Review: SIX THE MUSICAL at Orpheum Theatre Memphis
Rewriting HER-story on the Orpheum Stage, April 21-26th!
Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.
You likely learned the rhyme in school. If you are a history buff like I am, you know the names of each wife of King Henry VIII. And now this popular musical is back at the Orpheum, after first making HERstory in Memphis in November of 2023. Nearly 3 years later, the show is just as fun, just as vibrant, just as exhilirating, and just as much of a sensation as it was back then!
Six the Musical tells the story of King Henry VIII's wives and how tragic their lives turned out to be. The queens all plan to hold a contest, to see who will be the "winner" of the night, whichever queen suffered the most. Catherine Parr, however, who happens to be Henry's last wife and the one who survived, points out that they should be joining their voices together, not comparing each other's misery. The final number, "Six" is a histo-remix in which the queens live out their "happy endings" that didn't necessarily involve Henry at all.
I saw the show on Broadway right after the show opened post-pandemic and it was the most fun I have ever had in a theatre. Each queen has a different personality but they blend together beautifully, both their voices and personalities, to write a new story for themselves. As seen in the program, each of the queens was inspired by various musical icons. For example, Catherine of Aragon is a mixture of Beyonce and Shakira while Katherine Howard is modeled after Britney Spears and Ariana Grande.
After returning to my article from 2023, I was surprised and pleased to see that Kelly Denice Taylor is back in the role of Jane Seymour and sounds just as powerful as she belts "Heart of Stone", a tragic ballad about truly loving the King and meeting her tragic end just after she gives birth to Henry's desired son. Tonight's performance featured several of the alternates and I was not disappointed! Carlina Parker's Catherine of Aragon was a mixture of humor and power, especially as she tries to sway the audience to vote for her since she OBVIOUSLY suffered the most. But Catherine DID keep her head which is more than I can say about the next wife, Anne Boleyn, portrayed by Nella Cole. Sorry Not Sorry is one of my favorite songs in the show and Nella absolutely slayed the stage. She and Aragon are often paired up, as Anne overlapped with Catherine in history, and both women's charisma makes for an entertaining banter about who Henry treated the worst (again, Catherine kept her head while Anne... well, she wasn't the only one, as Catherine Howard soon points out) Anna of Cleves is always a fan favorite because of her energy and pure sass, not to mention she undoubtedly lived the best life out of the queens. Hailey Alexis Lewis owns the stage during Cleves's number "Get Down", as she points out to the queens and to the audience that despite being rejected by a King, she lived comfortably in a palace and no man to tell her what to do. I have to give Lewis major kudos for tonight's performance-- Six isn interactive show and there are times that it calls for audience participation. When the audience doesn't participate, it can make for an awkward moment but Lewis did not skip a beat and instead followed up with a hilarious joke. Awesome save, Queen! Alize Cruz's Catherine Howard is a perfect counterpart to Nella's Anne Boleyn, as both women are often making jokes about the others. While Boleyn and Howard were actually cousins in real life, the queens shared a similar fate, both meeting their end at the end of a blade. But Six tells Howard's story a little differently than we might have heard before; as Catherine Howard is telling the audience about how promiscuous she has been all her life, the song gets very heavy and we see how much terror the young queen went through. Cruz does a beautiful job, switching between emotions and displaying a more vulnerable side to Catherine Howard, all the while belting her heart out. And lastly but definitely not least (perhaps one of my favorite performances of the night) was Abigail Sparrow as the Survivor Catherine Parr. She is the one who breaks up the competition, insisting that the queens are more than just "Henry's wives". There is a joke made about how Parr is always singing back up vocals but Sparrow had the chance to SHINE during one of the final numbers, "I Don't Need Your Love".
In 2016, a student at Cambridge University student was selected by the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society to create a new musical. The musical would be presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Toby Marlow, a senior at Cambridge, rose to the challenge. They created a concept about the re-telling of the six wives of King Henry VIII and partnered with fellow student Lucy Moss to bring their vision to life. Marlow and Moss went on to win the Tony Award for Best Original Score for Six the Musical. Additional achievements include Moss becoming the youngest woman to direct a musical on Broadway, at age 26, and Marlow becoming the first out non-binary composer/lyricist to win a Tony Award. Today, Six remains a pop sensation and loved for its empowering and modern take on history.
One of my favorite things about the show are the colorful costumes, each representing the queens in a special way. Gabriella Slade won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design and it is easy to see why. My favorite detail is still the "B" brooch that Anne Boleyn wears at her throat, especially after visiting the Tower of London this past November and purchasing my own replica of the Boleyn necklace! Carrie-Anne Ingrouille's choreography and Tim Deiling's lighting design make the show as fun to watch as it is to listen to!
It is a history lesson set to music. It is a pop concert where you will want to get out of your seat and dance. And it is an immensely entertaining night out at the theatre. Don't lose your head-- get your tickets today!
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