SIX The Musical is more than the past wives of Henry VIII; it is a tale of female empowerment. Check out the details in my parents guide review.
SIX The Musical has come to St. Louis, playing at the Fabulous Fox Theatre from January 24 through February 5. The modern take on the wives of Henry VIII has been gracing the stage for years, having won 23 awards in the 2021–2022 Broadway season, including the Tony Award® for Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. This is a concert that fans will not want to miss! Check out the details in my parents guide review.
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SIX The Musical Parents Guide
In SIX The Musical: From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over!
SIX The Musical Age Appropriate Parents Guide
Let’s take a look at what parents need to know before letting their kids watch SIX The Musical.
Language: SIX The Musical has some language that parents need to be made aware of. Some songs include words like “prick,” referring to the male genitalia, and phrases like “got to hell” and “what the hell?” There are also many implied words, like using the word “b*tches” to refer to dogs and “a**,” or starting to say the word “a**” and then hurrying and changing it to the word “assistant.” There is also a phrase they use to imply sh*t, starting with the word “shiiiii” and then changing it to a different word.
Mature Content: The musical centers around the wives of Henry VIII, so they discuss his mistresses, his beheadings, and his divorces.
Overall Thoughts
SIX The Musical began like a rock concert, with each of Henry VIII’s wives lined up across the stage against a band backdrop. “Divorced, Beheaded, Died; divorced, beheaded, survived,” each late wife’s fate in the marriage with the late Tudor king is repeated. The musical forgoes the traditional musical look and feel, instead going to a “pop” concert for the newly named group “Six,” and begins by informing the audience of a competition that is going to take place, a search for the true “Queen” to hold the title by telling each of their tragic backstories.
SIX The Musical starts with the story of Catherine of Aragon (Jana Larell Glover), who was the first wife of Henry, having first married his brother Arthur and then eventually marrying Henry years later, staying married to him for 24 years, and producing one child together, Mary. Catherine’s pop icon, which she mimics in the show, is inspired by Beyonce and Shakira, as she sings the jealousy-tinged anthem “No Way.” The crowd favorite, Anne Boleyn (Ari Bohannon), follows her with a spunky rendition of “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” as she was famously the first queen to be beheaded by Henry. Boleyn’s pop icon inspiration mimics that of Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne, and by far she was the highlight of the show, as she would often interject with a spunky attitude and remind everyone, often, of her tragic ending, of losing her head.
The show-stopping performance by Jane Seymour (Amina Faye) of “Heart of Stone” was perhaps the biggest surprise in SIX The Musical. Seymour, whose pop icon is similar to Adele and Sia, does not include flashy dance numbers but instead a soulful piece that will send chills down your spine. Henry’s fourth wife, Anna of Cleves (Terica Marie), whose pop icon is inspired by Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, was next, as she sang “Get Down,” which is probably the most female-empowering song of the group. While her fate with the king led to a divorce, she was able to live out the rest of her life in luxury, thanks to the king.
The final two performances by the wives of SIX The Musical were Katherine Howard (Aline Mayagoitia) and Catherine Parr (Sydney Parra). Howard was Henry’s 5th wife, the second to be beheaded, and lived a tragic life being taken advantage of by men, which she tells the story of in her song “All You Wanna Do.” Her pop icon inspiration mimicked that of Ariana Grande and Britney Spears, and her beauty led to her fall in the end. Catherine Parr, whose pop icon mimics Alicia Keyes and Emeli Sande, was the only wife to survive Henry VIII, although she was forced to marry the king even though her heart belonged to another, singing about her tales in “I Don’t Need Your Love.“
SIX The Musical is short and sweet, running around 90 minutes long with no intermission, and while the show begins as a competition on who led the most tragic life, they quickly wrap up the ending with a theme of taking back their power with that anthem named after them, “Six.” While the overall message lacks depth, the show itself is entertaining and a treat for fans of the period, and the actors remind audiences that their stories would never have been told if the endings of their lives were not so tragic. An attempt at “girl power,” as empowering as one can be considering their place in history.
