Six (musical)

The show opens with the six Queens performing an opening number in pop-concert, girl-group fashion introducing themselves. They also welcome the audience to the performance ("Ex-Wives"). They address the crowd and tell them that this show will feature a competition, and whoever had the "biggest load of B.S." to deal with from the man who married them, Henry VIII, will become the lead singer of the group ("Ex-Wives (Reprise)"). They perform in the order in which they were married to Henry. Catherine of Aragon starts off and recounts her marriage to Henry and later annulment, and almost being put into a nunnery when he began lusting after Anne Boleyn ("No Way"). When Aragon claims that she is the winner, the other Queens mention Anne and how she overlapped with Aragon during the former's marriage, resulting in said annulment ("Anne Boleyn (Interlude)"), and Anne recounts her time as Queen with Henry and her eventual execution ("Don't Lose Ur Head"). She then continues to argue that she deserves to win the competition due to her execution and further begins to sing a new solo "about the moment [she] found out Catherine of Aragon had tragically died". This attempted solo is interrupted by the other queens. Jane Seymour then announces it is her turn to recount what she put up with, but the other Queens mock her for not having as much to deal with as, in her words, she was "the only one he truly loved". Jane admits that while she may have been lucky for not having to suffer at his hand, she still stood by him throughout all his faults ("Heart of Stone").

The story then shifts as the Queens are suddenly turned into members of Hans Holbein's painting studio, talking about how they make the women he paints look beautiful for their portraits ("Haus of Holbein"). In a set-up parodying Tinder (or another similar dating site) they present three women: Christina of Denmark, Amalia of Cleves, and Anna of Cleves,[lower-alpha 1] Amalia's elder sister. When Henry "swipes right", so to speak, on Anna, they all assume he will marry Anna and that they will have a happy, long-lasting marriage ("Haus of Holbein (Playoff)"). Of course, their union is ultimately ill-fated as he rejects Anna, and she pretends to make a big deal about how she is then forced to live in a beautiful palace in Richmond as a result, though she is not really complaining. She then boasts about her riches and how since she remained unmarried after her divorce, there is no man around to tell her what to do, meaning she is able to do anything she pleases ("Get Down"). After the Queens point out how Anna's life did not sound that difficult, Anna says "Oh, well, back to the palace". As Katherine Howard[lower-alpha 2] is next to go, the Queens belittle her for being "the least relevant Catherine", but Katherine retaliates by mentioning flaws in the other Queens' reasons for winning, such as how Anne Boleyn wasn't the only beheaded wife and how Jane Seymour only died due to natural causes. She then recounts her life and the men who abused her, leading into her marriage to Henry as she breaks down, fully realising the trauma she suffered from her relationships and how these "all-powerful men" led to her eventual beheading ("All You Wanna Do").

As the Queens continue to squabble about who should win the contest, a frustrated Catherine Parr puts a stop to it. Questioning the point of it all, she brings up the fact that they are remembered solely by their shared connection to Henry, not as individuals. When they refuse to listen, claiming she has no story to tell that involves Henry, Parr tells her story, and of the accomplishments she made independently of Henry ("I Don't Need Your Love"). The other Queens, realising that they have let themselves be defined by Henry for so long, stop the contest and declare that they do not need his love to feel validated as people ("I Don't Need Your Love (Remix)"). With only five minutes left in the show after the fact, they decide to use their remaining moments on stage to "rewrite" the stories they told and sing for themselves for a change, singing together as a group rather than as solo artists and writing their own happily ever after ("Six").

In all of the live performances of the show as of July 2018, the Queens perform an encore number that is not featured on the Original Cast Recording, which is a mashup of all the songs performed in the show (minus "Haus of Holbein") called "Megasix". The audience is encouraged by the Queens to film this portion of the performance – the exception is on all USA engagements of Six after the Chicago premiere due to union rules.

• "Ex-Wives" – The Queens
• "Ex-Wives (Reprise/Playoff)" – The Queens †
• "No Way" – Catherine of Aragon and Ensemble
• "Anne Boleyn (Interlude)" – The Queens †
• "Don't Lose Ur Head" – Anne Boleyn and Ensemble
• "Heart of Stone" – Jane Seymour and Ensemble
• "Haus of Holbein" – Company
• "Haus of Holbein (Playoff)" – Company †
• "Get Down" – Anna of Cleves and Ensemble
• "All You Wanna Do" – Katherine Howard and Ensemble
• "I Don't Need Your Love" – Catherine Parr
• "I Don't Need Your Love (Remix)" – Catherine Parr and the Queens ††
• "Six" – The Queens
• "Megasix" – The Queens †

† Not included on the Studio Cast Recording.
†† Included as part of "I Don't Need Your Love" on the Studio Cast Recording.

In a review of the Arts Theatre production, Dominic Cavendish of The Telegraph called the show "gloriously – persuasively – coherent, confident and inventive".[35] Lyn Gardner of The Guardian wrote, "It may be cloaked in silliness, but Six makes some serious points about female victimhood and survival."[36]

In a review of the Chicago production, Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune praised the show as "dynamic" and a "blast", with a "sense of humor and spirited radicalism." Marlow and Moss are "gifted comic writers," he said, and he praised the "musical force of the intensely committed and talented actresses" in the Chicago cast. Jones suggests the show could use 10 more minutes of material that gets away from the plot's singing contest conceit, and toward the emotional center of the characters. He also thinks the orchestration of the songs could be more substantial. Jones believes Six has an audience that is ready for it, in part because it gets to a complex historical paradox and treats it with verve, the memories of women in history being tied to the life of a man.[37] Hedy Weiss of WTTW praises the musical as "sensational", singling out each performer in the Chicago cast. Weiss also thinks the show makes a convincing case for each character, and in addition to praising the writers, notes the "dynamite direction by Moss and Jamie Armitage, and powerhouse music direction by Roberta Duchak" as well as, "Gabriella Slade’s glittering costumes . . . and Tim Deiling’s arena-style lighting".[38] According to Rachel Weinberg of Broadway World, "Six carries out [a] joyful and anachronistic takedown of the patriarchy" through the performances of a "brilliant" cast and a book and score with an inventive and sensational compositional method.[39] Jesse Green of The New York Times wrote that the musical is "pure entertainment", the writing is "wickedly smart", the "terrific singers" of the Chicago cast sell the show "unstintingly", and the production values "befit a splashy North American premiere with Broadway backing."[40]

• Official Website