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The SIX proshot is getting released | What the musical film could mean for the future of the show
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Micky Jo
Okay, everybody, do not lose your heads, but we have some breaking, very exciting musical theatre pro shot news to discuss. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. My name is Micky Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. And it is a good week to be a six the Musical fan because finally, after much anticipation, it has been announced that we are going to get to see the sixth the Musical Pro shot. This, if you don't know, was a professionally made recording of six the Musical captured at the Vaudeville Theatre, its current home in London's West End, back in the summer of 20. And since that time, because it was made public at the time that it was being filmed for a pro shot, fans have been wondering when they were going to get to see it. Was it going to appear on streaming? Was it going to be sold as a dvd? Was it going to be on television over Christmas? Well, today we have an answer. In fact, yesterday. But I happened to be on the strand outside of 6 as the news was breaking and now I'm ready to talk about it. I was incredibly flustered. Now, for those of you who watch lots of content here on my channel and don't necessarily know what six the Musical is, I'm going to give you the briefest overview about it, why you should be excited about this pro shot if you aren't already, as well as all of the details that we know about the capture, who is performing in this filmed version of the show and of course its release, as well as a little bit of discussion as to what else this could indicate, what else this could mean for ongoing productions of six both in the West End and on Broadway, as well as musical theatre pro shots at large. If that is a conversation which intrigues you, make sure you stay tuned. And if you would like to see more videos here on YouTube about all things musical theatre happening worldwide, make sure you are subscribed to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Click that button somewhere down there, below my face. Turn on notifications so that you don't miss any of my upcoming content. We're talking reviews, vlogs and breaking theatrical news just like this. Finally, make sure to comment down below with your thoughts and feelings about the 6 Pro Shot. How excited are you? Are you already making plans? Let's talk about it. So let's begin with a brief history of six the Musical. It is the creation of Toby Marlowe and Lucy Moss. Originally conceived as a student piece, they took it to the Edinburgh Fringe and it subsequently returned to that same festival in a more professionalized version in between these two summer runs, however, there had been a couple of shows at the Arts Theatre featuring the cast who would then be heard on the show's studio recording. This is the one that you may have heard on Spotify and streaming platforms, the London recording of the show, which has since been listened to a staggering number of times. That, however, is not the entire cast, who are referred to as the original West End cast. I will explain why, because they did do a run at the Arts, but not all of them then signed on to go with the show to the Edinburgh Fringe. Natalie Parris and Amy Atkinson did stay with the show, but original stars Renee Lam, Christina Modestu, Aizuka Hoyle, Genesis, Linnea and I was doing so well. Wait, that's six. That is everyone. Those four did not stay with the show, although two of them did come back for small stints in order to help when there was injury and illness within the cast during their early years. Anyway, it's off the back of this second run at the Edinburgh Fringe that the show became hugely successful. It had a new costume design by Gabriella Slade, it had a new set design, the whole thing was a little more streamlined. And this featured the cast that would become known as the original West End lineup that was comprised of Janaea Richard Noll as Catherine of Aragon, Millie O'Connell as Anne Boleyn, Natalie Mae Paris as Jane Seymour, Alexia McIntosh as Anna of Cleves, Amy Atkinson as Katherine Howard and Mayor Quanza Breed as Katherine Parr, all of whom performed with the show in Edinburgh, then toured with it at a few venues around the country, eventually taking it to the West End at the Arts the theatre. Some of them even stayed on when the show reopened mid pandemic at the Lyric Theatre in the West End and then at the Vaudeville Theatre, where it continues to run very successfully for over six years now in the West End, in fact. And it is at the Vaudeville that the show was filmed, but unlike with some other pro shots, it did not feature the current cast at the time. It features the return of those six performers who I mentioned they had just appeared in a concert version of the show at Hampton Court palace, which is very thematic because if it hasn't become clear at this point, the show Six is based on the six wives of Henry VIII and reconceives them as a contemporary pop group who are sharing stories about the years they spent with the King and essentially who had it the worst, a framing device not unlike the musical Cats. But Six is really best known for its dynamic, contemporary, compelling score, which won its composers A Tony Award when the show made it to Broadway. Anyhow, almost immediately after this run at Hampton Court palace, the Queens then returned to the Vaudeville for a handful of performances in order for the show to be filmed, and audience members were invited to enter a ballot in order to win tickets to those particular performances. So at the time this was back in 2022, we knew what was happening, we knew the show was being filmed, but as is often the case, we didn't know when we were actually going to get to see it. However, now we do, so I'm not going to keep this news from you any longer. Let's talk about all of the details we have so far about the release of the Six the Musical Pro shot. Here it is. Six the Musical Live exclamation point. The long awaited live capture, isn't it just of the original West End Queens filmed at the Vaudeville will be released by Universal Pictures in UK cinemas this Easter screening from 6th April. Immediately I have to tell you that is the same day as the