I bought my dad tickets for Six the Musical as a Christmas present. As a historian I thought he would enjoy a different take on something he knows so well, and it’s always fun to take him to something a bit different. The expectation was a show with the six wives of Henry VIII acting as pop stars. What I didn’t expect was a solid structure for the songs to play out as the women singing about the struggles they endured, the shame of being a name in a rhyme, and the competition between them for the greatest Queen.
And then there were the songs themselves, which were all superb. A complete mix of genre and style, with references and comic takes on each person’s history. Particular highlights for me were Anne Boleyn’s catchy pop number ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ and Anne of Cleeves’ ‘King of the Castle’, which downplayed its chorus pinnacle in a way that gave it more power and impact.
(Source – YouTube)
Alongside that, the physicality on display to perform at high intensity for 75 minutes was incredible. The staging and costumes could look like a college performance, but that’s clearly not the case with the precise choreography and immaculately written dialogue in between songs showing how much attention has been paid to every element of this show.
It’s a shame that not only is Six the Musical only on for a handful of performances,but it’s also sold out for those performances. With a show this strong and clearly being so well received by audiences I would be amazed if it wasn’t put on again in the near future – at that stage everyone should see this if they can.