10/25/2025
IF YOU HAVE'T SEEN SIX YET, IT'S TIME!!! Okee dokee folks… Tonight at The Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) I saw Six for the second time. I love this musical. It’s fresh, fun, funny and fast. No formula driven Broadway bravado here! The show clocks in at just around 80 minutes and that is just right.
Simply put, the musical Six is about the six wives of King Henry VIII singing about their fates and vying for the title of top wife. Think of it as Hamilton meets the Spice girls. There’s a flurry of history, err, HERstory presented in song, commentary, and (very funny) jokes by the six.
The audience was welcomed by melodies of 16th century sounding harpsichord music that transitioned into the apropos “Greensleeves”. Though it has been repeatedly debunked, the legend persists that Henry VIII composed it.
The curtain parted and the wives entered announcing their fate- “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”. “Greensleeves” morphed into an EDM number and the women turned Renaissance dance moves modern. In the first song, “Ex-Wives” they sing,“History is about to get overthrown!”
The show is chock full of double entendres and innuendos, mostly at the expense of Henry’s physical appearance and various “parts”. Lots of feminine energy fuels this production. The entire cast as well as the band-who are on the stage during the show, are all women. The show screams “Girl Power!”
The cast interacts with the audience and called out “Providence” many times throughout the night. The audiences replied with lots of hoots and applause. The musical is akin to a concert by-insert your favorite contemporary pop star name here-with group dancing, lights, and heavy beats. The songs mimic various popular musical styles and the lyrics are clever, comical and historical. Though it is dealing with subject matter from Tudor England it is brought into the feel of today with allusions to Tinder dating, Facebook unfriending, smartphones and more.
The set is amazing. Perfectly timed colorful and symbol lighting adds to the flash of the presentation. There is barely a time for a breath during the eighty minutes and how these women can keep the pace, remember the lyrics and moves is very impressive. All of the wives have differing personalities and voices. They were surely selected for their parts based on their unique singing styles. It was hard to select a stand out as they were all amazing but the song that was going through my head as I left PPAC was “All You Wanna Do”. Katherine Howard (Alize Cruz) sang this one with s***k and verve. The emotional “Heart Of Stone” sung by Jane Seymour, played by Kelly Denice Taylor, seemed to get the best response from the crowd.
This is a show the whole family will enjoy. It is short enough to catch on a school or work night. You don’t need to do any homework or know history to enjoy-they fill you in along the way. The music is catchy and you will want to hear it again and again. I am listening to it right now and I just came home from the performance!
Six runs through October 26 at PPAC. Catch it while you can!
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my concert photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. JohnFuzek.com
