There was no master plan. When the creators of the wildly successful musical Six came up with their concept to reintroduce the world to Henry the VIII’s many wives, their goal was simply to create a work that made women the centerpiece of the story and let them to flaunt their talent as if it were the Hope diamond. A rare opportunity in too many theatrical performances. They had no idea that what they produced would take over the world.
Young and supremely gifted, Toby Marlow masterminded the concept and recruited fellow theater student Lucy Moss to work with him on the project. Then he pitched it to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a slot in their 2017 theater season. Getting in was a monstrous win. That one month run has now turned a year and a half and probably headed to Broadway (and Hollywood) where, by rights, it should be greeted with confetti raining from rooftops.
If there wasn’t such a transformative feel to the production, calling it a pop musical would suffice. But Six is different. It takes the cold facts of history and drapes them in gleaming lamé simply by making the stories of these exceptional women hyper-relatable to contemporary audiences. It then builds the persona of each of the queens around that of a reigning diva of pop music culture. Adele and Sia provided the “queenspiration” for Jane Seymour while Katherine Howard’s template was modelled after Ariana Grande and Britney Spears. It’s this focus on pop divadom and its unerring devotion to the language of pop culture, the syntax of the street and the club idioms that turn the project into not only a pop musical, but pop theater.
Watching and listening to Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss in interviews helps to understand how the musical works as well as it does. Exploding with youth and talent, Six looks at what happened with Henry and his wives 400 years ago with baby fresh eyes. The audience relearns who got divorced, beheaded and who survived while the queens engage in a raucous contest to see who endured the most mistreatment from H8. It’s a game of one-upmanship that only women can pull off with such dazzling aplomb. Plain ole fun rests at the core of a dynamic production that feels like jet powered thrill ride.
Backed by a live all girl band that can rock just as hard as any stadium tour, every sovereign comes packed with personality, brains and can throw RuPaul grade attitude. Any audience is going to have a hard time deciding which of the six they relish more because there’s so much to like in all of them.
No doubt Catherine of Aragon, grandly played by Adrianna Hicks and modeled after Beyoncé and Shakira will be a top contender for a lot of people. Glowing with spectacular presence and wielding confidence so fierce you’d naturally have to call it regal, she’s as funny as she is commanding. But she’s far from the only one with those memorable traits. Andrea Macasaet as Anne Boleyn can rightly claim flirting as one of her many interests and never lets with a wit as sweet as it is venomous But for many, Brittney Mack’s Anne of Cleves, the “survivor”, should easily walk away as top queen. Channeling hip hop friendly Nicki Minaj and Rhianna, Mack’s Anne doesn’t apologize for not being as pretty as her “profile picture”. Rather than being cowed by 8, she ends up becoming renowned for the zest and relentlessness of her palatial throw downs.
Each of the six tells her story in song, most of it bouncing in a rhythm that’s tight and swinging. And each one of them deliver lustrous sound. Unlike that other musical that went on to global fame and fortune for reinterpreting history through music, Six is a fast efficient 90 minutes long and leaves theatergoers so light with joy they might as well levitate.
With all the success the musical has already enjoyed, co-writer Moss was asked what she most looks forward to for the play in the future. “I can’t wait to see a school production”, she said with a big grin. Now that would be extra.
Six
Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
Runs through August 4
Navy Pier
800 E. Grand
Chicago, IL 60611