Welcome to the show to the histo-remix! — Ex-Wives, SIX
Spoiler-free review:
Rating out of 10: 10
Likes: Casting, set design, costume choices, the musical’s self-awareness and the way it embodies its themes.
Critiques: As much as I enjoy the set I wish we spent more time with the Six Queens as a unit, I understand that isn’t the point but I still would appreciate it as a storytelling device.
Spoiler review:
SIX: The Musical was written and developed by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss in late 2016. In the style of a girly pop concert. It takes influences from history (the Six Wives of Henry VIII) and multiple pop icons including but certainly not limited to, Beyoncé, Lilly Allen, Adele, Rihanna, Britney Spears, and Alicia Keys. While it was initially developed as a school assignment for Moss and Marlow it eventually took off on the West End following the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 getting a pre-West end tour in 2018 and transferring to the West End in 2019 and it has kept going til the present. It eventually transferred to Broadway in 2020/2021. I saw SIX on tour in Canada. The plot follows the Six Wives as they choose their leading lady only to realize that it elevates patriarchal structures to do so as the only thing the Six Queens have in common is their husband. Overall I found it exceedingly clever and witty despite the pop concert backdrop and the premise. Anyone who says girly pop cannot be sophisticated is lying to you. Overall some very clever people put together SIX and I would recommend the show even to non-historical nerds.
We’re taking back control, you need to know…. — I Don’t Need Your Love, SIX
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