Sometimes in life, the best ideas are the most simple.
For example, coming up with the idea of a new musical is difficult. In recent times, we’ve seen major films adapted for the stage, with added numbers. In other cases, musical films have been turned into productions for the West End and to go on tour. Others have taken songs by established artists, and woven them together into a cohesive mass.
And then, there’s SIX. It’s a staggeringly simple and brilliant idea, that, amazingly, hadn’t been thought of before. What if Henry VIII’s six wives had got together to form a contemporary girl group, with songs about their lives?
SIX is currently appearing at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, and I will admit that I didn’t know too much about it before we went in – just the above basics. Taking our seats, we heard several contemporary tracks, as if performed on a lute (including Katy Perry’s Firework – apt for November 5).
The opening number, Ex-Wives, is an ingenious opener, as it incorporates Greensleeves, reputedly written by Henry VIII, and very much setting the scene – ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived.’ We meet each of the wives in turn, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. There’s nods to so many contemporary songs in there, which very much sets the tone of the piece – cheeky, historical, a little sexy, and most of all, fun.
No Way is Catherine of Aragon’s opener, brought to life by Lauren Drew, as we get to know her story: ‘My name’s Catherine of Aragon, Was married 24 years, I’m a paragon, Of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican, So if you try to dump me you won’t try that again…’ It’s a brilliant way of bringing history to life, as we learn Henry tried to place her in a nunnery.
Anne Boleyn in the West End production of SIX (Photo: Idil Sukan/Draw HQ)
My favourite, straight up, was Don’t Lose UR Head from Anne Boleyn (Maddison Bulleyment). Maddison brings real attitude and a flirtiness to the part, and her rendition of the number is full of sass and sounds to contemporary – you could imagine this in the charts. Think Lily Allen or Avril Lavigne. “Ooh, ohh, I want to dance and sing, Politics… not my thing.” And the chorus of ” is utterly catchly “Sorry not sorry ’bout what I said; LOL… Say oh well or go to hell…”. Brilliant. It applies modern vernacular to the period and makes it come alive.
From an energetic number, we move to a more romantic ballad with Jane Seymour (Lauren Byrne), very much in the style of Adele. It’s an appropriate song for someone who was Henry’s true love, “You can build me up, You can tear me down, You can try, but I’m unbreakable.” It’s a beautiful number and helps set a different tone entirely. Lauren has a beautiful voice.
Between numbers, we’re treated to banter between the wives, especially Anne and Jane, with Anne pulling everything back to the fact she was beheaded. It’s truly hilarious.
We then move onto Anna of Cleves, the wife Henry married based on seeing a portrait of her. Shekinah McFarlane brings so much attitude to the part, and takes centre stage in two numbers – Haus of Holbein draws on Anna’s German background, featuring a combination of German folk music and house music (think Scooter, without the shouting), and had me in stitches. Her second number, Get Down, is very much in the Nicki Minaj mould, and features the old King of the Castle nursery rhyme. It’s fast and ridiculously clever, and the staging is first class.
Then Katherine Howard (or K Howard) takes over (played by Jodie Steele), and is another of those more tragic queens, having been beheaded, but again, it’s an upbeat song. This is very Britney Spears – “I think we can all agree I’m a ten amongst these threes.” She’s very much a flirty character, who moves from man to man, until she hits the king. Her song gets four choruses – and when she’s singing “Squeeze me, please me, birds and the bees me”, I was howling with laughter.
For each of the numbers, the words are brilliant and you have to listen to them. They are full of wit, intelligence, history and fun. I couldn’t have told you the order of Henry’s wives before this show, and how each of them died. Now, I can…
The west end cast of the brilliant SIX (Photo: Idil Sukan/Draw HQ)
We then meet Catherine Parr (Athena Collins), who plays out the life of Henry’s last queen: “Five down, I’m the final wife. I saw him to the end of his life.” She’s the most contemporary of the six wives in many ways, having got a woman to paint her portrait, and the number is wistful in many ways, feeling like an Emeli Sande number.
There final number, MegaSIX, is a megamix of the queens’ different songs, and merges the styles seemlessly – it’s an incredible closing number.
The whole show runs for 75 minutes with no interval. It’s ideal for a Netflix generation, but for those who live a pop concert condensed into one production. It’s very simple staging – clever lighting sets the background with bulbs along, and there’s a four-piece all female band on stage too.
When I left the theatre, I was surprised to see a crowd at the stage door. We’re not talking a handful of people. We’re talking at least 100 people. The cast came out and did pictures with them, signing autographs, and were very much the musical idols. They were all brilliant and deserve that adulation – this is hopefully the start of long and successful careers for the six of them.
SIX is special. I’ve never seen anything like that before, and neither had my friend who works on the stage door. He’s been there for many years, and this was something new to him. It’s brought a younger generation to the theatre, who may not normally have gone to see a musical with these fantastic Royalling Stones.
I went into the Theatre Royal citing Les Miserables as my favourite musical. I left with SIX having taken the crown. I bought the soundtrack on the way out – and I never do that. I’m listening to it as I write this – and it’s sending shivers down my spine.
The joy of SIX. I really want to go again. Where’s my credit card?
SIX returns to Scotland next year, to play at the Festival Theatre from Tuesday 4 – Sunday 9 February.
SIX is at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow until Sunday, 10 November. Book tickets HERE.
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