SIX The Musical
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https://www.sixthemusical.com/australia
31/08/2022 until 01/10/2022
I had seen Six in its first Australian run at the Sydney Opera House in the more confined cabaret set-up of The Studio, where a mix of tables and angled seating splayed out from a raised staged platform in its corner from where the high-energy performances were delivered. It was a concentrated celebration of female pop and proto-feminist ‘girl-power’ where audiences were fully immersed in the show.
The current incarnation at the Theatre Royale is equally vibrant and engaging but its staging is, of necessity, more formally theatrical. More light and shade is used. A tight 75-minutes of rock/pop and dance routines that are more expansive than before is now a full-on concert experience. Minimal speaking parts simply help tie the narrative of the songs together.
Stylistically, the show constantly breaks the fourth wall and invites audience engagement. It is comic with a poignant undertone, clever, loud and explosive. People cheer and whoop. Performers respond.
The musical, written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, has had phenomenal box-office, popular and critical success both in Australia and globally, with sell-out audiences, over 500 million studio album downloads, 3 billion views on TikTok and winning two Tony Awards, including Best Original Score.
In simple terms, Six covers the well-traversed, secondary school level accounts of the lives of Henry VIII’s six Tudor queens; as the opening song ‘Ex Wives’ reminds us – Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived …
Post-Hamilton, it is interesting to see another recreation of supposedly familiar histories picking up on the theme of women not being fully represented for their contributions or individuality.
In Six, each of Henry’s wives gets to tell ‘HER-story’ through solos in what is initially set-up as a competition between them - a modern, reality-show format where the audience gets to vote on whose life had been the most tragic.
There are a lot of contemporary references in this 500-year-old story. The wives’ lives are often simplified as superficial, gossip-magazine/social media like snippets reflecting cruel treatment, adulteries, indifference or beheadings that we are familiar with, but it is through the powerful performances of each ‘Queen’ that new light and truths are brought to our fuller understanding of their lives. Their problems are still very much real and commonplace in today’s society.
Musically, the individual personalities and differences of each wife are depicted by their songs. They are all strong performances and the group also harmonise beautifully throughout.
Catherine of Aragon (played by Phoenix Jackson Mendoza) is Henry’s sassy first wife, brought over from Spain and who for years refuses to divorce him until finally being sent to a nunnery. Her song ‘No Way’ is reminiscent of the pop princess Shakira.
Anne Boleyn (Kala Gare) is his second, rebellious and somewhat childish French wife, instrumental in the breakaway from the Roman Catholic Church. ‘Don’t Lose Ur Head’ (‘.. sorry, not sorry’) channels the angst of Avril Lavigne.
Jane Seymour (Loren Hunter) is the third, incredibly loyal wife and mother to Henry’s son. She is probably his only true love and her tender ballad ‘Heart of Stone’ reminds us of the songs of Adele or Sia.
Anne of Cleves (Kiana Daniele), Henry’s fourth wife is a fiercely independent German chosen from a painting of her purported beauty only to be rejected on arrival in England and given a palace of he own after not living up to Henry’s expectations in real life – the result of recklessly sliding right in dating apps. ‘Get Down’ (‘Just say Ja and don’t say Nein’) in the style of Rihanna is one of the standouts, sung straight after the group has performed the highly entertaining ‘House of Holbein’ - German techno with fluoro’ & flashing strobe lights.
Katherine Howard (Chelsea Dawson) is his playful and more sexually-experienced fifth wife who cannot help looking for love and is repeatedly disappointed by her choice in men. Spolier: it brings her undone. ‘All You Wanna Do’ and its lyrics of ‘.. touch me, love me, squeeze me’ is 100% Britney.
Catherine Parr (Vidya Makan) is the sixth and final wife. She is the survivor of the group but her legacy of promoting education and women artists during her lifetime is not reflected in many history books. ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ is suggestive of Alicia Keys.
It is Catherine who challenges the musical’s idea of competition between the six wives and rather, unites them in sisterhood. The message is female empowerment without being heavy-fisted – the demanding of a retelling of ‘HIS’story. A remix.
The show culminates in the joyous song ‘Six’, set up as a ‘..for five more minutes SIX’ encore where the wives come together to stake their places and demand recognition in their own right. But, as is questioned … are they chiefly remembered simply because Henry VIII had six wives? Do we even remember the wives of his predecessors.
Costumes are on point; plenty of bling, big boots and a contemporary take on Tudor finery (bordering on Drag Queen). Staging is simple and doesn’t change throughout. Lighting is used effectively to convey mood and elements – spotlights, blue and purple washes, gold, purple and LEDs for gothic window-frames or the crosses in a convent.
Much credit must go to the choreography/dance team made up of Karis Oka, Shannen Alyce Quan, Chiara Assetta and Cristina D’Agostino, and to the exceptional all-female ‘Ladies in Waiting’ band of Claire Healey, Heidi Maguire, Kathryn Stammers, Debbie Yap and Ann Metry.
If you are looking for a fabulous night of entertainment where it’s almost impossible not to tap your feet and sing the original songs long afterwards, don’t look past Six.
Reviewed by David Hislop