The West End fan-favorite musical Six has crossed the pond and is now crossing the States on tour. I went to see the show while they are in Hollywood and here is my recap of that experience.
Six is a musical that I have been listening to and following since the West End’s original cast, so I’ve been looking forward to seeing the show live. I was still pleasantly surprised with the show seeing it live, and experiencing the entire show was very fun.
For those unfamiliar, Six is about the six ex-wives of Henry VIII as they remix their stories into a euphoric pop concert. Think Tudor Queens meets the Spice Girls but with more beheading and immaculate harmonies. Each queen gets an epic solo, each re-telling their own hardships while betrothed to their husband, staged as a pop concert with choreography, coordinating lights, backup vocals, and an on-stage band.
The energy is vibrant, filling the theatre with such a joyous feeling even after the ballads that leave you in awe and with chills. This definitely isn’t your ordinary theatre-going experience as they really embrace a concert vibe from the very start and to the very end. Everyone will cheer and clap along throughout the entire performance, and that is exactly how it should be.
The actresses playing the queens were all phenomenal, especially vocally. I’m serious when I say their harmonies are so pristine. And the high notes actually gave me chills multiple times, especially Natalie Paris who plays Jane Seymour and also originated the role on the West End which is a huge treat for me. She hit her high notes and we were all mesmerized. Truly an outstanding singer. Olivia Donalson who plays Anna of Cleves was an absolute delight in her solo, having both a strong energy and endearing joyfulness. She became my favorite queen of this cast for sure.
The only disappointing part of the show really only affects those who are very familiar with Six., and that is the inability to record the Megasix at the end of the show. The Megasix is the last song of the show which is a big medley of all of the songs and the queens would invite the audience to record that one song. But that isn’t the case for the tour and I was genuinely disappointed by that. Of course there is a reason for that change, but it did somewhat sour the experience for me.
Overall, Six truly is the “Euphoric Celebration” that it is touted to be, and I greatly enjoyed seeing it live. No cast album or recording can do this show justice, so it really needs to be seen live to have the full, royal experience.