Historical stage concert Six will be first musical to reopen in West End

Musical reimagines the wives of Henry VIII as a girl band

The cast of musical 'Six' (Johan Persson)

Historical stage show Six will be the first musical to reopen in London’s West End since lockdown began in March.

Six, which imagines the wives of King Heny VIII as a girl group performing in concert, will run for 11 weeks at the Lyric theatre from 14 November. Audiences will be have their temperatures tested on arrival and contactless tickets will be used.

Meanwhile, a six-week run will also take place at the Lowry in Salford from 27 November.

In a statement, the show’s producers said that the two productions would give work to “100 or so actors, musicians, technicians, stage managers, production managers, costume makers, marketing, press, ticketing and office staff” after a period of uncertainty for the industry.

The producers said that they hoped seeing Six running again would rebuild public confidence in the theatre’s return, but admitted that staging musicals “remains impossible for most producers for reasons of scale, finance and lack of cancellation insurance”.

The musical sees each of Henry VIII's wives sing about their mistreatment by the Tudor king (Eleanor Howarth)

Written by Cambridge University students Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. It then settled in for a residency at London’s Arts Theatre in 2018, and was still being performed there when the coronavirus pandemic forced theatres to shut in March.

In July, the cast were due to take part in a sold-out tour of drive-in theatres across the UK, but this was cancelled due to the introduction of local lockdowns.