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Sleek and Sexy SIX
Dec. 3rd, 2019 10:50 amDespite dire warnings of severe Winter weather last evening, it did not materialize in the Twin Cities until 10pm. Why is this important? The minute the Broadway-bound musical SIX was announced as an addition to the programming at The Ordway Theater in St Paul, I jumped on getting tickets. I chose the show’s first preview to attend. At the last minute my friend Steve accompanied me; though, bad weather turned out to be a non-issue. thespian15 was very much missed, but better safe than sorry!
I’d read a lot of press about SIX, a musical about the wives of Henry VIII. The show received multiple awards in London and is playing locally for two weeks. It is a coup for The Ordway to present it. The show has tons of positive buzz. The house was filled last evening with a much younger audience than I’ve ever seen at The Ordway. Mission accomplished ... You’ve got to put butts in the seats to survive and thrive!
SIX applies to the number of wives of Henry VIII and is also the number of women in the cast. There is no chorus. Four extraordinary onstage female musicians provide the funky (does anyone still use that term?) score for the show. I don’t know if the show can truthfully be labeled a musical; the score is original, so musical revue isn’t quite the right term either. Perhaps, we need a fresh term for this kind of entertainment. Has any show since “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” been so slight and still slayed?
The cast sings their faces off, in the over-the-top belting style so popular on shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol”. Last evening’s preview featured two understudies among the actresses playing the six wives. If the program hadn’t alerted me, I would not have known; all voices are powerful, capably enhanced by the sound operator. The performers are uniformly excellent in executing the quirky urban choreography and the rich harmonies present in the vocal arrangements. The score is fresh, infectious, but ultimately unmemorable; there are only nine numbers.
The show runs 80 minutes with no intermission and that’s with the padding of a mega-mix to close the show. SIX is a triumph of production over material. The most applicable adjectives for this piece of entertainment are slick and sexy.
The real stars of SIX are the designers and production team. Spectacular lighting and clever staging lift SIX above its modest roots. Yes, the story’s educational; yes, it makes a timely case for female empowerment; yes, the audience loved it. Yes, you should see it!
I’d read a lot of press about SIX, a musical about the wives of Henry VIII. The show received multiple awards in London and is playing locally for two weeks. It is a coup for The Ordway to present it. The show has tons of positive buzz. The house was filled last evening with a much younger audience than I’ve ever seen at The Ordway. Mission accomplished ... You’ve got to put butts in the seats to survive and thrive!
SIX applies to the number of wives of Henry VIII and is also the number of women in the cast. There is no chorus. Four extraordinary onstage female musicians provide the funky (does anyone still use that term?) score for the show. I don’t know if the show can truthfully be labeled a musical; the score is original, so musical revue isn’t quite the right term either. Perhaps, we need a fresh term for this kind of entertainment. Has any show since “Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” been so slight and still slayed?
The cast sings their faces off, in the over-the-top belting style so popular on shows like “The Voice” and “American Idol”. Last evening’s preview featured two understudies among the actresses playing the six wives. If the program hadn’t alerted me, I would not have known; all voices are powerful, capably enhanced by the sound operator. The performers are uniformly excellent in executing the quirky urban choreography and the rich harmonies present in the vocal arrangements. The score is fresh, infectious, but ultimately unmemorable; there are only nine numbers.
The show runs 80 minutes with no intermission and that’s with the padding of a mega-mix to close the show. SIX is a triumph of production over material. The most applicable adjectives for this piece of entertainment are slick and sexy.
The real stars of SIX are the designers and production team. Spectacular lighting and clever staging lift SIX above its modest roots. Yes, the story’s educational; yes, it makes a timely case for female empowerment; yes, the audience loved it. Yes, you should see it!
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