SIX the Musical Vaudeville Theatre – Review

Last Updated on November 4, 2021

Girl Power Musical SIX with an all-new cast

SIX a ‘pop-feminist’ musical written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, started out as a Cambridge University student production at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.  It has since gone on to be a global phenomenon with productions in London’s West End, in New York at Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway and is due to open in Australia this December at the Sydney Opera House. SIX has also been nominated for five Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. It won the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical at the Whatsonstage, and it is now the second most-streamed musical theatre album in the world, second only to Hamilton!

I really don’t know how I’ve managed to miss seeing this iconic all-female musical, which is the talk of the town, until now! But finally, I caught it with its all-new cast, including six fabulous new Queens at its new West End home, the Vaudeville Theatre last night, co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage.

In true rock concert style, a group of six diverse, sassy women (think girl band…the Spice Girls meet Little Mix) suitably representative of today’s young woman, take the stage dressed head to toe in spangly doublets and fishnet-hose looking like something out of a video game. The tight female backing band are perched on rosters at the back of the stage,  also styled in leather studded attire, with costumes designed by Gabriella Slade.

They introduce themselves Queen by Queen – Catherine, Anne, Jane, Anne, Katherine and Catherine before taking you on an 80-minute fast track historical journey through the trials and the tribulations of these six wives who as they point out made Henry VIII more famous than most other Kings.

This talented group of young women are all as ballsy as each other, each possessing a rollicking voice and bucket loads of personality. The narrative is fairly straightforward, there’s no jeopardy as we all know the story, but here the fight is on to win the crown of the wife with the saddest story, the one who suffered the most. There are no holds barred, as they are virtually fighting in the round, before finally reaching the conclusion that they would be better off working together. With the knowledge that there were no happy endings, they make the decision to go on to write their own finale, coming together for their exuberant final numbers, SIX and MegaSIX. Themes of female empowerment filter through, although in reality the concept of feminism is spread a little thin.

Looking for something different in the West End of London? We also recommend Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical – check our review