Henry VIII’s wives are Broadway divas

Rare is the girl-power series in which the characters died 500 years ago.

But it’s “Six,” the new musical about Henry VIII’s aggrieved wives sextet that finally opened on Broadway Sunday night. It was a victorious moment for this upbeat and energetic British import. The show was originally scheduled to open on March 12, 2020, but hours before the curtain rises all theaters were closed for what turned into an eternity of 18 months. Now “Six” is back and more alive than ever.

This exuberance goes out of left field, as the first words we hear are “Divorced, beheaded, dead, divorced, beheaded, survived,” the old history class trick to remembering the fate of English wives. “With his head! Is not exactly “Spice up your life”.

The Spice Girls, however, are as important a character in “Six” as Anne Boleyn. Ditto for Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Britney Spears. Calling itself a “histo-remix”, the musical transforms its queens into pop divas.

They’re on tour, called “Divorced, Beheaded, Live”, and the women – Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr – have a nightly competition to decide who led the show. most pitiful life. Kind of like “Cats”, but with cat fights.

“People say Henry had a heart of stone,” recalls Jane Seymour (Abby Mueller) wistfully. “And I’m not sure he was.” Anne Boleyn (Andrea Macasaet, hilariously) retorts: “There was that cute time when I had a daughter, and he cut my head off.”

“Six” is more of a concert than a traditional musical, with nine numbers and a megamix crammed into a quick 80 minutes. The songs here, by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, are all clever and catchy. With jukebox shows proliferating like rabbits, audiences are getting used to hearing modern music on stage, but “Six” is one of the few original musicals in memory whose sheet music is ready for the radio.

As Katherine Howard, Samantha Pauly moans “All You Wanna Do” about her lifelong attraction to men, in a way reminiscent of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”. And Brittney Mack, as Anna of Kleve, shakes the ground with an R&B act sparking Henry’s dismay when they finally met, having only seen her portrayal before. “You say I cheated on you,” she sings. “Because I didn’t look like my pic-cha in profile!” “

All the lyrics are equally clever. Marlow and Moss (pretty ring at that) are sharp and never pretentious. They are two history buffs on a nightclub dance floor, sipping vodka sodas while chatting about the Real Housewives.

During the opening number, the queens tell us: “You are going to hear us live – in consort.” And in a chewing gum song titled ‘Don’t Lose Your Head’, Anne explains her failed attempt to marry Henry: ‘We tried to run away, but the Pope said,’ No ‘. “

The only item missing in “Six,” which is co-directed by Moss and up-and-coming Jamie Armitage, is the scale. Emma Bailey’s ensemble, a simple illuminated concert shell with an all-female band on stage, is pretty much the same one used in the production at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2019, where tickets were a lot cheaper than what they cost on Broadway. For a short show – inspired by Swift and Beyoncé, nothing less – it takes more production value and dazzling: the royal treatment, if you will.

Still, “Six” is no shortage of fun.