by ERIKA SASSEVILLE

SIX The Musical hit the scene in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, premiered on the West End in 2019, transferred to Broadway in 202, and won two Tonys for Best Original Score and Costume Design in a Musical in 2022. Since then, the show has garnered a large following of fans for its catchy – but often touching – pop tunes (Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss) and the incredible vocal talent and personas of the divas that sing them. The show has its own, very unique style, blending classical theater elements with the modern day pop concert to create a brand new theater experience. Each of our six protagonists draws inspiration from a couple of distinct current female pop sensations, and you may even feel transported to your favorite idol’s concert.

The story told in SIX is of the six ex-wives of King Henry VIII, which are often only remembered for their poor treatment by their ex-husband, and their tragic deaths that became immortalized in nursery rhyme: “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” These six queens decide to pick up their microphones to tell their own stories, or sing them, in a pop concert that will have the audience deciding just which ex-wife had it the worst. While the premise is certainly silly and fun, the backbone of the show is its incredible and heartfelt performances as each woman is finally able to tell her own story and find her own identity. This show asks us to reframe our understanding of how history (herstory) is told and remembered and to listen for the voices that get lost, in this case these six women. Starring an all female cast and band (aka: the Ladies in Waiting), SIX is a built to showcase what history (herstory) looks like when women get to tell their stories.

Let’s talk about these six queens shall we? Given the context of the show, I want to be fair to all of them and state I will be talking about them in chronological order, not in some sort of patriarchal ranking based on their lives/deaths (IFKYK). First up, Emma Elizabeth Smith as Catherine of Aragon: Emma as Catherine is charged with much of the MCing work, the first solo, and a good amount of humor bickering with the other queens, all of which she does with the gravitas the “Spanish Queen” deserved. Her vocal riffs in her number “No Way” really show off her technical ability. Next up, as the first of the “beheaded” wives, Anne Boleyn, we have Nella Cole. As a testament to the success of both the show’s tone and her own comedic chops, Nella absolutely nails every single time she drops a “I was beheaded” joke, burn, and cry for help. You’ll sense a theme as I continue, but it cannot be ignored that each and every one of these women have ridiculously powerful and impressive vocal skills, Nella is no exception. Third, we move onto Jane Seymour, played by Kelly Denice Taylor, who self-identifies as the only wife Henry truly loved. Kelly get’s the shows strongest ballad, “Heart of Stone,” and brings every ounce of popstar crooning that the role requires. The part of Jane Seymour is often noted as having been inspired by Adele, Sia, and Celine Dion, and you can absolutely feel those famous muses throughout the song and Kelly’s performance.

As an excuse to break up a long paragraph, let’s take brief moment to compliment the entire cast, band, and design team on their group numbers and stylistic choices! Of course the opening number “Ex-Wives” and the finale “Six” are absolute bops that do a tremendous job highlighting the killer harmonies the performers are capable of producing, but my heart belongs to “Haus of Holbein” which lands about half-way through the 80ish min runtime (no intermission, it’s awesome). “Haus of Holbein” absolutely wrecked me the first time I saw the show in 2022 and succeeded in making me cackle with glee this time as well. The song tells the story of how Anne of Cleves became Henry’s 4th wife even though they had never met in person. I don’t want to spoil anything too much, so I’ll just compliment literally everyone involved in any part of that stroke of genius, and give the cast of this tour their flowers for committing to the entire bit with their entire beings.

Back to the wives! Anne of Cleves (my personal pick if I had to choose a life to live of the six options available) is played by the joyous Hailey Alexis Lewis. Throughout the show Hailey shows off her dancing ability, her sense of humor, and her vocals, but she really gets to let loose and bring the whole audience with her in “Get Down.” On to possibly the most traumatic pre-Henry story of them all, Katherine Howard played by Alizé Cruz. Prior to her song, “All You Wanna Do,” the character mostly serves as a bit of a punching bag for the other queens, but she holds her own as she reminds the other queens how beautiful she is. However, that is exactly the point she tries to attack in her solo, her whole life was spent as an object of desire for the men around her and she is sick of it. Alizé gives a heart-wrenching performance during this number and really drives home how badly women had it… you know… back then… when men would prey on women and only see them as sex objects… you know… the past… Last but not least, Catherine Parr, the surviving wife played by Tasia Jungbauer. I’ve always been a fan of Catherine Parr’s story and Tasia did a wonderful job filling her with humanity, humor, and of course vocal talent, throughout the show. She gets to have the hero moment at the end of the show, bringing all the wives together and you can feel the real warmth and affection she has for her fellow queens. Truly this is an ensemble show, and all six of these performers received LONG applause breaks after each song, each one well deserved.

The scenic (Emma Bailey), lighting (Tim Deiling), and costume (Gabriella Slade) design all work together seamlessly to bring the six queens and their band firmly into the world of a 21st century pop concert. Combined with the direction by Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage and choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, the audience is immediately swept up into the vibes and feeling that only live concerts can create. SIX The Musical will be sure to have you on your feet and grooving by curtain call, so be sure to catch it at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul by June 28, before it moves on its tour.

Tickets are available at http://www.ordway.org or by calling the box office at (651) 224-4222.