so we thought we’d change it to a different historical figure,” and we’ve had to say, “No, the joke is that nobody [in the audience] knows who that is. The joke is that they’re historical queens, so they know who he is.”

‘It takes five minutes to break down the joke in a stupid line we wrote,’ says Marlow. ‘It doesn’t seem funny at all when you start to explain it. At times it can be mortifying.’

Meanwhile, along with launching these international versions, the producers also have the responsibility of a long-running West End show. Andy continues: ‘There are difficulties that come with having a team of people in one job for so long. You have to make sure they know they’re valued, you have to keep freshening it up.’

‘It’s like having a kid,’ says Wendy, ‘seeing it through to what it can be, keeping it alive.’ ‘Or a theatrical Tamagotchi,’ says Andy.

Both Marlow and Moss have worked on other projects in the meantime: Moss directed a spectacular production of Legally Blonde at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre last summer. But the question that’s nagged them even as they continued to shape SIX is: what comes next?

‘A few days ago we finished the first draft of a new musical called Why Am I So Single, ’ Marlow tells me. ‘A whole draft! It made us realise we can write another musical. There were times when we thought we couldn’t. But even all these years later, when we’re writing, even though it’s very pressurised, we still manage to make each other laugh every day.’

They have a shared notes document in which they write down rhymes they’ve never heard before, and in the writing room they see if they can work them into songs. ‘In the new show we’ve rhymed “Slide right out of my DMs” with “Hit me up again in your dre-ams”,’ says Moss. ‘It’s not a rhyme but it makes us laugh because it’s stupid.’

As for SIX , the producers are clear about why it works so well across the world: it’s short, it has a small cast which makes it easier to keep ticket prices low, and audiences are inspired by the diversity that they see on stage. But above all, SIX embodies its message about representation, respect, plural voices and the importance of having fun. ‘We’re one of a kind, no category’, the Queens sing, and it’s as true for them as for the show itself.

For more on SIX (West End, UK tour, Broadway, globally) visit sixthemusical.com

Buy tickets for SIX

This article originally appeared in the April/May 2023 issue of Musicals magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe to Musicals today!

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Six announces new cast for 2023/2024 UK Tour

By Yasmin Elkilany First Published 22 March 2023, Last Updated 21 April 2023

The multi award-winning musical  Six , written by  Toby Marlow  and  Lucy Moss , announces a new cast for the UK tour. The current company will play their final performance on Sunday 23 April with the new company taking over from Tuesday 25 April 2023.

The new touring Queens will be played by Nicole Louise Lewis  (Catherine of Aragon),  Laura Dawn Pyatt  (Anne Boleyn),  Erin Caldwell  (Jane Seymour),  Kenedy Small  (Anna of Cleves),  Lou Henry  (Katherine Howard) and  Aoife Haakenson  (Catherine Parr).  Izi Maxwell,   Tamara Morgan  and  Ellie Jane Grant  will be joining the cast as Alternates, with Super Swing / Dance Captain  Shakira Simpson.  The cast are backed by the show’s all-female band,  The Ladies in Waiting. 

Six  follows the six wives of Henry VIII as they take to the mic to tell their own personal tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Since its early days as a student production in a 100-seat room at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe , the show has fast become a global musical phenomenon.

West End Production - Baylie Carson as Anne Boleyn and the cast of Six the Musical. Photography credit - Pamela Raith.

West End Production - Claudia Kariuki as Jane Seymour in Six the Musical. Photography credit - Pamela Raith.

West End Production - Dionne Ward-Anderson as Anna of Cleves and the cast of Six the Musical. Photography credit - Pamela Raith.

West End Production - Koko Basigara as Howard in Six the Musical. Pamela Raith Photography..

West End Production - Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky as Aragon in Six the Musical. Pamela Raith Photography.

West End Production - Roxanne Couch as Catherine Parr and the cast of Six the Musical. Photography credit - Pamela Raith.

West End Production - The Cast of Six the Musical. Photography credit - Pamela Raith.

Winner of 26 major international awards including the 2022 Tony Award for ‘Best Original Score’ and ‘Best Costume Design’ on Broadway, double WhatsOnStage Award winner for ‘Best West End Show’ 2022 & 2023, and the 2020 BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for ‘Best Musical’, Six   was also nominated for five Olivier Awards , including ‘Best New Musical’.

Book now at these Theatre Tokens venues, or gift the queen in your life a night out with our Six eGift .

Wycombe Swan

Tue 18 – Sun 23 April

Edinburgh Playhouse

Tue 2 – Sat 6 May

His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen

Tue 9 – Sat 13 May

Hull New Theatre

Tue 23 – Sun 28 May

New Theatre Oxford

Tue 30 May – Sun 4 June

Peterborough New Theatre

Tue 6 – Sun 11 June

Curve Theatre, Leicester

Tue 13 – Sun 18 June

Grand Opera House York

Tue 27 June – Sun 2 July

Opera House, Manchester

Tue 18 – Sun 23 July

Leeds Grand Theatre

Tue 1 – Sun 6 August

Theatre Royal Bath

Mon 14 – Sat 26 August

Theatre Royal Glasgow

Tue 29 August – Sun 3 September

The Kings Theatre, Portsmouth

Wed 11 – Sun 15 October

Lighthouse, Poole

31 October – 12 November

Princess Theatre, Torquay

Tue 14 – Sat 18 November

Royal and Derngate Theatre, Northampton

Tue 28 November – Sat 2 December

Theatre Royal Brighton

Tue 19 December – Sat 6 January

Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

Tue 23 – Sun 28 January 2024

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

27 February – 3 March 2024

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Closed: 24 September 2022

Six announces new tour cast

The award-winning show continues its tour

Exclusive: A new year, which means new queens joining the Six fold!

The fresh tour cast for the much-loved, award-winning musical has been revealed, joining the production from 8 March at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. The current cast for the show will play their final performance on 6 March (at the same location).

The new touring Queens will be played by Chlöe Hart (Catherine of Aragon), Jennifer Caldwell (Anne Boleyn, previously one of the alternatives), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Jane Seymour), Aiesha Pease (Anna of Cleves), Jaina Brock-Patel (Katherine Howard) and Alana M Robinson (Catherine Parr). Grace Melville, Leesa Tulley and Natalie Pilkington (Dance Captain) also feature in the cast as alternates, with super swing Harriet Caplan-Dean.

The multi-award-winning musical, which picked up the Radio 2 Best West End Musical Award at the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, currently has touring dates through to January 2023.

Penned by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six is 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), Tim Deiling (lighting design) and Paul Gatehouse (sound design).

The score features orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton. The musical director is Jennifer Deacon and UK musical supervisor is Katy Richardson. Casting is by Pearson Casting, with the production produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy and Andy Barnes and George Stiles.

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