Nothing pleases me more than a brand new musical that has me grinning from ear to ear and singing along to the already downloaded soundtrack on the way home. And as soon as I had heard about a musical based on the wives of Henry VIII I was EXCITED. Six the musical is one that delves into the history and truly comes alive on stage.
Whilst it's true that we may have a bit of a theme at the moment with new musicals being based on parts of history, I am all for learning whilst I'm listening. With the likes of Hamilton and Sylvia recently filling my top musical spots, this was music to my ears when I went to see it at the Nuffield Theatres Southampton recently.
It's fair to say that we all know the endings of each of Henry VIII's wives and roughly know who each of them are thanks to the age old "Divorced, Beheaded, Died" rhyme. But it's also true to say that we don't actually know that much about them as the focus has always be on the King himself rather than the women he wed. Tired of just being labelled as a wife as opposed to their own person, Six turns that on it's head and sets the record straight allowing each of these fierce queens to tell us their own story.
I can honestly say that I wasn't too sure what to expect. I had already given the songs a listen to and fallen in love with them, but I was unsure as to how they would all be tied together in a 75 minute show. Starting with six women wanting to pitt themselves against each other to battle and argue over who had the worst time as his wife, we hear through each song their own past and why things didn't go well for them. It results in a fantastic mash up of musical come pop concert that had me dancing and singing in my seat.
A fantastic mix of slick costumes, brilliant staging and an all female band really lent to the show and gave it a pop concert feel. At any one point it felt like Little Mix, the Spice Girls or even Rhianna could burst onto the stage and look right at home. That's not to say it took away from the fact it was a musical. The story flowed brilliantly and the condensed time felt like it was a musical for the Netflix generation snapping your attention from the start to the end. The show was slick, funny and sassy. Everything I could want in a feminist adaptation and interpretation of her-story.
To say that the cast was brilliant would be an understatement. I spent ages chatting with my friend on the drive home about each actress and how they played the parts so well. From Millie O'Connell with her sassy Anne Boleyn that had me laughing throughout her Lily Allen-esque song, to Alexia McIntosh that honestly had me creasing at her rendition of Anna of Cleves with her song that had those Rhianna vibes. I can't honestly sing the praises of the whole cast enough and if I could write a love letter to the show then I would!
Whilst this show may be in it's infancy, I can honestly see a long term future for it. Not only did it have everyone dancing and singing along by the end, it had such a strong message of girl power and women uniting that I couldn't help but love it from the start to the end. I loved the lyrics that were reminders of women constantly being erased from history and taking back the power to tell everyone her-story. A musical not to be missed. It's definitely one that I'm not going to stop listening too (and go see lots more too!)
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