SIX the Musical at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh*****
Nine years ago in a hotel in Edinburgh’s Old Town, members of Cambridge University’s Musical Theatre Society put on a show written by two university students.
I was there. My friend’s daughter was one of the six performers, and there lies a clue. For SIX has since become a global phenomenon, winning a multitude of awards and thousands of fans worldwide.
And the audience at the show’s opening night in Edinburgh proved that it is still as popular as ever. The cheering was deafening!
So what makes this show such a hit? Featuring the six wives of Henry VIII who were either divorced, beheaded, died or survived, it’s not so much a history lessons as a rock concert, with a four-piece all-girl band, who could sell out any stadium on their own, backing six all singing, all dancing pop princesses whose girl power could put the Spice Girls to shame. Add some great songs, slick choreography and female rivalry, all wrapped up in a visually stunning show with the most amazing, award winning costumes, and you’ll know why SIX reigns supreme in the world of musical theatre.
Of course, it’s not just an excuse for a bunch of songs – each wife tells her own story of being married to the most famous of kings (and not for any of the right reasons), and what they thought of him. So they are in turn flirty, sassy, sexy, loving, traumatized…but they each come out as Queen of the Castle.
Image: Pamela Raith Photography
SIX the Musical is at the Festival theatre Edinburgh until Sept 26
capitaltheatres.com
It then continues touring:
Sept 29-Oct 3: Theatre Royal Glasgow
Oct 6-10: Eden Court Theatre Inverness
Oct 13-17: Darlington Hippodrome
Oct 20-24: New Victoria Theatre Woking
Oct 27-31: Mayflower Theatre Southampton
Nov 3-7: Leeds Grand theatre
Nov 10-14: Venue Cymru Llandudno
Nov 17-21: Cliffs Pavilion Southend
Nov 24-28: Milton Keynes Theatre
Dec 1-5: Brighton Theatre Royal
Dec 18-Jan 2: Swansea Arena
Jan 12-16: Sunderland Empire
Jan 19-23: Leicester Curve
Jan 26-30: The Hawth Crawley
Feb 2-6: Storyhouse Chester
Feb 9-13: Theatre Royal Plymouth
Feb 16-27: The Arts Centre Cambridge
Mar 9-13: Portsmouth Guildhall
Mar 16-27: Lighthouse Poole
Mar 30-Apr 3: Malvern Theatres
Apr 6-10: Everyman Cheltenham
Apr 13-17: Bord Gais Energy Theatre Dublin
Apr 20-24: Cork Opera House
Apr 27-May 1: Belfast Opera House
May 14-22: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
Sept 21-25: Stockton Globe
Sept 28-Oct 2: Regent theatre Stoke-on-Trent
Oct 26-30: Princess Theatre Torquay
Nov 23-27: Bristol Hippodrome
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