Winner of over 35 international awards, including two 2022 Tony Awards, Six returns to the Benedum Center through October 12th.
By JESSICA NEU
As women, we often find ourselves in spaces that require us to prove ourselves constantly. Despite our triumphs, tenacity, grit, or personality, sometimes women are categorized together in the same breath and reduced to a monolithic footnote in a larger patriarchal story. But what happens when women take history into their own hands, or crowns, and repurpose their stories to go from history to ‘herstory?
Written and directed by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, Six tells the story of Henry VIII’s six wives, but with a contemporary twist: each queen tells her story through a song as if they are part of a girl group in competition with each other for who Henry treated the worst. Supported by an all-female band and illuminated by eccentric lighting (Tim Deiling), Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr step out of the shadow of their infamous husband and reclaim their own stories.
The queens take the stage, microphone in hand, and immediately shatter the 4th wall with cries of “Pittsburgh, how are you doing?!” The volume of cheers and applause indicated that Pittsburgh was indeed ready for the breakneck 80-minute musical that often feels more like a Chappell Roan concert than a Broadway musical. Clad in bustiers, corsets, and skirts that are all lavishly bathed in rhinestones (Gabriella Slade, costume design), the six queens begin by introducing themselves in one of three ensemble numbers. Slightly stiff choreography was easily forgiven by the tremendous harmonies that welcomed the crowd to the “divorced, beheaded live tour” as the queens invited the audience to “party with us old school – really old school.”
From the first few notes, it is apparent that each queen values themself and projects a strong sense of self-worth. Each one is eager to convince the audience that they have, in fact, dealt with the most BS from Henry.
Catherine of Aragon’s (Emma Elizabeth Smith) solo is up first with “No Way.” This up-tempo salsa-infused, spicy number allows Smith to showcase her best Pop-Diva belt while lamenting over her struggles of being forced to marry her dead husband’s brother and then struggling with infertility and her husband’s infidelity.
Anne Boleyn (Anna Hertel) is up next with the catchy “Don’t Lose Your Head.” The jive-infused beat in 4/4 time presents another opportunity Hertel and her fellow queens to entertain the crowd with a vibrant pop-dance number featuring a hook that bears a resemblance to the latest Max Martin/Shellback hit. Boleyn’s bitterness stems from the fact that she gave Henry a child, but birthed a daughter instead of an heir, and then was subsequently beheaded. Hertel delivers several quick-witted decapitation jokes throughout the show so the queens and the audience remember that she did, in fact, lose her head.
Jane Seymore (Kelly Denice Taylor) transitions into a softer moment of the show and delivers “Heart of Stone” – a power-ballad where Taylor sings to the heaven’s ala Adele or Whitney. She flawlessly executes the runs at the end of the song, demonstrating the most vocal range of the queens and also garnering the largest applause of the evening. “Heart of Stone” deals with Seymore’s unyielding devotion to Henry despite his flaws, only for her to die after complications in childbirth with Henry’s first son.
The quirky and German-influenced “Haus of Holbein” is the second ensemble number. Neon props and flashing lights accentuate the queens as club beats pulse through the theater. This number always feels a bit shoe-horned, but isnevertheless great fun and provides a much-needed transition for the queens as they exit the stage for the first time in the show. Henry’s fourth wife, Anna of Cleves (Hailey Alexis Lewis), kicks off the second half of the wives with the sassy “Get Down.” A fierce attitude and a stunning on-stage costume change accentuate this number, which features a woman banished to a life of solitude due to her appearance, but ultimately celebrates a proud, independent, uninhibited woman.
Katherine Howard (Alize Cruz), Henry VIII’s fifth and youngest queen, is primarily remembered because of her tragic death as the second of Henry’s queens to be beheaded. While the other five Tudor queens are remembered for unique qualities, such as Katherine of Aragon’s royal lineage and refusal to relinquish the crown, and Anne Boleyn’s shrewdness and wit, Katherine Howard is simply remembered as promiscuous and unintelligent. Giving full Ariana Grande vibes in “All You Wanna Do,” Cruz plays up the unintelligent stereotype with quirky humor. Her quirkiness gives way to anguish and pain that reveals her underlying and understandable rage over being used and physically abused.
Finally, Catherine Parr (Tasia Jungbauer) serves as a peacemaker and encourages the queens to stop arguing over who can garner the loudest applause for the most traumatic event. Instead, Parr opts to sing about her fight for female education and empowerment in the emotional “I Don’t Need Your Love.” Parr’s lens helps the queens realize that, even though they are all united as one man’s wives, they are, in fact, unique individuals. One woman is not better than another, but all six women are different in their own way and have a ‘herstory’ to share. This revelation represents a larger shift in the cultural understanding of feminism, moving away from a monolithic viewpoint and instead celebrating intersectionality.
Each of the six queens battles different traumas – infertility, infidelity, complications from childbirth, pressures to achieve heteronormative beauty standards, and physical and emotional abuse. All of these traumas remain relevant today and highlight the intricate intersectionality of feminism. Every woman has a unique and compound experience based on race, ethnicity, gender, and disability. Each song highlights the queen’s unique experience. Still, some of Six’s most profound moments arise from the dialogue where the queens question how the patriarchal structure prohibits the celebration of individually defined female empowerment.
Through a remix of history or a “histo-remix,” Six promotes comprehensive equality that addresses all barriers that women face based on their intersecting identities. Told through a no-skip soundtrack of “straight bangers,” these six showgirls redefine femininity in a star-studded concert-musical that is guaranteed to entertain and inspire.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Six, part of the PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is at the Benedum Center through October 11, 2025. Tickets available at: https://trustarts.org/production/100779/six
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
Leave a Reply Cancel reply