Not content to be riding high on Broadway and across London's West End, the international smash hit Six The Musical arrives in Eastbourne, continue the very welcome trend of high profile high energy musicals blowing the cobwebs out of our little seaside town! Six the Musical retells the REAL story of Henry VIII's six wives - Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr - in a way that nobody could really have ever expected. This is certainly not your battered, dated, dusty GCSE history text book version of this story. And thank god for that...
In fact who knew that historical musicals would become a thing? Not content with education us on the military and economic brilliance (and rapping skills) of Alexander Hamilton, we now have a musical retelling of the lives and deaths (remember: divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived) of Henry VIII's six wives - an 80 minute pop music filled foot tapping explosion of creativity, dancing and songs that delighted the packed out audience at tonight opening performance at Eastbourne's Congress theatre.
80 minutes? Yes and 80 minutes WITHOUT an interval. It's very rare for a West End musical to be so compact but you never feel short changed by Six... far from it. In fact there's more music, energy and 'girl power' on display than I've seen in musicals twice it's length. We left the theatre breathless (in a good way), invigorated and quite happy to see it a second time. See the magic in Six The Musical is that it's not about big sets, large casts or impressive production numbers... it's 'just' the six former queens owning every inch of the stage with their Tudor inspired glittery Pop outfits, catchy tunes & powerful vocals, all backed up by some excellent staging and some very talent on stage musicians (also all female). It's a refreshing take on a genre where usually bigger is better and even more refreshing that it's a talented cast and crew of women who bring this story to life every day.
I loved Six The Musical and so will you (even more so if you enjoyed rocking out to recent Eastbourne visitors Bat Out of Hell, School or Rock or have ever caught Hamilton in the West End). It's smart, funny and a much welcome (and needed) lesson in girl power and HERStory.
Starring: Chlöe Hart (Catherine of Aragon), Jennifer Caldwell (Anne Boleyn), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Jane Seymour), Jessica Niles (Anna of Cleves) , Jaina Brock-Patel (Katherine Howard), Alana M Robinson (Catherine Parr). Choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille Directed by Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage
You can also catch up with Super-swing and Dance Captain Natalie Pilkington who was interviewed on the fifth Eastbourne Theatres podcast, listen here https://bit.ly/3GrEZrG or search Eastbourne Theatres on Spotify and apple podcasts.
Six The Musical is currently performing at Congress Theatre in Eastbourne until Sunday 5th June and then continues touring across the UK.
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