Photo Feature: SIX the musical

SIX, the West End musical based on the wives of King Henry VIII, has finally landed in Australia and is playing now at the Sydney Opera House. Thursday morning was their final media call before opening night.

There is something wonderfully familiar to walking into a theatre to watch a musical.  Striding into that expansive space of a main stage auditorium with its cool, but acoustically warm atmosphere. A dim, soft space where you can sit in the dark and quietly watch a piece of theatre on the screen that is the proscenium arch.

SIX, is not this.  To start with, it is being staged in the studio at the Opera House, a much more intimate space than the other theatres in the building.  The stage itself sits, wedged into a corner, so that the square room seems suddenly, indiscernibly different.  There is unusual seating for a theatre; metal fold-out chairs sit on the floor, concert style, moving onto low risers at the back; the traditional red plush chairs reserved only for the mezzanine that encircles the stage.

This is not just theatre… this is a theatrical pop concert.  And as the SIX queens stride onto the stage, their metallic studded outfits glistening in the sharp (and bright) LED spots that stream from every direction, microphones in hand, you know exactly what you’re in for.  

The band are on stage, visible and in costume, the word SIX is spelt out in lights at the rear of the stage, the stage itself is a reflective blue surface; everything has been designed for bling.  This is not something to be watched, it’s to be experienced.

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Six The Musical is now in season at the Sydney Opera House, before touring to Melbourne and Adelaide. Tickets and more information are available at TakeYourSeats.com.au. 

David Hooley is a Sydney based actor and photographer.  For more information visit davidhooley.com or visit his Facebook or Instagram page.