Olivier Awards which I will be attending. So I don't know if I'm necessarily going to get to see Six on the first day it's in UK cinemas, but you'll notice it said screening from the 6th of April, so if you're planning to attend both, do not worry. And we actually have a press release I believe here from Universal. There's much to discuss here. Universal Pictures Content Group acquires UK theatrical rights to six the Musical Live this was announced yesterday and it goes on to tell us that the Universal Pictures Content Group back catalogue includes some of the biggest live event cinema releases of all time, such as the Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables the Stage Concert, Billy Elliot the Musical Live and Miss Saigon, the 25th anniversary gala performance, as well as record record breaking comedy titles such as Kevin Bridges, the Overdue Catch up and Rod Gilbert the Book of John. The slate currently stands at a collective box office of over $10 million in the UK alone. There's a statement here from Helen Parker, Executive Vice President of Universal Pictures Group, who said as pioneers of the theatrical event cinema model, Universal Pictures Content Group enjoyed the privilege of working with outstanding leading producers from the world of musical theatre on their globally successful, highly acclaimed live shows From Sir Cameron McIntosh, Lord Andrew Lloyd, Web, Stephen Schwartz and many more. We can't wait to bring UK cinema goers across the country a chance to sing their hearts out dubious to the exceptional Six the Musical Live this April. We're going to discuss that, but before we do, there's also A statement from the show's creators, Toby Marlowe and Lucy Moss, who said, we had so much fun making this film with the most incredible team of filmmakers and creatives. They brought in new eyes in order to realize this show on screen, which I think is very exciting and very smart, and it was special to be reunited with the exceptionally talented and iconic in full caps, original West End Queens. We're so grateful that we had the opportunity to film the show and that we get to share Six with a wider audience in this new and exciting way. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. Exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point. And further to what they just said. The show was directed for stage by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, and directed for film by Liz Clare and produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy and Andy Barnes, George Styles and Dion Oram. So the headline news here is that from the 6th of April, what other day of the month would it be? Six is coming to UK cinemas, which is incredibly exciting. We've just had so much fun going to see the Wicked movie and experiencing its intensity and that phenomenal sound and its epic quality in cinemas. How great that we're going to not only get to finally see the 6 Pro shot, but we're going to get that same cinematic experience. I'm excited. And for those of you who would rather just have it at home, the fact that it's being released to cinemas means that it will subsequently become available in some capacity. They're going to keep making as much money from this as they can, and power to them. You know, we want to support the producers who supported new British musicals, as many of those involved continue to do, in fact. And so my expectation is that with many of those other titles mentioned, like Billy Elliot Live and Miss Saigon and Les Mis, there will be a subsequent DVD release, a subsequent digital release, so that you will get to watch Six at home. But before that happens, an exciting cinema day out to go and see Six at a cinema screen near you. And yes, it's toured around the UK a handful of times, but that's still doesn't necessarily reach every single part of the country. Hopefully this makes Six even more accessible in the UK than it has been before. Now, details about an international release are forthcoming, but I would expect there to be something, given how popular Six has become globally, not just in America, where it's received a US tour, an initial regional production, of course, the Broadway run, but also in a handful of other countries. The UK tour recently visited Several parts of Europe. It's currently in south asia. I believe 6 has truly gone from this fringe musical to this global phenomenon. It's been on cruise ships, it's been on multiple different continents. It's really taking over the world with its compellingly winning formula and its hugely marketable premise and its great songs. It appeals enormously to a young teenage female demographic, but not just to them. I've been to C6 upwards of 20 times and I'm none of those things. I mean, I. I was young once and not now. There's actually a statistic to accompany this 6 the musical has been watched by audiences of over 3.5 million and has redefined the boundaries of musical theatre, I'd say. So. I also think for those of you who have always been a little bit dubious about six and you know, whether it counts as a full musical because it's more like a concert. First of all, I think there's something actually quite Brechtian about its premise and about the nature of its narrative. And yes, it's only 75 minutes and at some ticket prices you're paying more than a pound or a dollar per minute of the show. But also, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to go and give it a second chance because it's a little bit of a lower stakes visit to go and see it at the cinema or to go and see it when it's released digitally on the assumption that it will be. I will add as well, I have at least one friend who has seen this already at a special screening for cast members and friends and those involved. I didn't get to see it there. I have not seen this yet, but I've heard it's a really stunning recording and many of these pro shots are. Listen, I'm always happy to have a pro shot, but there are some of them that are captured particularly well. Going back to some of those statements, my eyebrow did raise just a little bit when Helen Parker from Universal Pictures Content Group talked about audiences across the country singing their hearts out. 6 the musical do have sing along performances in the West End, but not to reignite this discourse, are we planning on singing in the cinema when we go see six I feel like