Hello, and welcome back to my blog! Last week I looked at one of my favorite musicals, Dear Evan Hansen! Today, we will be taking a look at a somewhat new musical that has taken the Broadway world by storm over the past few years: Six! I was fortunate enough to get to see this musical recently, on April 8 when it was on tour in Philadelphia, PA! I absolutely loved this musical, so now let me tell you all about this musical and my reasons why I loved it. But first, as per usual, let’s start with a quick overview of the musical.
Six is about the 6 wives of King Henry VIII who come together and form a band. This musical recaps each of their lives and their relationships with Henry, but you may be asking yourself, “Didn’t 3 of them die? How could they form a band?” Well, this musical is about rewriting history, and making it about HERstory. Throughout the musical, the six queens compete against each other for who should be the leader of the band by telling their tragic and traumatic stories and singing about them. The queen who had it worst will be the one to lead the band. After the first 5 queens perform, the sixth and final queen starts to sing, but then decides that they shouldn’t fight to be the leader of the band. All of the queens had a challenging life with Henry VIII, but they shouldn’t let that define them and they need to reclaim their story. The show ends with all the queens coming together and rewriting their stories the way they want to be remembered in the last song of the musical entitled “Six.”
(Video: Six the Musical Plot Summary)
Now that you have a brief understanding of Six, let’s take a closer look at why this musical has earned the last spot on my list of Broadway’s “Must-See” Musicals!
- The Music
The music in this show is by far some of my favorite music on Broadway right now. The songs are so fun, energetic, and unique. Each song captures the essence of each individual queen who performs it. Katherine of Aragon’s song is about her standing by the King and not letting him get an annulment because she was a devout catholic. Anne Boleyn’s song is about her promiscuity and how that lead to her marrying the queen and her later beheading. Jane Seymour’s song is about how she would not let stone hearted bad-tempered Henry VIII drive her away from their marriage, and how she would continue to stand by him even if she did not give birth to a son like Henry wanted. Anna of Cleves’s song is about her coming to England from Germany and living a lavish life. She stood up to Henry and posed a challenge to him, so he divorced her. Katherine Howard’s song is about how she was used for her body by men starting when she was 13-years-old, which continued until she married the King and cheated on him with his best friend which led to her beheading. Lastly, Katherine Parr’s song is about she was forced to marry the King and not her star-crossed lover, but then how she was through with the marriage and would outlive the King. Each story is told perfectly through song, and the words sung resonate so deeply with the audience in a way that spoken words cannot.
My favorite songs from Six are “Ex-Wives,” “Heart of Stone,” “All You Wanna Do,” “Six,” and the encore “Mega Six.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQPkSE4ys0Q
(Video: Amina Faye [Jane Seymour in National Tour Cast] Performing “Heart of Stone”)
- The Inspiration Behind Each Queen
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/062415-ariana-grande-lead-a98741bcafd64ca095099a3f77ce0639.jpeg)
The way the queens are portrayed on stage was done with inspiration taken from modern pop artists. Katherine of Aragon was inspired after Beyoncé and Shakira, Anne Boleyn after Avril Lavigne, Jane Seymour after Adele and Sia, Anna of Cleves after Rhianna and Nicki Minaj, Katherine Howard after Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, and Katherine Parr after Alicia Keys. These portrayals are seen in what the queens wear, how they act, and the style of their songs. This is a Photo Source unique take for Broadway, something many shows do not openly say. Photo Source
- The Way the Show is Performed
This show is performed in the most unique way possible: as a Pop Concert! This is so different from the way most other Broadway shows are performed, but I absolutely loved it. The show is only 80 minutes long and there is no intermission. I was nervous it would seem like there was no development of the storyline and that I would have left wanting more, but the show was perfect in this style. After the show, I felt like I had sat through an entire musical and left wanting to go back and watch it again.
Photo Source: Me
- The Message
The overall message of Six is women empowerment, not letting a man define your worth, and letting women tell their story. This message is so clearly reflected by each one of these six queens, and they truly reclaim history and make it HERstory. They tell the story that they want to be told, not just that they were once married to the king. The show clearly shows this, and it leaves audiences empowered to share their stories and let history tell her stories.
(Video: The Overall Message of Six the Musical Explained)
As you can see, I clearly loved this musical. It made me laugh, I actually cried during “Heart of Stone,” and it left me wanting to buy another ticket to see its night-time showing. I cannot recommend this musical enough to anyone who wants to watch six powerful women reclaim their space in the history and make it HERstory. If you can’t get to the theater to see it, or it the tickets are too expensive for your liking, here is a link to a “slime tutorial” I found on youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE5vo4l-LII
(Video: “Slime Tutorial” of Six the Musical)
No Responses