Evidently, Jane Seymour was right: “You can build me up, you can tear me down, you can try, but I’m unbreakable.”
The West End production of Six, after many starts and stops throughout the coronavirus-caused theatre shutdown, reopens at London’s Lyric Theatre May 21. As per U.K. guidelines, socially distancing will remain in effect for at least the first month of the run, reducing the capacity to 50 percent.
The musical, a pop tribute to Henry VIII’s six wives, has already had a trial run of sorts in this method of reopening, having welcomed back audiences in London beginning December 5 last year. Though the run was scheduled to run until April 18 at the Lyric before moving to the Arts Theatre (its original West End home), it was forced to shut down again after less than 10 days as London entered another lockdown. That start-and-stop was just one of the show’s many efforts to resume performances, which included other delayed starts and a scrapped drive-in-style production.Six will have nine performances a week, with protocols including track and trace, face coverings for audience members, contactless ticketing, and routine sanitation. (The show, usefully, is one act, which can make entry and exit staggering more tenable.)
Meanwhile, the Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss musical’s Broadway bow is slated to pick back up this fall. After weeks of previews, the New York premiere was scheduled to officially open March 12 last year, though just a few hours before curtain, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the Broadway shutdown. Performances will resume at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre September 17.