Susan Granger’s review of “Six” (Brooks Atkinson Theatre – Broadway)
There’s a good reason why audiences stand and cheer when the curtain goes up on this rollicking rock ‘n’ roll musical. Its original opening night occurred just as the Covid pandemic shut down the Great White Way.
Now, 19-months later, it’s back on Broadway, situated on a single, concert-style set, designed by Emma Bailey, with a “Ladies in Waiting” onstage band and performed without an intermission.
For those unfamiliar with the concept: six strutting women play the various wives of England’s King Henry VIII, appearing in historical order and each vying for approval as the most worthy Tudor Queen for having endured the most cruelly wretched spousal dismissal.
Their lyric – “Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived” – sums it up completely.
Adrianna Hicks starts off as Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, whose devout Catholic faith prevented divorce, causing Henry VIII to part from the Pope’s Church of Rome in order to marry Anne Boleyn, hilariously played by Andrea Macaset, who warns “Don’t Lose Ur Head.”
Then there’s Abby Mueller as Jane Seymour, belting the ballad describing Henry’s “Heart of Stone,” and Brittney Mack as Anna of Cleves, resentful because Henry VIII divorced her he felt she wasn’t as attractive as the portrait that preceded her arrival from Germany. Given a contemporary spin: “I didn’t match my profile picture…”
Courtney Mack follows as teenage Katherine Howard, executed on a fabricated charge of treason, and finally Anna Uzele concludes as Catherine Parr, who outlived feckless Henry by a year..
British lyricists/composers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss wrote this exuberant ‘girl power’ musical while taking their final exams at Cambridge. After five Olivier Award nominations during its West End run, it’s been touring ever since with Ms. Moss co-directing with her Cambridge classmate James Armitage, becoming – at 27 – the youngest-ever female Broadway director.
Choreographed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and costumed by Gabriella Slade, “Six” has an open-ended run at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. And for audiences concerned about Covid, masks must be worn and vaccination credentials, along with photo ID, are conscientiously matched/checke