Six the Musical - Ordway Center

Six the Musical is currently playing at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. I assume that you have at least heard of the show, even if you haven't seen it. I know I had certainly heard of it but Wed was my first time seeing it. Does it live up to the hype?

If you know nothing about this show, it first premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. It opened on the West End in London in 2019 and has been playing or touring ever since. It opened on Broadway in Feb 2020 after making its North American Premiere in May 2019. It won 23 awards in the 2021-2022 season including a Tony Award for the best musical. It has clout, it has a very strong fan base, it at first viewing it is clear why. 

Six the Musical is a 80 minute concert-style show (with no intermission) that features the six wives of Henry VIII. You know the ones - divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. All six queens come out and introduce themselves via the opening number. They then decide to have a competition with each of them vying for who had the worst time being the wife. Naturally at the end, they revisit that initial thought and focus on what each wife did in her own right so that the audience gets to know them as individuals...not just wives of King. The queens go in order: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Some of the name spelling was changed to make it easier to know who is who, but the characters remain the same regardless of name spelling. 

Having never seen or heard the show, this production was exactly what I expected and so much more. I knew it was the six wives, and I assumed that they each had a solo but it is so much more than that. Each character tells her story, and her experience being with Henry VIII. The songs are so well written with great lyrics that not only tell a story but give insight into the woman behind the story. The queens who are not taking center stage often sing back-up harmonies. It has a girl group (like the Spice Girls) feel to the whole evening. Backed by an all-female band named the Ladies in Waiting, each song is in a style that is inspired by a female pop star. So we have queens singing songs inspired by Beyoncé, Shakira, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, and others. This provides great variety to the evening, though I have to admit there were some lyrics that were lost to me due to how loud it was. Like I wrote, it is very much a concert experience. Each of these wonderful performers were singing their hearts out, and adding stunning riffs when appropriate. Even if you end up not being a fan of all the music, their voices and performances easily make up for it.

Since there really is no set, the voices and performers are what you are there for. There is an amazing back wall of LED lights, some risers for the band along with a staircase in the middle to provide levels and variety. The LED lights were used to perfections, hinting at possible locations, giving some fun context to the songs and the show. The costuming was gorgeous - hinting at royalty but also strongly keeping it in a pop tradition. It was a really fun experience, and a really fun show! The crowd was into it, which bumped up the energy of the performance so much. I can fully understand why there is so much hype for this show, because it deserves it. You walk out with a smile on your face, and a desire to dive into history. What could be better?