SIX Australian 2021 Cast Loren Hunter,Chelsea Dawson, Phoenix Jackson Mendoza, Kala Gare, Kiana Daniele, Vidya Makan. Photo credit: James D Morgan.
The creative team behind the delicious bite-sized treat that is SIX the Musical ensures that if you were being lulled into a sense of serenity by the pleasant pre-show ambience of audience murmur and the tinkling lute of pre-show entertainment, you’re soon sitting up straight in your chair – the electrifying opening riff and accompanying lighting design demands it!
SIX: the Musical, co-written by up and coming British musical team Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, is enjoying an extended season in The Studio at the Sydney Opera House, though technically with Covid’s dubious assistance, the show has been booked at the Sydney Opera House since January 2020!
It’s a real quick treat that clocks in at 75 minutes total, no interval. The audience are taken on a historical journey with a modern pop music twist, detailing the histories of the six titular Queens and a bit of what they might have been feeling whilst being subjected the whims and wants of this famously prickly monarch.
Divorced, Beheaded, Died!
And what a cast!
Six absolute pop divas, Phoenix Jackson Mendoza, Kala Gare, Loren Hunter, Kiana Daniele (Winner of the Best Newcomer Award at the 2021 Sydney Theatre Awards), Chelsea Dawson and Vidya Makan, giving it their all and every single one of them achieving greatness in their solo pieces but also fully supporting their fellow Queens when it came time for them to be the back-up singers.
CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Kiana Daniele, Best Newcomer WINNER at the Sydney Theatre Awards! Get down, Queen! ❤️ #SIXtheMusicalAU pic.twitter.com/GNK0jn6fjz
— Six The Musical AUNZ👑 (@sixthemusicalau) January 31, 2022
These supportive performers lift each other up and the Sunday afternoon audience, mainly made up of screaming teenage girls and numerous equally incoherent queens of another persuasion, made for an enthusiastic audience and we were all there for it.
Divorced, Beheaded, Survived!
SIX the Musical Australian Cast
And keeping that energy on stage every show is no mean feat, with the cast tackling 9 shows a week with hectic weekends containing two shows each on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays! There is also an Auslan Interpreted performance scheduled for Wednesday, March 30.
Besides the strong performances from the six Queens, the talented onstage band, known as the ‘Ladies in Waiting’, really know how to lay it down and they helped to make the stage seem much fuller than you could imagine six talented performers could on their own.
No review of SIX: the Musical would be complete without mentioning the costumes, which draw the eye and add to the narrative of each Queens’s performance and are so popular – they’ve spawned their own range of collectible bling in the form of merch – six pretty shiny pins to collect!
‘I also love our LaDucas that are hand bejewelled. Yes, you heard it here, HAND BEJEWELLED.’ 🙌🤍 #SIXtheMusicalAU pic.twitter.com/uyGo665pt9
— Six The Musical AUNZ👑 (@sixthemusicalau) February 1, 2022
Lucy Moss, the youngest female director in Broadway history and Toby Marlow, also an actor and star of Hot Gay Time Machine are co-creators of this entertaining and buzzy piece of theatre, which they actually wrote in their final year at Cambridge University!
These creators and advocates for queer and non-binary actors are no strangers to the camper side of the entertainment industry and have previously collaborated on projects with Ru Paul Drag Race star Alaska Thunderfuck and Australia’s own Courtney Act.
See SIX: the musical at The Studio at the Sydney Opera House until April 2nd, tickets at www.sydneyoperahouse.com and will tour to Canberra, Adelaide and Melbourne.
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