Sing along if you know this one: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.
After becoming a surprise West End hit, Six the Musical is set to have its Melbourne premiere season at the Comedy Theatre from April 2020 after a season at the Sydney Opera House. Much like Hamilton before it, the pop musical is making history buffs out of legions of musical theatre tragics, telling the story of the six wives of Henry VIII.
The premise of the show is sort of hilarious: all six are members of a pop band and trying to decide who should be the lead singer. It's basically a pop concert in which all six wives compete to determine who had the worst time with old mate Henry, and who should therefore be the star of the sextet. Together, they're a little bit Spice Girls, a little bit Destiny's Child and a little bit Little Mix, with a set of songs inspired by the pop stars of today. The original soundtrack has become a hit, having garnered 40 million streams on Spotify since its release.
The musical was penned by young Brits Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, who wrote the show while they were studying at Cambridge. It went on to tour the UK extensively and played a season on the West End where it was nominated for five Olivier Awards. It's just announced it'll open on Broadway in March 2020, which means Sydney audiences will get to see it first.
No casting has been announced for the local version, which will be produced by Louise Withers (who brought Mamma Mia! and Matilda to Australia). There's currently a waitlist you can join for tickets to the Melbourne season at sixthemusical.com.au.