Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good break. We’re just going to jump right into the musicals again.
Six the Musical is a fairly new musical. It was written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss in 2017 to be performed by the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society. Throughout 2017 and 2018 the musical performed at sold out venues across the United Kingdom. In May 2019 Six made its way to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and will be on Broadway beginning on February 13.
Ex-Wives – this song sets up the musical as the story about King Henry VIII’s Six wives; it introduces Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr
No Way – Catherine of Aragon; she sings about how she won’t grant annulment to the King when he wants to get a divorce and be a father to a child he had with Anne Boleyn; Catherine is known for her spirit and always thought that being Queen was her rightful place
Don’t Lose Ur Head – Anne Boleyn; Anne moved in with the King and Catherine as the King’s mistress; she is portrayed as naive in this song even though she was the oldest of his wives when they got married; the King broke from the Roman Catholic Church so he could divorce Catherine without the Pope’s approval; after many miscarriages the King lost interest in Anne and had her beheaded for adultery, incest, and treason
Heart of Stone – Jane Seymour; she was betrothed to the King one day after Anne’s execution and married to him ten days later; Jane knew that marrying the King meant having to withstand everything he did and act like the perfect wife; she describes herself as having a “heart of stone” because she truly loved the King even though she knew he only was affectionate with her because she was pregnant; Jane gave birth to her son about a year after being married and died in childbirth
Haus of Holbein – this is sung by all six wives in reference to Anna of Cleves portrait; when the King saw Anna’s portrait he wanted her because she was so beautiful; he got a divorce with her because Anna did not look as good in real life as in her portrait
Get Down – Anna of Cleves; since Anna complied with the divorce she was still a part of the royal family, referred to as the King’s sister; this song shows that out of all of the King’s wives, Anna had the best life after getting divorced; she was able to sit on a throne in Richmond, drink mead. play crochet, and go dancing
All You Wanna Do – Katherine Howard; Katherine tells her account of getting married to the King; she grew up being admired by all the boys she came across and at first was flattered but then realized she was being used by those boys; when she finally gave up on boys she met the King and married him; Katherine’s actual lovers are referenced in the song who were both executed
I Don’t Need Your Love – Catherine Parr; this song starts as a goodbye letter to Thomas Seymour, who Catherine wanted to marry instead of the King; she has been married before just so she could survive but if she had a chance she would have married Thomas; Catherine wants to be remembered for everything she did instead of just the King’s wife, like fighting for women’s education, and being author
Six – this song reimagines the lives of these six women if they hadn’t married the King; they become a successful band and release many popular hit songs; the chorus “But now we’re one of a kind No category Too many years Lost in history” plays on the word “history” sings it as “his story” to show that their stories have been overshadowed by the King’s 