Reigning in Manila: All hail SIX!

by John Joseph Basijan / October 11, 2024

“Divorced, beheaded, died/Divorced, beheaded, survived.”

Who knew that a musical that starts off with this ominous mnemonic would turn out to be 80 minutes filled with humor, camp, and a celebration of what Chappell Roan would call a “Femininomenon?”

This mnemonic serves as the basis of “Six,” the hit Tony Award-winning West End and Broadway musical now playing at The Theatre at Solaire for a limited three-week engagement. 

Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss during their final year in college, “Six” reimagines the sorry wives of English king Henry VIII as a pop girl group vying for the position of lead singer. The catch? The winner, determined with the help of the audience every night, would be chosen based on whose life under their common husband was worse.

Since premiering at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017, “Six” saw a meteoric rise to international popularity spurred by social media. Both its UK cast studio recording and the Broadway cast’s live recording recently reached a billion streams, partly due to the musical’s breakout hit, “Don’t Lose Ur Head.” 

“Six” continues to play to crowds at the West End and on Broadway, toured cities in the US, Europe, and South Korea, and was even performed on cruise ships sailing around the world. 

This year, Manila had the pleasure of hosting the six queens on our shores, and the Filipino “Queendom,” mostly made up of Gen Z-ers who heard the musical’s songs on TikTok, have bestowed upon them the warm welcome they deserve.

As we’d like to call it, “her-story”

To those unfamiliar with British history, King Henry VIII had six wives throughout his reign from 1509 to 1547: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.

The aforementioned mnemonic described their ultimate fate at the hands of the king: both Aragon and Cleves had their marriages annulled; Boleyn and Howard met their demise at the chopping block; Seymour lost her life after giving birth to Henry’s only son; and Parr outlived the aging king.

In “Six,” each of the queens tells her story in a concert setting, belting out songs inspired by today’s pop icons, namely Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, and Alicia Keys. Even the Tony Award-winning costumes, designed by Gabriella Slade, are directly inspired by these pop singers.

The six queens are accompanied on stage by a four-piece band, the “Ladies in Waiting,” each named after an actual lady-in-waiting who served one of the queens during their reigns. 

Giving life to the six queens are this year’s phenomenal UK and International Tour cast, boasting vocal prowess and packing riffs to match today’s pop stars.

Billie Kerr’s distinct Scottish accent added a layer of humorous stoicism to the scorned Aragon, and Liberty Stottor’s quiet demeanor as Jane Seymour masked a magnetic presence. Hannah Victoria’s swagger was on full display as Cleves, while Lizzie Emery’s youthful take on Howard made the queen’s story (and ending) even more devastating. Eloise Lord, as Parr, brought the musical to its soaring climax with her vocal pyrotechnics.

Notable among the cast members is Filipina-American actress Yna Tresvalles as Anne Boleyn, who exuded teenage charm and a punky attitude as the historically famed temptress. Tresvalles joins the growing list of actresses with Filipino blood who have portrayed one of the six queens worldwide, along with Andrea Macasaet, who originated the role of Anne Boleyn on Broadway; Jasmine Forsberg, who currently plays Jane Seymour on Broadway; Elysia Cruz, who played Katherine Howard in Toronto; and Danielle Mendoza, who played Anna of Cleves in the musical’s North American tour.

Apart from the six queens and their ladies-in-waiting, another character makes the show come to life: the audience, whom the queens regularly acknowledge and address throughout the show.

Filipino audiences proved themselves up to the task in creating a concert-like atmosphere in an otherwise traditional theater setting—throughout the show, fans were clapping, whooping, and cheering on all of the queens in equal measure.

At the end of the show, everyone had their phones out (and only when instructed by the queens themselves) to capture the encore number on video—the “MegaSIX,” a mashup of all their solo numbers culminating in a powerful harmony and a striking power pose.

“…just one word in a stupid rhyme”

In retrospect, what history tells us about the actual six wives of Henry VIII is solely based on narratives that have been penned by men.

While Aragon’s and Boleyn’s lives have been well-documented, little has been written about the others, creating perceptions that are possibly far from the actual lives that these women led. Jane Seymour, the king’s most beloved, has only ever been portrayed as meek and subservient. Katherine Howard, meanwhile, has long been branded a harlot for her “scandalous” relationships outside of her marriage with Henry while overlooking the possibility that her youth might have been abused by men long before. 

“Six” lets the queens tell their own stories through pop-infused solo numbers, and both critics and fans have hailed the show for its celebration of feminism. One might think, however: for a show that celebrates feminism, why present it as a competition based on the queen’s experiences with a man?

This question is, of course, answered in a cheeky way through a twist at the show’s climax. Without giving too much away, one of the queens quipped that grouping them six was already an inherently comparative act, and only perpetuates the historical narratives written for them by men. 

With this throwaway line, “Six” acknowledges that, while they cannot fully unearth how each of the six queens actually lived, they can at least celebrate their individuality and achievements outside of their times with Henry. Though it’s a surface-level exploration culminating in a somewhat rushed resolution, it still asks the important questions about how women are portrayed in history and, more importantly, why women’s narratives and achievements are still being connected to men, even until today.

But flaws and all, “Six” proves to have substance beyond its glittery Tudor-inspired costumes and its pop concert-like setup. The musical’s defiant message of individuality and reclaiming one’s story reverberates throughout the theater like a sold-out concert in an arena, told through songs that have the makings of viral TikTok hits—which some of them already are.

Manila is the first Southeast Asian stop for the musical’s ongoing UK and International Tour, with Singapore as its next destination this November. “Six” runs until October 20 at The Theatre at Solaire, with tickets available at TicketWorld. RDH

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