Lucy Moss (SIX) becomes the youngest female director of a musical in Broadway history
Theatre news
LUCY Moss, whose smash-hit British musical SIX, co-written with Toby Marlow, is about to open on Broadway after becoming the toast of the West End, has entered the record books as the youngest female director to direct a Broadway musical.
As rehearsals started in New York on Monday, Lucy Moss, aged 26, broke the record held since 1978 by Liz Swados, who was 27 when she directed Runaways.
Lucy, who co-directs SIX with Jamie Armitage, joins Hollywood titan Orson Welles, who was 22 when he entered the record books as the youngest man to direct a musical on Broadway with The Cradle Will Rock in 1937. Welles jointly holds the male record with Joseph C. Peveny for Let Freedom Sing.
Moss said: “I don’t know what to say other than…wow?!?!!!! I turned 26 two weeks ago and honestly I’ve been grieving the loss of my early twenties ever since. But this news has really made me feel like a spring chicken again! So just a huge shout out to the patriarchy and historic oppression of female-identifying people for making me feel super young and glam!!!!!
“Lol but no – obviously this means the absolute world to me. I can barely get my head around it. It is extremely humbling and I hope it inspires and, more importantly, opens the door for many other young women to come and smash this record. It’s about time!”
SIX starts previews at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Thursday, February 13 with opening night Thursday, March 12.
Moss co-wrote SIX with Toby Marlow, who she met at Cambridge University, and they have been a writing partnership ever since.
They wrote SIX during their final term and it debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe 2017 as a student production. It was then picked up by Olivier Award-winning producer Kenny Wax, Global Musicals, and George Stiles and has since become a global sensation that everyone is losing their head over, playing to sell out audiences at the Sydney Opera House, across the UK and in the West End, where it is reigning for its second year at the Arts Theatre.
From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic in SIX to tell their tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a celebration of 21st century girl power.
The West End production, that sells out at every performance, has just announced a new booking period to January 2021. Read more.
Image: Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow photographed in New York by Connor Santos.