Review: SIX the musical at The Lowry is ‘the ultimate girl-power tribute, with pop princess flair and royal splendour’

The Queendom were out in full force for the opening night of SIX the musical and The Lowry have pulled out all the stops for the pop royalty and their devoted fans.

Join Aragon, Boleyn, Seymour, Cleves, Howard and Parr as they take to the stage to tell their story.

SIX the musical at The Lowry

SIX the musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss has been taking over stages across the UK and Broadway since 2018.

It features the SIX ex-wives as the main leads and their ladies-in-waiting as their on-stage band as they battle it out to become the reigning champion.

The story doesn’t end there though, SIX is turning history on its head and giving the wives of Henry VIII a chance to tell their tale through badass original songs and stand-out costumes.

Each of the on-stage Queens represents a real-life woman in history who happened to fall in love and marry the Tudor King of England, Henry VIII.

The all-female cast puts a spotlight on the women who we learn about in primary school but are often reduced to just a line in a rhyme about how they were divorced, beheaded, or died, rather than who they were – with a musical twist of course.

The SIX leading ladies are a mix of this century’s biggest pop princesses and daring divas, from Beyoncé to Britney, the Queens of the Tudor age and the SIX Queens of the stage are coming together to highlight these historical women.

Kicking off in pop princess style

The show kicks off in true pop princess style as they sing Ex-Wives – if you haven’t heard the soundtrack already, where have you been?!

The SIX divas come onto the stage in a cloud of smoke, with only the silhouette of their structured costumes and a glimmer of their signature colours showing.

Each Queen has their own unique colour and costume design, Gabriella Slade really knew what she was doing with this show.

Using the Tudor shapes and silhouettes from the era and giving them a modern twist with a rock chick vibe, the Queens all have a distinct style that the audience loves.

Before the show it was easy to see which wives were the favourites with a sea of little girls wearing space buns, gold spiked crowns and pink metallic studded outfits.

The costumes are so iconic that they’ve displayed them in the gallery space above the theatre, so you can go and see them before the show!

Historical events from the wives’ point of view

Each wife gets a turn on the mic and gives their own rendition of their version of events that led to them marrying the King of England, and what happened to them after.

Kicking off with Catherine of Aragon’s side of the story, played by Nicole Lewis, her song ‘No Way’ tells the tale of how she was the first to divorce Henry after she stood her ground in court.

Her lady in waiting and next in line for Queendom is Anne Boleyn, the rebel in green played by Laura Pyatt.

She portrays her as a confident northerner with a bit of an attitude, you start to see why the King chopped off her head, not that she’s salty about it or anything.

The third Queen to take to the throne, Jane Seymour, played by Erin Caldwell had the audience in tears with her heartbreaking Adele-like ballad about how she was truly in love with the King and sadly died without getting to see their son grow up.

The competition hots up, with Kenedy Small as Anne of Cleves showing where she came from with a dynamic blacklight dance routine complete with neon outfits and catchy song ‘Haus of Holbein’.

There’s even a reveal as she gets her redemption in ‘Get Down’, you can easily see where her ‘Queenspiration’ comes from, she even got an audience member on their feet and challenged them to a dance battle.

Kathrine Howard’s ‘All You Wanna Do’ sung by Lou Henry is a pop banger that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Britney album, complete with lyrics that start to make you think twice about these women.

Singing the line “I was 13 going on 30” is a stark reminder of how young these girls actually were, Howard was just 17 when she married the King.

Catherine Parr, played by Aoife Haakenson, realises the injustice and while being the surviving Queen she knows she didn’t have it quite as rough as the Queens who came before her.

Parr understands that they were all individuals who deserve to have their lives talked about in the history books, rather than just their untimely deaths, and wants to bring the Queens together.

Who runs the world? Girls!

It’s better to stick together and support each other, rather than tearing other women down.

When all of the Queens have had their time on stage, before you know it, the show’s almost over.

Incredible energy throughout

For 80 minutes the SIX stars kept the energy up – the live band on stage and the bright costumes made it feel like you were at a Little Mix concert, not a theatre!

It’s so easy to see why the young girls and women in the audience are hooked on this show.

It’s dynamic, edgy and fun, but discusses real-life topics like trauma and heartbreak in a way that it’s not just glossed over.

It’s the ultimate girl power tribute, real-life Queens from history, talking about what life was like back then, through songs that will be on your playlist for weeks to come.

The audience is encouraged to leave their phones off until the last part of the show, where you’re allowed to join in, film and share to your story.

Tickets for SIX the musical at The Lowry

If you want a taste of Queendom, SIX the show is sold out but the Queens exhibition is free to enter at The Lowry and you might even spot some famous faces.

SIX is running from the 13th of August to the 1st of September 2024 before the Queens carry on their reign across the country.

You can get tickets for Six the Musical at The Lowry by clicking here