Aragon, Boleyn, Seymour, Cleves, Howard and Parr. Three Catherines, two Anne, and one Jane. More pop concerts than stage musicals, Six takes the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII and turns their stories into a wonderful night of song, dance, emotion, and feminism. 

Sometimes it pays to come blind into a show and not know much beyond how the title refers to the six wives. So it was something of a surprise to discover that Six was conceptualized as a concert and that the wives were like a reincarnation of the Spice Girls. Fun, and it’s something they pull off successfully. 

Spice Girls, Avril Lavigne, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, the musical influences come fast and thick as each wife is given her turn in the spotlight. Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. There’s an element of gallows humor with how each wife’s fate is encapsulated and turned into a competition regarding which wife is the most popular in history. 

Of course, it isn’t long before a more strident message about feminism and history - her story - evolves to be the potent moral lesson of the musical. The girls discover they’re all footnotes of history with the common thread of Henry taking them as wives. The point is made that it’s time they took the matter into their own hands and rose above the status of wives first before individual women. 

Part feminist manifesto, part history lesson, and part slum book, the musical Six keeps us entertained and knows not to overstay its welcome. It runs for less than 90 minutes and makes each minute count, whether by song or dance. Six is a show with a terrific international traveling cast that should be noticed. 

The shows run until Oct. 20, and there’s no announcement about any extension as I write this, so don’t miss out. A recipient of Laurence Olivier nominations and Tony wins, this is The Real Thing, a musical written by Barlow and Moss, and first staged on the West End in 2019 and on Broadway in 2021. That’s music to my ears, and I find it sad that our local theater scene keeps reviving musicals from more than 15-30 years ago.