Spalding’s Act II put on outstanding version of hit musical Six - review
We have some incredible talent in South Holland - and this shone through during a fantastic production of Six.
The glitz, glamour, energy and excitement of this West End hit was brought to the Spalding stage thanks to the amazing Act II and its young stars - who did the awesome task of performing this twice in one day as part of a Tudor double bill.
I am a recent convert to Six (musicals are not my thing usually) but I absolutely loved every single minute of the production as soon as the girls walked onto the stage in their glitzy costumes supported by an all-female orchestra and dance troupe. It was like the start of a pop concert!
Six, written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, aims to turn ‘his-tory’ into her ‘her-story’ by giving the wives of Henry VIII a voice after centuries of being defined by the ‘divorced, beheaded, died/survived’ rhyme. The production follows the Queens as they tell their stories in the form of a pop star competition.
Act II performed the teen edition of the play which took out some of the more fruitier aspects of the original production but it did not lose one thing.
Jazz Johnson took on the role of the formidable Catherine of Aragon and set the tone as she was the first to do a solo. Not only does she have an amazing voice but she commanded the stage with a confidence of a far more seasoned performer.
Anne Boleyn in Six is a very sassy character which Lily-Mae Maddison carried off perfectly - and looked like she was having a ball doing it. Her rendition of ‘Don’t Lose Your Head’ was incredibly enjoyable along with her cheeky digs about being beheaded as she competed with the other queens over who had the hardest time.
Isobel Wilkins played Jane Seymour and performed the first of the show’s big ballads, ‘Heart of Stone’, and she did an absolutely fantastic job. She was note perfect and handled the emotion of it brilliantly.
Anne of Cleves has suffered centuries of being the ‘ugly one’ because Henry, who as at this point well past his best, didn’t want her. But Emily Franklin celebrated Anne’s lucky escape to live a life of luxury without an smelly old ball and chain fantastically. Her vocals were wonderful and I really enjoyed her version of Get Down.
Katherine Howard didn’t make it past her teenage years so having a younger actress play her is really fitting. And Amelia Halata carried this role with a lot of sass and was fun to watch. Katherine’s vulnerability to unscrupulous men is shown in the song ‘All You Wanna Do’ and I feel Amelia handled this brilliantly especially in the emotional final section of the song.
Lilah Teeuw played the survivor Catherine Parr and did a wonderful job with the second ballad ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ in which she is forced to say goodbye to the man she really wants to marry as Henry had set his sights on her. Lilah was outstanding in the role and her singing was brilliant.
The Queens were supported brilliantly by the Handmaidens - Chloe Cap, Laura Elzbergyte, Charlie Hallissey, Erin Horton, Eloise Moore, Lucy Pitcher, Phoebe Read, Vicky Slee and Ellie Smith. One of my favourite songs in Six is the Haus of Holbein and these girls took centre stage. I loved it.
The band were outstanding throughout but they really shone through with the electronic Haus of Holbein. Hats off to Sam Graper, Becky Brown, Sophie Gleave, Sophie Lewis, Kimberley Jacob, Sarah O’Brien, Emily Shell and Lucy Stockdale.
Charlotte Gernert did a wonderful job in directing this show as her young actresses had such great confidence to perform this huge show.
My only complaint? I want to watch it again!
