THEATRE REVIEW

MAY 2025 | Volume 251

 

Hey, Vancouver! Are you ready to hear from the six dead ex-wives of Henry the Eighth? Alright,Vancooooover!!!

SIX, the Broadway hit musical now playing at the Queen E, is more pop concert than traditional theatre show. It has no real plot or story. The only performers are the six queens and their four all-female band members (the Ladies-in-Waiting). Each of the six has her solo with the other women singing back-up, supported by glam costumes, flashy concert lighting and tight choreography. The performers directly acknowledge the audience and end with an encore.

It's part tongue-in-cheek American Idol as the six compete to decide whose life with Henry was the worst. Part Real Housewives as they diss each other in competitive rivalry. And part Girl Power as a kind of feminist solidarity emerges at the end, sweeping up the queens and the audience in the spirit of sisterly self-determination.

Sure, it’s a little cheesy but it’s big fun. With no attempt at a 16th century setting, the show has a completely contemporary vibe. The characters speak and sing in 21st century vernacular and the music and singing are very good in this Broadway Across Canada touring company. Gabriella Slade’s costumes dazzle, Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography keeps everything and everyone moving all the time, reinforced by Tim Deiling’s subtly flashy lighting.

The crowd-pleasing, upbeat R&B score gets full value from a talented ensemble. Soulful ChaniMaisonet’s Catherine of Aragon opens with what may be the best song in the show, “No Way,” followed by Gaby Albo’s Cindy Lauper-ish Anne Boleyn singing “Don’t Lose Ur Head.” Kelly Denice Taylor’s Jane Seymour admits she loved the bastard, having turned her heart into a “Heart of Stone.” German Anne of Cleves (Danielle Mendoza) takes pride in having been queen of the castle (“Get Down”), and generates the show’s best ensemble number, “Haus of Holbein.” After sexy Katherine Howard (Alizé Cruz) makes her claim to have suffered the most (“All You Wanna Do”), Tasia Jungbauer’s Catherine Parr urges her sister-queens to stop with the trauma and defeat (“I Don’t Need Your Love”—another fine song) and take pride in their own resilienceand accomplishments.

This is feel-good musical theatre, and it all comes together in an unheard-of 90 minutes – with no intermission!

 

 

 

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