If you’re looking for high-energy musical theatre coming through Charlotte, the production of Six: The Musical at the Blumenthal is absolutely worth your time!
The show moves pretty fast so keep up or it’s off with your head!— about 80 minutes with no intermission in this production. That pace works in its favor because of all the brilliantly put together musical selections delivered from each phenomenal actress. It keeps the energy up, the audience engaged, and avoids the drag some musicals suffer mid-way. The stories of these six queens telling their stories in a pop concert-format rather than a traditional book musical is such a treat!
The six women representing the wives of Henry VIII each get their moment in the spotlight. The performer playing Jane Seymour (Kelly Denice Taylor) gave a performance that pulled at my heart strings and had me wondering about what could’ve been. The solos such as “Heart of Stone” and “I Don’t Need Your Love” performed by Tasia Jungbauer who plays Catherine Parr came through with real emotional weight, not just spectacle and was a great way to add balance to the uptempo pop selections.
One of the stand out performances was Anna of Cleves (Hailey Alexis Lewis). Her performance of “Get Down” was my absolute favorite! She brought the house down with her voice and the red reveal!
The whole aesthetic is vibrant pop-queen meets Tudor history meets rock-concert. Nella Cole who plays Anne Boleyn greets the audience in a vibrant green number that pairs well with the forward thinking Anne and her rebellious attitude. All of it intentionally over-the-top in a fun way. The staging at the Belk Theatre (one of Blumenthal’s houses) supports this show’s scale and vibe nicely. I also love how this felt like a live concert with the ladies getting the audience to participate and sing and dance along.
At the end of this production it was clear that these queens had a voice and choices that, if given the opportunity, would’ve been history makers on their own terms. What stands out is how the show reframes these historical figures — the wives of Henry VIII — and gives them voice and agency in a modern, humorous, feminist-leaning way. Six sheds light on serious points about female victimhood and survival. It’s witty and fun, but with bite.
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