Six The Musical

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss wrote SIX when they were students at Cambridge University for the school’s Musical Theatre Society, to be performed by fellow students at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The show was a sensation from its very first performance and word quickly spread. The show’s popularity exploded culminating in a Broadway production and in other productions around the world, including Australia.

SIX is currently playing at Broadway’s Lena Horne Theatre in New York, the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End, on tour in the UK and across North America, and at the Coex Shinhan Card Atrium in Seoul, South Korea.

The Canadian production of SIX, officially opened in Edmonton on August 17, 2023 at Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, for a limited engagement through September 14. It transferred to the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, with performances beginning on September 23, 2023.

The Royal Alexandra Theatre is a national historic landmark – the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America and the continent’s first truly “royal” theatre, granted official letters patent by Edward VII entitling it to the royal designation, along with his permission to name it after his consort, Alexandra. Built in 1907 by Cawthra Mulock (Toronto’s “boy millionaire”), and designed by John M Lyle, it is a masterpiece of beaux-arts architecture that also holds distinction as the city’s first steel-framed structure (allowing cantilevered balconies), one of the first “air-conditioned” buildings in North America, and the first theatre to be deemed legitimately “fireproof”. Its proscenium-stage has seen almost 3400 productions since its opening and has been graced by such legendary performers as John Gielgud, Mary Pickford, the Marx Brothers, Edith Piaf, Paul Robeson… to name just a few.

Edwin “Honest Ed” Mirvish purchased the Royal Alexandra from the Mulock estate in 1963 and closed the theatre for extensive modernisation, repair and renovation, restoring the old house to the splendour of its early days. Ed Mirvish personally oversaw the operation of the theatre for the next 23 years, until 1986 when he handed management and administration over to his son, David, and David’s company, Mirvish Productions. In 2016, the theatre underwent another restoration, a $2.5 million project that revived the building’s splendour while also welcoming it into the 21st century. 

Watch - Restoring A Masterpiece: The Royal Alexandra Theatre

The Royal Alexandra Theatre is located at 260 King Street West, in the heart of Toronto’s Entertainment District. It is situated just east of the Princess of Wales Theatre, across from Roy Thompson Hall, and two blocks north of the Rogers Centre, the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

More information about directions, parking, accessibility, building facilities and amenities and seating maps is available on the VISIT section of our website.

• Language/English
• Social Studies/History
• Drama
• Music
• Dance
• Canadian and World Studies
• Gender Studies
• Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice
• Equity and Social Justice: From Theory to Practice
• World Cultures
• Understanding Fashion
• Dynamics of Human Relationships
• Challenge and Change in Society

Transferable Skills and Global Competencies

• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship
• Learning to Learn/Self-Aware & Self-Directed
• Communication
• Global Citizenship and Sustainability
• Digital Literacy

Guiding Questions to promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of SIX The Musical.

Before the show 

1. How much do you know about the six wives of Henry VIII?
2. Why did the show’s creators Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow decide to depict a historical story using contemporary pop music, in your opinion?
3. SIX premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. What other shows do you know of that premiered as an independent or Fringe production and then went on to become famous?

During the show

4. Why do you think this show connects the six wives of Henry VIII to contemporary pop stars? How does this characterization affect the way you view these historical women?
5. What aspects of these six women’s stories are still missing?
6. What common themes can you find in each of the queens’ relationship with their husband, Henry VIII?
7. Thinking about the idea of absent voices, what connections can you make to current events, especially in an Indigenous of Canadian contest, where you see either a single story or no story at all?
8. How does each queen’s costuming contribute to her characterization? 

After the show 

9. What people can you think of, especially in an Indigenous or intersectional Canadian context, that have been denied a voice? Why do you think that is?
10. Whose story do you think would make a good play or musical?
11. This show gives a voice to six women whose story has been told only in relation to their husband. How does seeing their history from their perspective affect your understanding of their history and that of Henry VIII?
12. What aspects of these complicated relationships still pervade in our current time?
13. Henry VIII famously instituted divorce. What does the history of divorce tell you about the historical differences in how men and women were treated? How much have things changed?
14. Would you consider SIX a feminist story? Why or why not?
15. Based on what you learned about the six queens from the musical, what form of social media would each queen use, in your opinion?

Extension Activities

16. Based on what you learned about the six queens from the musical, write a social-media bio for each of them for their chosen media.

• What aspect of their personality would you emphasize?
• What information would you leave in and what would you leave out?
• What information about the queens do you wish that you had that you do not?

17. How do you think social media or other digital platforms amplify the queens’ voices and help to shape the public’s opinion about them?

The Role of the Audience

What is the role of Audience? How does your participation contribute to the experience of the show, for the actors and your fellow audience members? 

Please take time to review Mirvish Guide To Attending The Theatre with your student group prior to your theatre visit. It includes some helpful tips and basic “Dos & Don’ts” to assist you in preparing everyone for what to expect, and what is expected of them.

MORE FUN FACTS ABOUT SIX The Musical

• SIX: LIVE ON OPENING NIGHT Broadway album debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard cast album charts surpassed 6 million streams in its first month and has been streamed over 49 million times to date. The album received a 2023 Grammy Award® nomination for Best Musical Theatre Album.
• When the show was originally mounted, as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, it was performed in a tent.
• The Canadian production of SIX, now onstage at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, is what we refer to as a “sit-down production”, meaning it is a production that is not part of a tour (often cast with local talent) that will play a longer engagement at one venue, usually with an “open-ended run”.
• The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton holds two special “first” distinctions, in connection to SIX. The first production of SIX in Canada - what we refer to as a “Canadian Premiere” - was presented there in November 2019, prior to the Broadway opening of SIX in October 2021. The first Canadian production of SIX was launched officially at the Citadel Theatre, with a limited pre-Toronto run (August 11 to September 17), before transferring to the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
• The Standby actresses each cover three different Queens in the show and can be called to go on at a moment’s notice. Because of the heavy demand required to learn these multiple roles, the four actresses cast as SIX Standbys began rehearsals a week ahead of the full company – something not normally done with most productions.
• Rather than use mic stands as part of the set, each costume has a built-in mic holder so the actresses can free up their hands for dancing.
• The choreography was created knowing that the actresses would be dancing in heels, however during rehearsals they built up gradually to the wearing them for 80 minutes at a time (the duration of a performance). They were also given conditioning exercises and training designed to help strengthen and maintain safety throughout the run.
• The wigs are constructed from human hair, and custom-made for each actress.

Additional resources are available to help you build a bridge between your experience of the show and your own classroom. Visit the Resources page to explore what is available for SIX The Musical.

Looking to build more into your field trip? A variety of enrichment experiences are available to choose from, including Q&As, guided historic theatre tours, workshops and performance group opportunities. Contact our Education Manager at educationandevents@mirvish.com to learn more. Subject to availability; additional costs and restrictions apply.

Special thanks to our Mirvish Education Consultant, Arpita Ghosal (PhD OCT, Founder and Editor of Sesayarts Magazine).

Our team of Audience Services Representatives is ready to book your student group order!

By Phone: 1.800.461.3333

In Person:
322 King Street West, Suite 325
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5V 1J2

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