– By Cate Marquis –
The “six” in the Broadway hit musical “Six” are the six wives of Henry the Eighth. Apart from Anne Boleyn, the queens are remember more as a group and mostly for their connection to the much-married king, but this British-born musical, which returns to the Fox stage through Feb.2, aims to give each of them their own voice, by turning the focus on their individual stories rather than Henry’s.
“Six” re-imagines the 16th century queens as modern pop music divas for its contemporary audience, in a history-sprinkled, pop music extravaganza framed as a musical competition. The queens tell their stories through banter with the audience and each other, and a song competition. Not to see which song is best, but to see which queen had it worst from their husband, King Henry. King Henry himself never appears, although they certainly talk (and sing) about him.
Each queen makes her case to the audience, as they spar verbally and musically, and is built around a memory aid used by British schoolchildren to remember the queens in order and by their fates: “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, lived.”
“Six” gives the queens back their individual names and presents them in order of their rule, starting with Catherine of Aragon (Chani Maisonet), Anne Boleyn (Taylor Sage Evans), Jane Seymour (Kelly Denice Taylor), Anne (or Anna, as the program calls her) of Cleves (Danielle Mendoza), Katherine Howard (Alize Cruz), and Catherine Parr (Tasia Jungbauer), in this pop music extravaganza with plentiful comic banter and a bit of history.
Each queen is dressed like a pop diva, in short, tight costumes with abundant sequins and shiny lame, but with a little Medieval twist, and in a signature color for her – gold for Catherine of Aragon, green for Anne Boleyn, black for Jane Seymour, and so forth. Each queen’s song reflects different pop diva styles too, with the first queen, Catherine of Aragon, channeling Beyonce and Shakira, through to the last queen, Catherine Parr, referencing Alicia Keys and Emeli Sande.
The queens tell their stories, and sing their own songs, in the order in which they reigned, with three songs sung by the whole ensemble. A band, dubbed the Ladies in Waiting, are on stage with the queens, to accompany them. The changeable single set serves for each queen’s production number solo or lead performance. The show is short, with no intermission, so it moves at a snappy pace.
How much you enjoy the show might depend on how much of a pop music fan you are. The show has less history than you might expect, but the show’s program has brief, satiric profiles (Anne Boleyn is “remembered for headlessness;” Anna of Cleves “interests” include “staying alive”) to help if you are a bit fuzzy on British history. Since this was originally a British show, those audiences would have know the history better than some American ones. Still, history buffs might feel a bit let down.
Each queen’s song reflects different pop diva styles, with with the first queen, Catherine of Aragon, channeling Beyonce and Shakira through to the last queen, Catherine Parr, referencing Alicia Keys and Emeli Sande. The show’s program notes give you the musical inspirations too, along with the bit of biographical details for each queen.
All the cast members are good in their roles, and each character is distinct as is her story. Particularly fun are Chani Maisonet as the Spanish-born Catherine of Aragon, Taylor Sage Evans as sassy Anne Boleyn, and Danielle Mendoza as bold German Anna of Cleves, but they have some of the showier roles. All the voices are good, and the production numbers for their songs are splashy and fun.
The songs are good, but not particularly memorable. A standout might be Catherine of Aragon’s “No Way” as she sings about refusing to give Henry a divorce so he can marry Anne Boleyn. Another is the ensemble one midway, “Haus of Holbein,” a German techno-flavored tune about Henry choosing his second foreign-born wife based on various painted portraits sent to him, which the show transforms into a Tinder-like app selection process of swiping left or right for pictures of various princesses.
The show references that memory aid for the queens’ order, “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” through out the show, as they argue about who had it the worst, and make their final case to the audience, with a femme-centric twist. Which queen had the worst fate may be debatable but two of them clearly had things better: Anna of Cleves and Catherine Parr. The German princess Anna, who Henry married sight unseen by proxy, negotiated a good deal for herself in her quick divorce, while the last Catherine outlived the king.
With it’s brief running time and comic touch, “Six” is an entertaining bit of fun with a femme-power slant, but less weighty or history-filled than you might expect. Still, it was a treat for pop music fans, as seen by the many audience members dressed up like their favorite pop-princess queen.
“Six” is on stage at the Fabulous Fox through February 2.
© Cate Marquis
