Review: Six The Musical visits Nottingham on its UK tour
The musical is a modern tale about the six wives of Henry VIII and has been very popular in the West End and on Broadway before heading on tour.
Six The Musical came to the Theatre Royal in Nottingham between November 21-26 with consecutive sold-out nights.
I was very lucky to go and see the musical twice (surprisingly after two people had to drop out last minute) and this is what I thought of it.
This was my first time seeing Six The Musical which I was very excited to see after hearing a few songs from the soundtrack and lots of content about it on social media and it definitely lived up to the hype.
My Theatre Experience
I had two quite different experiences seeing the musical but still enjoyed both visits. When I went on the opening night, I was with my friend (thank you Katie for inviting me) and her family a few rows back in the stalls which was an amazing view! I was also introduced to my first stage door experience where I met four members of the cast after the show who were all so lovely.
For the second time seeing the musical, I had a solo theatre trip and was sitting in the second row to the back of the balcony. I was pretty high up but was still able to see and hear all of the action on stage. So, if there are only a few tickets left at the back or you want to save money, I would highly recommend that you still buy the theatre ticket!
I also bought some merch both times that I was there. For the first time, I bought the Six programme for £7 which was signed by one of the cast during the stage door meet and greet. When I returned to the theatre, I caved in and bought the Six heel keyring which looks stunning! It was £20 which is quite expensive for a keyring but it is very high quality and was one of the merch pieces that I really liked so I had to buy it.
Music
Six is a musical that is mainly centered around songs and music which I really like. The cast definitely paid justice to the songs and had incredible vocals. I loved how each queen had their own song about their life to tell their story and the rest of the queens would do backing vocals, join in with the choreography and just add to the performance factor. There was a mix of song styles including ballads, pop songs and a dance song which helped to differentiate the queens.
It’s very hard to choose a favourite song from the musical because the songs have different styles. One of the songs I really like is Don’t Lose Ur Head which is Anne Boleyn’s song (played by Izi Maxwell during my performances) because it’s such a fun and bold song. On the opposite spectrum, Jane Seymour’s Heart Of Stone is a beautiful, moving ballad with amazing vocals by Erin Caldwell. Ex-wives, the starting song that features all of the queens and is one of the most famous songs of the musical, is so catchy and has great choreography to go with it. The final queen’s song (Catherine Parr played by Aoife Haakenson) I Don’t Need Your Love is the perfect song to conclude the story with messages of girl power.
Costumes
I absolutely love the costumes for the queens in Six and would probably say they are my favourite outfits from a musical (which is why I have to mention it here). They are all coordinated in style in terms of the jewels but are different colours and clothing pieces which again adds to the individuality of the queens. Something which I noticed halfway through my first visit was each costume has a microphone holder for the cast to use during choreography which I thought was so clever.
Overall
Six is an amazing musical that is creative with the songs and dialogue. I really liked the comedic moments between songs and how the queens interacted with each other. It also felt like there was a personal element to the show when the cast introduced the band and in the starting dialogue when the characters talked directly to the audience about the show. I will definitely be listening to the soundtrack a lot and will hopefully get a chance to see the musical again in the future!