I'm not going to be. I mean, I'll share this with you. On the one occasion I did go to a six the Musical sing along. The vibes were great, the energy was electric, but I got a little bit confused. This is just me personally, because I was constantly in a different octave and kind of moving around because I'm not singing in a female register. I kind of ended up moving from the main melody to the backing vocals and then in a complete confusion, I ended up singing the instrumental parts like we were halfway through no way. And I found myself going doo doo doo doo ding. Potentially sing along performances are just not for me. But I feel like we've been waiting a really long time to see six in cinemas. Not as long as we were waiting to see the Wicked movie, I grant you, but still, we probably don't need to sing along at this first one. Maybe they'll do sing along cinema screenings like they did for Wicked. Listen, we can hope petition your cinemas if that's something that you would like to attend. But speaking of the Universal Pictures of it all, let's talk about what this means for Six, for the industry at large and for the concept of future musical theater pro shop. Now, I made a video a little while ago talking about all of the pro shots that we were still waiting to see. Because it wasn't just Six the Musical that was hanging in musical theater pro shot purgatory. There is also the recording of Disney's Frozen, which we assume will come to Disney plus at some point, a pro shot of Aladdin, which for complex reasons that I discussed in that video, I don't think we're ever going to see, and other shows like Emoji Land, as well as a handful more which have been filmed much more recently. But my thing with Six was always let's give them the time that they need to be acquired by the right distributor. Because for other shows like potentially the Heathers pro shot, I will say they weren't necessarily released via the most effective channels, but Universal Pictures giving it a UK cinema release, that's big. That is really them throwing their weight behind the six pro shot and really endorsing it and having faith in it, which is really encouraging to see for the musical theater industry. And I do think, because it's Universal, I do think the success of the Wicked movie has played a big role in that. You know, we talked when Wicked was coming out about what this might mean for other movie musicals, but we didn't really consider that it might also spill over into the world of pro shots. And honestly, the huge bidding war that happened when Hamilton was filmed, eventually won by Disney plus where you can watch the Hamilton pro shot, I thought would mean streaming platforms would subsequently see the value of all of these pro shots. And so I had been getting a little bit nervous as we were waiting for Six. But this, this really is the best news the other conversation which inevitably arises when we talk about Pro Shots is how this is going to impact the box office for the ongoing productions. Now, Six in the West End continues to do very well, I believe so also on Broadway. But if it were ever to slow down on Broadway, I firmly believe that they could transfer the show, which features only a cast of six principal performers and a handful more alternates backstage and a band of four and a static set. They could transfer it to somewhere like New World Stages Off Broadway, just a couple of streets over from its current home at the Lena Horn Theater, and it would run forever. But I also don't think there's really any credibility in the idea that the pro shot would be at all detrimental to the business of these productions because we have seen with the Wicked movie, it only makes people more excited about the Wicked brand and going to see the show on stage. Wicked on Broadway took over $5 million in one week, setting a box office record in the recent holiday season in the immediate weeks following the release of the film. Like that has to be connected. Hamilton has not slowed down either, either on Broadway or in the West End as a result of that pro shot. And I think this is only going to do more to really maintain the good name of Six as a brand and help spread it further and really put it up there with those long running musicals that tourists know about. Like I want tickets to Hamilton, I want tickets to Wicked, I want tickets to Six, which is just as well because if they turn up on Broadway hoping for tickets to see Les Mis or Miss Saigon, they will soon find out those shows are closed. Hell, even Phantom isn't running anymore. But that is everything that we know so far, I believe, and everything that there is to say about the upcoming Sixth the Musical Pro Shot release. Hopefully we can look forward to more news on some more of those missing pro shots in 2025. But we're already off to a pretty good start. I am very excited to find out more about the specific dates this is going to be in cinemas. I would love to go and see it at the cinema. I'm also excited to find out about the international release and further availability of the recording after it's in UK cinemas. I'm thrilled that it's those original six queens coming back. This is going to give them even more of a platform and empower them to be the huge musical theater stars that they are. Many of them have already gone on to very exciting leading roles subsequently, but they were all so good in these roles. I'm just very excited that it's been captured in this way because not all of them were on that cast recording. Anyway, I could go on talking about this for a dangerous amount of time. I'm going to leave it there. Let me know what you think about all of this and how excited you are in the comments section down below. In the meantime, ponder this which stage production would you like to see brought to the big screen next with a pro shot recording? Either one that we know has already happened or one that may not have let us know about that in the comments as well. And thank you for watching this video. I hope you've enjoyed this stagey news recap. If you did, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any upcoming West End or Broadway news. Turn on those notifications so you find out as soon as I drop a video. And I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have and a stagey day for 10 more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.