Broadway juggernaut ‘Six,’ new Roy Orbison musical will be part of upcoming Mirvish season

It’s the musical juggernaut that has taken Broadway and London’s West End by storm, spawning replica productions globally and picking up two Tony Awards along the way.

Now, “Six” is finally coming to the 6.

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII will receive a new Canadian production in Toronto this fall.

It’s the headlining musical in Mirvish’s upcoming seven-show season, which also includes the return of “Les Misérables” and Disney’s “Aladdin,” and the North American premiere of a new musical featuring the songs of rock icon Roy Orbison.

Mirvish’s “Six,” which reimagines those six Tudor queens as pop icons, is billed as a “sit-down” run, according to a Tuesday news release announcing the subscription season. The non-touring production is slated to play Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre in August before transferring to Toronto in September for a limited run that could be extended if demand warrants.

Also scheduled to begin in September for a multi-month run is “In Dreams.” The new musical, featuring some of Orbison’s greatest hits, will be penned by Canadian writer David West Read, best known for his work on the Emmy Award-winning television series “Schitt’s Creek,” and directed by Luke Sheppard. The pair were part of the team behind “& Juliet,” whose pre-Broadway run in Toronto last summer was a hit with critics and audiences alike.

Set in New Mexico, “In Dreams” follows the lead singer of a country-rock band, who invites her former bandmates to join her for “a party of a lifetime.” The new musical will have its world premiere at the Leeds Playhouse in July ahead of the Toronto run.

Later in the fall, Mirvish will present “Jagged Little Pill,” a new musical featuring songs by Canadian Music Hall of Fame artist Alanis Morissette. As ferocious and striking as the 1995 album from which it borrows its title, the Grammy Award-winning musical revolves around a multiracial suburban family grappling with a series of life-changing events.

Originally programmed as a bonus show in Mirvish’s 2021-22 season, the show will now be part of the upcoming main season lineup and run from October to November.

“Pill” is just one of four jukebox musicals programmed for the season. That these musicals form the backbone of the Mirvish lineup should be no surprise; the jukebox genre become increasingly popular over the past two decades as the stage becomes the preferred medium for popular artists to park their catalogues.

If “Pill” and “In Dreams” are considered unconventional jukebox shows, simply because the music serves an original plot, then “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” is more traditional fare. With deep cuts and popular hits from the albums of the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll, the 2018 musical follows Turner’s life from her quiet upbringing in rural Tennessee through her chart-topping career. The show, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall, will run in Toronto from June to July 2024.

Meanwhile, the classic showbiz musical “42nd Street” pulls its score from the 1933 film of the same name and other popular flicks from that era. The song-and-dance spectacle, which follows a young chorus dancer who makes it big in New York City, is coming to Toronto from December to January. Jonathan Church, who helmed this past season’s production of “Singin’ in the Rain” at the Princess of Wales Theatre, will direct.

Rounding out the Mirvish season are two popular musicals returning to the city for the first time in a decade.

First up is “Aladdin,” a stage adaptation of the classic Disney movie of the same name, featuring a score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Before opening on Broadway in 2014, the musical had a pre-Broadway run in Toronto the previous year. It returns from February to March 2024.

Later in the spring, British theatre producer Cameron Mackintosh will bring back his production of “Les Miserables,” which premiered in Toronto in 2013 ahead of a Broadway bow. The Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg musical, co-directed by James Powell and Laurence Connor, is scheduled to run from March to June 2024.

The Off-Mirvish season, typically announced with the main subscription season, will be revealed in a few weeks, the company said.

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