Review: Girl Power

Alumni of SIX continue their enduring relationship to each other and to music with a sparkling new concert

“I will try and guide you
To better times and brighter days”

Regardless of how you feel about SIX The Musical, it is impossible to ignore the fire it has lit in so many people. From the devoted audiences it has inspired to ensure the show’s inordinate successes to the casts of ferociously talented women it has showcased (and whom have been particularly hard done by as the show has tried and tried to restart). Seven of those women have reunited here as part of Thespie’s Reunited season to give us Girl Power, a concert that slides effortlessly through girl bands from across the decades.

And it is as playful and punchy as you’d expect as Aimie Atkinson, Alexia McIntosh, Grace Mouat, Millie O’Connell, Natalie Paris, Maiya Quansah-Breed and Jarnéia Richard-Noel show off their considerable singing (and rapping) talents but more crucially, combine beautifully into a group that truly understands the power in coming together. There’s no sense of anyone needlessly trying to grab the spotlight or the lion’s share of the lead vocals in the tradition of so many girl groups, rather a democratic split that seems to reflect the genuine affection they hold for each other.

It all comes off beautifully. From the Andrews Sisters and the Shirelles to the En Vogue and Little Mix, the arrangements make the most of the extraordinary effects that can be achieved in close harmony and the ebullience of the company speaks of the love for the material. The Supremes’ ‘Up The Ladder To The Roof’ speaks to this brilliantly, their palpable enthusiasm making their rendition soar and, not that I know much of the charts today, you could easily imagine this climbing up the Top 40 too.

Photos: Olivia Mitchell

 

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