Tudor royalty has landed back in Melbourne with the triumphant return season of SIX the Musical to the Comedy Theatre.
While we remember them as ‘divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived’, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take to the stage to reclaim their names and to give us a new reason to remember them in one of the most fun and outrageous pop-rock shows of the year!
In this completely delightful historical pop musical, those infamous queens fight it out for the crown. With the audience’s help, they intend to find out who had to put up with the most BS from the man history remembers them for. How do they intend to fight it out exactly? Pop contest, of course.
Over the course of a tight 80 minute show, each queen has their moment in the spotlight while they belt out their unique number. Drawing inspiration from Rihanna, Avril Lavigne, Queen Bey and Britney Spears, there are plenty of parallels between the queens in the show and some of our modern-day pop icons.
With fantastic vocals and relentless dance moves, this cast have definitely proven themselves pop star worthy. We wouldn’t be doing this fabulous production justice if we didn’t talk about the writing. It is so damn clever. The contemporary style of the show is almost enough to make you forget which century your queen lives in, until you are brought back with a comical reference to Tudor life.
Never missing a beat, of course. Each song takes you through one queen’s life – giving you a new viewpoint of her life and historical context.
It’s educational, punny, and full of high-energy girl power the Spice-girls would be proud of. Besides the excellent performances and original concept, SIX is so relevant because of its message and timing. SIX’s incredibly kick-ass women who were given a backseat in the history books, now places them front and centre for the first time to tell their own story. For such a short and seemingly light-hearted show, SIX packs quite an emotional punch. At times inspirational, with the audience cheering along, it was at times devastating, when clever performance and lyrics show you just what women suffered in the past for being women.
SIX will have you hooked for the entire performance – a big claim for a story you already know the end to! With enviable costumes, incredible talent, and songs that I haven’t been able to get out my head for days (mostly because we can’t stop listening to those catchy tunes on Spotify), this may just be the show that has it all.
Opening night cast included:
Kimberley Hodgson – Catherine of Aragon
Deirdre Khoo – Anne Boleyn
Loren Hunter – Jane Seymour
Zelia Rose Kitoko – Anna of Cleves
Chelsea Dawson – Katherine Howard
Giorgia Kennedy – Catherine Parr
– The Plus Ones
