Six!: The Musical

Timothy Lai and Chloe Liang
7 days ago
6 min read

Six The Musical is an historical musical in the style of a pop concert about Henry the VIII's 6 wives. It took the world by storm and has multiple locations including Broadway, the West End, and tours in Australia, the USA and UK, Japan, and internationally. The musical consists of 6 women: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr.

Every single queen is inspired by different singers and their styles.

Catherine of Aragon is inspired by fierce performers, like Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez
Anne Boleyn is inspired by pop-punk singers, like Avril Lavigne and Lily Allen
Jane Seymour is inspired by belting powerhouses, like Adele and Celine Dion
Anna of Cleves is inspired by confident performers, like Rihanna and Nicki Minaj
Katherine Howard is inspired by pop stars Ariana Grande and Britney Spears
Catherine Parr is inspired by lyrical singer-songwriters, like Alicia Keys.

The “Herstory” behind Six

It all started when uni student Toby Marlow needed to write a new musical for Cambridge University’s Theatre Society to be presented at the arts festival Edinburgh Fringe. Then, they had an idea in a poetry lecture to write a musical about the six wives of Henry VIII, and instantly wrote down “need Lucy ” (Marlow’s future co-writer and director of the show) Now, him and Lucy Moss watched Beyonce’s Live At Roseland: Elements of Four concert film filmed in Coachella and reading Antonia Fraser’s “The Six Wives Of Henry VIII” to get inspiration. They both decided that each “queen” needed a biographical song about their life and tragedies.

Synopsis

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

The show starts with the mnemonic “Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.”, and then introducing the pop group and each individual queen with each having a verse (“Ex-Wives”). After, the queens explain that they are competing for the title of leader of the group based on their grievances and tragedies (“Ex-Wives (Reprise)”)Then, Henry VIII’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, performs a monologue about her time in England, starting from marrying Prince Arthur, with him dying, marrying “her dead husband’s brother”, Henry, who cheated and asked Catherine to move into a nunnery. Then, she sings about her loyalty to Henry and his hypocrisy and untrustworthy personality, and begging to stay because of her loyalty, but Henry denies (“No Way”) The queens transition to the next queen by describing her as “The one you’ve been waiting for”, “The one who changed history” and “The plan to steal the man”. It then segues into Anne Boleyn’s song, which describes her scandals and controversy, including flirting with Henry, papal excommunication, and accusations of treason, but responding with the same refrain, telling others to “Don’t lose your head”. This eventually leads to the climax of the song, where she is beheaded and the refrain is repeated, leading to her downfall (“Don’t Lose Ur Head”). Then, Jane Seymour makes her entrance, talking about how she loved Henry, then singing about Henry’s conditional love because of Jane birthing a male heir compared to her firm, unconditional love repeating that she is “unbreakable” (“Heart Of Stone”).

After, there is a blackout and Anna of Cleves introduces legendary painter Hans Holbein, followed by the queens detailing the process of painting a Holbein portrait (“Haus of Holbein”). Then, Anna describes her experience with Henry, and being relegated to a castle in Richmond, followed by a “flexing” of her luxury life in Richmond, including eating pheasant, playing croquet, and going to court (with a flashy quick change), and not needing Henry at all (“Get Down”). Then, the queens argue about their struggles, adding tension to the story, but are interrupted by the introduction of Katherine Howard. She then begins with a roasting session, dealing witty, child-like insults to all the queens, then transitioning into her song. It describes how numerous men used her, with the same structure repeatedly, signifying the same thing happening, until one of the men gets her in trouble, and she realized the problem–she was being used, which leads to her beheading (All You Wanna Do).

After the queens argue more, adding more strain, they forcefully move on to the next queen, Catherine Parr. She rejects at first, but she reluctantly agrees and gives the audience a “sob story”, and how her husbands died on her and when she finally found someone to love, Henry interrupts. But, she then talks about her achievements to the female society. (“I Don’t Need Your Love”) But, the queens come to a realization that the reason they’re doing this is because the same person fell in love with them. Then, they discuss how they could’ve done something different in the first place (plot twist!). (“I Don’t Need Your Love (Remix)”) It then leads to the queens rewriting their stories because it’s their show (Six).

Locations and Casts

Since there are a lot of different locations, and a lot of casts. Here’s a list of the productions and current casts!

West End Production: The original production!
- Aragon: Jaz Robinson (Former Canadian Production Aragon)
- Boleyn: Thao Therese Nguyen (Returning from the past West End Production)
- Seymour: Hana Stewart (Former West End Production Alternate Seymour/Parr)
- Cleves: Dionne Ward-Anderson (Former West End Production Cleves)
- Howard: Caitlin de Kuyper (Former NCL Bliss Howard)
- Parr: Amelia Kinu Muus

Broadway: The closest production to our area and Tony Award winner for Best Score and Costumes!
- Aragon: Najah Hetsberger
- Boleyn: Gianna Yanelli
- Seymour: Kelsie Watts
- Cleves: Krystal Hernandez (Former Canadian Production Cleves)
- Howard: Kay Sibal
- Parr: Taylor Marie Daniel
UK/International Tour:
- Aragon: LaSasha Aldredge
- Boleyn: Yna Montarde
- Seymour: Emily Dawson
- Cleves: Jodie Knight
- Howard: Sammy Timbers
- Parr: Layla Chivandire
US “Boleyn Tour”: The second run of the US Tour.
- Aragon: Emma Elizabeth Smith
- Boleyn: Nella Cole
- Seymour: Kelly Denice Taylor (Former Aragon Tour Alternate Aragon/Seymour/Cleves)
- Cleves: Hailey Alexis Lewis (Former Canadian Production Standby Aragon/Cleves/Parr, Former Boleyn Tour Alternate Aragon/Boleyn/Cleves)
- Howard: Alize Cruz
- Parr: Tasia Jungbauer

Fun Facts!

Henry VIII had 3 children: Mary Tudor (later Queen Mary I, or Bloody Mary), Elizabeth Tudor (Later Elizabeth I, one of the most successful English monarchs) and Edward Tudor (Later Edward VI).
Catherine of Aragon was married to Henry VIII for 20+ years (which is stated in the Ex-Wives lyric “Was married for 24 years, I’m a paragon of royalty”).
- She also led an army against Scotland while pregnant!
Anne Boleyn was accused of treason for “cheating” on Henry VIII and was executed. She never actually cheated.
- Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard are actually first cousins and both are second cousins to Jane Seymour.
Jane Seymour did not have a coronation.
Anna of Cleves outlived every other wife, dying at 42 in 1557.
Katherine Howard was only about 17 years old when she was married to Henry VIII. Ironically, her stepdaughter, Mary, was 25 at the time.
Catherine Parr had many achievements for female rights, cited in her song “I Don’t Need You Love”, including:
- Being the first English woman and queen to publish books under her own name. (“Remember that I was a writer/ I wrote books and psalms and meditations”)
- Encouraging female education. (“Fought for female education/ So all my women can independently/ Study scripture”)
- Having women to paint her portrait, including Levinah Teerlinc and Susannah Hornebolt. (“I even got a woman to paint my picture”)
Some former/current cast members return to “emergency cover” a queen when others are unavailable.
- In 2019, co-writer Toby Marlow played the role of Catherine Parr due to a cast-wide illness.
In the UK and Australian productions of Six, there are actors called “Super Swings” who cover all six queens if the principal cast is unavailable!
- Rarely, some alternates (who cover 2 queens primarily and others if needed) hit “Swingo” (when an alternate/swing covers all six queens), a feat mostly performed by super swings.
- Also exclusive to those productions, audience members are permitted to film the encore!