skygiants: Jareth, from Labyrinth, with his hands to his cheeks as he gasps (le gasp)
skygiants ([personal profile] skygiants) wrote2019-09-12 10:51 pm
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Tonight [personal profile] genarti and I went to go see SIX, the musical in which the six wives of Henry VIII compete to be lead singer in their pop-rock band by comparing miserable facts about their lives through the medium of catchy and potentially chart-topping singles!

The program: "No longer on the outskirts of history, these Queens are taking over the world!"
Me, reading this out to [personal profile] genarti: Okay, sure, but can anyone really say that the six wives of Henry VIII are on the outskirts of history?
[personal profile] genarti: It's true, they are extremely in-skirted.

Was the show good? ... I mean, what is 'good'? What is 'art'? Is it a synth-heavy remix of "Greensleeves" punctuated by shouts of "Divorced! Beheaded! LIVE!" Is it a pop-feminist musical that takes 75 minutes to come to the conclusion that, perhaps, defining historical women by the men in their lives is Bad? Who am I to say? I'm just a humble theater lover who's here to watch six talented and sparkly women don giant ruffs and fake German accents in a transcendently weird ode to Hans Holbein and Renaissance-era makeup while a hail of confetti rains down on their heads.



(At first I assumed the costuming was inspired by historical portraiture and was disappointed that I couldn't correctly identify which wife was which from the poster except for Anne Boleyn with her signature B, but it turns out their costumes are instead all mostly homages to their pop musical inspiration with some vague Tudor elements so now I feel less bad.)

Do I have beef? Obviously I have beef, I have far too many Tudor opinions not to have beef. My biggest issue is the almost complete and total erasure of political ambition as a motivation for any of the wives, which comes out most significantly in Anne Boleyn's frustrating presentation as an airheaded Mean Girl but seems like kind of a significant oversight in a musical whose stated project is about returning voice and agency to historical women ...

In pettier news, it's not like anyone can prove "Jane Seymour truly loved and was loved by Henry VIII" is wrong, technically, it's just the most boring Jane Seymour take possible in this or any other year.

([personal profile] genarti's theory is that the Boring Jane Seymour Take reflects the showriter's opinions on Adele and the genre of soulful white girls, on whom her musical stylings are based, as much as it does their opinions on Jane Seymour herself, and this may well be true but I'm still annoyed.)

All that said: were we not entertained? Yes, we were, extremely, and it's entirely possible I'm going to buy the cast recording at some point and happily listen to relisten to the siren sound of synth-pop Greensleeves in the comfort of my own home.
sovay: (Rotwang)

[personal profile] sovay 2019-09-13 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, we were, extremely, and it's entirely possible I'm going to buy the cast recording at some point and happily listen to relisten to the siren sound of synth-pop Greensleeves in the comfort of my own home.

Is the music better than the politics? (The costumes look amazing.)
thistleingrey: (Default)

[personal profile] thistleingrey 2019-09-13 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
That pic is awesome.
aberration: NASA Webb image of the Carina nebula (no sharp edges)

[personal profile] aberration 2019-09-13 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
I just, I know in my heart I would not be able to get past these bad Tudors takes
vass: Small turtle with green leaf in its mouth (Default)

[personal profile] vass 2019-09-13 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
The costumes are amazing.
antisoppist: (Default)

[personal profile] antisoppist 2019-09-13 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
it turns out their costumes are instead all mostly homages to their pop musical inspiration

Ah. My first question was going to be "what is the historical thinking behind the only one who is in trousers and which one is she?" I feel it should be Catherine Parr though.
aquamirage: Peggy Carter looking super cool in cool sunglasses (let me hear you say hey)

[personal profile] aquamirage 2019-09-13 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
everything about this musical made more sense to me when i found out they wrote it while procrastinating on studying for university exams
rmc28: Rachel in hockey gear on the frozen fen at Upware, near Cambridge (Default)

[personal profile] rmc28 2019-09-13 09:43 am (UTC)(link)
I had a ticket to see this in Cambridge at the ADC after its run at Edinburgh, and then spouse didn't get home in time for me to get to it and I was mildly annoyed. But I had it mentally tagged as "amusing-sounding student theatre" and now it seems to have become an International Musical Theatre Phenomenon and I don't have the bragging rights of knowing it before it was cool.
annotated_em: Mukuro (Katekyo Hitman Reborn), chin on hands, laughing. (Mukuro - laughing)

[personal profile] annotated_em 2019-09-13 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
Life truly is a rich tapestry.
aamcnamara: (Default)

[personal profile] aamcnamara 2019-09-13 11:54 am (UTC)(link)
a) of course this exists
b) of course you and [personal profile] genarti went to see it
c) I think, based on this review, I will not make a special effort to see this show, but I may look up synth-pop Greensleeves sometime
oracne: turtle (Default)

[personal profile] oracne 2019-09-13 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Even though not perfect, it sounds FASCINATING.
vintagewitch: (want to believe)

[personal profile] vintagewitch 2019-09-13 12:22 pm (UTC)(link)
This is ... incredible. I just ... wow

I kind of want to see it? But I don't know? But kind of????
evewithanapple: anne shirley, feeling rather disgruntled | <lj user="evewithanapple"</lj> (anne | the depths of despair)

[personal profile] evewithanapple 2019-09-13 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
which comes out most significantly in Anne Boleyn's frustrating presentation as an airheaded Mean Girl

HJK;LBGK;LKJHKM,;.'LKOIJHUYGTFVBHJNHKML;,KJBHBWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

*deep breath*

So, what do they do with my girl Catherine Howard?
osprey_archer: (Default)

[personal profile] osprey_archer 2019-09-13 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
One of my coworkers is obsessed with this show! So I am glad to hear about someone seeing it In the Wild, although at the same time it seems like kind of a lost opportunity that they did not base the wives' costumes on Tudor portraiture, only with 110% more glitter.

I feel like leaving out the wives' political ambitions is kind of big misstep for a show that aims to return voice and agency to historical women. What even was Anne Boleyn about if not political ambition?
ladymondegreen: (Theater)

[personal profile] ladymondegreen 2019-09-14 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
I'm actually really looking forward to this show, which I've been listening to on Spotify after seeing it mentioned somewhere. It's not Historical Accurate, but the songs are a lot of fun.
cinaed: This started as a joke (Started as a Joke)

[personal profile] cinaed 2019-09-14 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
I remain amused at the fact that I saw a musical about the six wives of Henry VIII, except that it was clearly not this one, because mine had the six wives putting Henry on trial in the afterlife and pretty much all telling him he was a dick.
obopolsk: (Default)

[personal profile] obopolsk 2019-09-15 01:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I cannot wait to see this! I won't manage to make it to Boston in time but am definitely going once it gets to NYC.
alchimie: (Default)

[personal profile] alchimie 2019-09-16 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I would really love to see this; I do have many many Tudor Opinions but also I just cannot resist the glitter and big pop numbers and -- everything.

Please tell me more about what they did with my favourite, Anne of Cleves?
hermionesviolin: Ainsley Hayes from the West Wing looking firm, with text "You don't think they hated me the first time around?" (Ainsley Hayes)

[personal profile] hermionesviolin 2019-09-17 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
This review makes me feel much better about the fact that tickets had sold out by the time my excellent human and I got our schedules sorted.