THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
If a candy-floss pink celebration of diversity with gals squealing 'Oh My Gawd You Guyz' is your thing, then this is the show for you.
Lucy Moss, co-creator of the phenomenon that is Six – the Musical, has done a great job in working with the authors to craft a bold new staging of this show which re-sets it for the Gen Z crowd. And it needed it, because the source material actually goes back to the '90s and is showing its age with attitudes to homophobia and #MeToo issues which grate in a piece avowedly pushing female 'empowerment'.
The text started as a series of letters, then morphed into a self-published novel, then the great 2001 movie with Reese Witherspoon, and finally the hit 2007 Broadway musical which was seen in the West End with Sheridan Smith in 2010.
The original lampooned 'Republican country club' types but here the writers have widened the frame to make it more attuned to contemporary sensibilities by focusing instead on black and queer inclusion. So instead of a perky WASP go-getter from Malibu bemoaning her fate about how hard it is for blondes to be taken seriously at Harvard Law School, we get a central protagonist who's a mixed-heritage woman.
Courtney Bowman, who proudly describes herself as 'plus size', is a total blast as Elle. What the musical theater folk call a 'triple threat'. She commands the stage and is ably supported by an effervescent ensemble who are mix of genders and ethnicities.
Her character has to grow from a loud “You-go-girl” ringleader of pajama parties to convince us that she also has a sharp legal mind. Heather Hach's script pulls this off brilliantly, although at times it's a bit of a stretch. In one instance it is knowledge of hair care and fashion that wins Elle her legal case. There are some wonderful authorial touches however, such as a Greek Chorus comprising a troupe of bitchy WASP girls.
The songs, by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, are wonderfully crafted, with tart lyrics to make Cole Porter envious. In the updating there are witty digs at 'icons' like the Kardashians and Timothee Chalamet.
The big number, 'Gay or European,' would be a minefield for today's audience in that it centers on how the key witness in a trial can't be straight because he doesn't fancy Elle. This is redeemed however by a clever twist in the staging which takes the sting out of it all and it exemplifies director Moss's deft touch with the material.
While Elle's motivation for getting into Harvard (to stalk an ex!) isn't exactly empowering, the character redeems herself by gaining the self-respect to know that he was in fact keeping her down while also realizing that true love is right under her nose in the guise of senior colleague Emmett. He's played with great Romantic Lead swagger by Michael Ahomka-Lindsay. You can't get a more Hollywood plot than this.
Laura Hopkins' blonde fringe design manages to be both loud and simple at the same time and is one of the best seen in the Park, but of course the success of this is down to Queen Bee MUA's great hair, make up and wigs and Jean Chan's costumes which are all beige and olive for the Harvard drears and screaming asymmetric pinks for Elle's posse.
Two stand-outs from the company are Nadine Higgin as the sassy Tina Turner-like Paulette, hairdresser, beautician and confidante to Elle, who brings the house down with a jaunty cod Oirish number, and Lauren Drew, who must be an Iron Woman as she manages to sing a whole number while completing the most vigorous aerobic skipping rope routine.
The show is like a dollop of blancmange to go with the Park's famous Pimms.
