The musical that brought everyones’ eyes to her-story, “SIX,” finally hit Washington D.C. after several years of anticipation and my expectations were beyond met. “SIX” follows the famed six ex-wives of Henry VIII as they have a contest to see who had it worse with the English King. It was a stunning performance with an upbeat yet historic soundtrack, fabulous costumes, and clever wordplay.

The comedic musical did not start out in the United States but was created and written by Marlow and Lucy Moss in England. The show would go on to be showcased in the West End of London beginning in late 2017, with all of the shows selling out. The musical expanded to the United States amidst its popularity and arrived at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2019. With the (unsurprising) smashing success of the musical, “SIX” was planned to premiere on Broadway in New York in 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19.  It finally made its debut in 2022, where the queens continue to sing there today at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. The famous musical is now the second highest streamed musical (after “Hamilton”) and has been nominated for and won several awards, including six Tony Awards nominations. 

Currently,  two “SIX” tours are traveling throughout the United States, the Aragon Tour and the Boleyn Tour. The Aragon Tour is the cast of queens that performed in the National Theater in Washington, D.C. from July 5 to September 4 this past summer. The Aragon Tour will be performing in various Floridian cities throughout October, while the Boleyn tour will primarily be in Arizona for October. 

I first listened to the soundtrack of “SIX” in 2020 and could not get enough, so when the musical finally arrived in the district for me to watch, my dreams came true. The costumes were stunning, the lights were dazzling, and the voices of each wife were incredible and robust. The lyrics to the songs are witty, catchy and so unbelievably addictive. Songs like “Don’t Lose Your Head” and “All You Wanna Do” can easily get stuck in your head for days.. 

Something that really stuck out to me was the use of lights during the performance. There would constantly be colorful lasers shooting about and moving up and down. Considering that the show had no moving sets and minimal props, the use of lighting made it very entertaining and interactive of a show to watch and had me on edge the entire time. 

Every solo act was entertaining and unique in its own way. Queens like Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn sang their respective pop songs “No Way” and “Don’t Lose Your Head” beautifully and kept the audience on their toes and engaged. One of the slower songs, “Heart of Stone,” sung by Jane Seymour, was so heartfelt it could bring tears to your eyes. 

The musical ended with the wives concluding that fighting about who had the most tragic backstory and time with Henry was wrong. They sang one final song together, ending the show with a bang. Even though “SIX” is not the most historically accurate, it is still a banger that can teach you a thing or two about history and will leave you with amusement, joy, and no regrets.