Hit musical Six has triumphed on Broadway.
It comes 18 months after the pandemic forced the show to shut down only four hours before it was set for its New York debut.
The show, inspired by the stories of Henry VIII’s wives, was set to open on the night of March 12 last year. It was the same day then New York state governor Andrew Cuomo announced the suspension of the city’s theatres in a bid to stop the spread of Covid.
Co-author and co-director Lucy Moss, who becomes the youngest ever female director of a Broadway musical, said: “It feels so wonderful to be finally opening on Broadway. The last 18 months have obviously been heartbreaking, knowing our Queens, our band, and our amazing team could not do what they love. So it feels extra special to be opening tonight and we feel so unbelievably grateful they’re all back where they belong.”
Moss created Six the Musical with co-writer Toby Marlow while studying at Cambridge. It had grown from a word-of-mouth hit at the Edinburgh fringe to a West End regular and international success.
The show has been hailed by US critics with the New York Times saying it was “unimprovable” and the Washington Post saying it was “the pulse-quickening pleasure trove that Broadway has been waiting for”.
Producers Kenny Wax, Andy and Wendy Barnes and George Stiles said: “When our opening night was cancelled just four hours before curtain up on March 12th 2020 we expected to be shut for 4-6 weeks. As the pandemic deepened, we feared we might never reopen. So to be standing at the back of the Brooks Atkinson theatre and seeing the spontaneous standing ovation 18 months after that shutdown, is humbling.
“Judging by the reaction of audiences in both London, New York and our yet to reopen Australian production in Sydney, ‘SIX’ still speaks to the times, perhaps even more so after what’s happened in the world in the last two years? Certainly seeing a stage full of diverse, talented and empowered women reclaiming their stories and celebrating each other feels pretty electric right now. And we all feel extra lucky to be back on Broadway at this unique moment - the first new musical to have its press night, post pandemic on the Great White Way.”
