Following critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe back in 2017, “Six” has enjoyed cult status as both a musical, and an educational tool to teach youngsters about the infamous six wives of King Henry VII, with their individual tales of marriage to the mighty monarch depicted through song.
Written and created by Cambridge students Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, following its Scottish debut SIX headed to the West End and Broadway and the momentum has grown and grown.
The show is 80 minutes straight through, no interval, and is essentially a medieval pop concert, if you can imagine that. It’s a one set piece, but with superb lighting effects and crystal clear sound quality loud enough to bring the house down.
There isn’t a spinet, recorder or lyre in sight however. Instead, the outstanding female band, who are of course called “The Ladies in Waiting”, would rival any top rock band as they romp their way through the score with drums, guitars and keys galore.
Similarly, the royal cast consists of six incredibly talented singers/actresses who take their ‘queenspiration’ from current pop princesses including Beyoncé, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Rihanna, Ariana Grande and Alicia Keys, transforming into a stunning girl group with modern-day references and anecdotes.
As they offer their individual stories, it is interesting to find out the true facts, which may differ from the largely male biased stories you were taught at school.
The mood of the show totally uplifting and very funny, yet still maintains much emotion and even moments of heartbreak, which just endear you to the queens even more. They really were the heroines of the day.
Lasasha Aldridge kicked off the night as Catherine of Aragon with an incredible vocal performance of “No Way”, closely followed by Abi Atchinson as Anne Boleyn, whose comedic skills coupled with her amazing voice made me laugh out loud at her song, aptly entitled “Don’t Lose Your Head.”
For me, the vocal performance of the night came next as Emily Dawson as Jane Seymour absolutely brought the house down with her rendition of the ballad “Heart of Stone”, in which she confirms her true love and dedication to Henry. It is well written that she as the only wife he really loved and this song brings a tear to the eye as it depicts their happy family with the heir Henry desired, until her untimely death.
Then more comedy followed with Jodie Knight as Anna of Cleaves, rejected by Henry, but who had the last laugh as she had riches, a castle and servants to spare. Her song, “Get Down” was kick-ass, girl power at it height as well as hilariously funny and “executed” with sass and swag.
Sammy Timbers was the perfect Katherine Howard, the one the boys all loved, and took on the longest number of the night, “All You Wanna Do” with all the sensuality and innocence this young queen was known for.
The final queen and the survivor of course was Catherine Parr, played by Eve Kitchingman, who portrayed her story of having to give up the love of her life to marry the king with emotion and style.
The queens ensemble numbers which are probably the best know numbers from the show were nothing less than outstanding, and such is the following for the show, that some audience members were joining in with the choreography from the off.
Jamie Armitage’s direction was sharp and slick and it was good to see that Fiona Winning from Tettenhall in Wolverhampton is also a resident director on the show, flying the flag for the West Midlands.
Meanwhile Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography was edgy and complex, but still retained the control required for the queens to belt out their numbers, and Tom Curran’s orchestrations perfectly set the tone of the piece.
SIX is a completely unique example of modern-day musical theatre at its very best and “executed” to perfection by a stunning cast and company.
I am giving this show a SIX star review, because why not? The queens deserve it!
Catch SIX at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre until January 24. Tickets are limited, but “don’t lose your head” as there are a few left.
Visit grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01902 429212 to book.
3. Contributed
Emily Dawson gave the vocal performance of the night as Jane Seymour. Photo: Submitted
