SIX The Musical Live! Review: Six Queens, One Standing Ovation

By Justin D Williams

I have wanted to see what SIX The Musical was all about for a while, and watching the live pro shot on the big screen finally gave me that opportunity. After seeing it, I completely understand why this musical has developed such a passionate following. SIX The Musical Live! is energetic, funny, creative, and filled with incredible performances, but what impressed me most was how much personality and emotion the show manages to pack into such a simple concept. This is not a traditional movie adaptation of a musical. It is a professionally filmed stage production, and I think that was absolutely the right decision. The premise immediately worked for me. The six wives of Henry VIII have essentially formed a pop group, and each woman gets her opportunity to explain why she had the worst experience being married to Henry. That setup sounds ridiculous when you describe it, but the show completely commits to it. What starts as a competition between the queens gradually becomes something more meaningful as they begin questioning why their identities and stories should continue revolving around Henry VIII in the first place. I loved how the musical uses comedy and modern pop music to introduce these historical figures while still acknowledging the darker parts of their stories.

One of the biggest strengths for me was the cast. Jarnéia Richard-Noel as Catherine of Aragon, Millie O’Connell as Anne Boleyn, Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour, Alexia McIntosh as Anna of Cleves, Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard, and Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr all bring completely different personalities to their characters. I never felt like one queen was simply standing around waiting for her turn to sing. Even when another performer was in the spotlight, I found myself watching the reactions happening elsewhere on the stage because the entire cast stays engaged throughout the production. Millie O’Connell was one of the immediate standouts for me as Anne Boleyn. Her comic timing is fantastic, and she has this wonderfully chaotic energy that makes almost every expression and reaction funny. She knows exactly when to push a joke without making the character feel like nothing more than comic relief. Then Natalie Paris gives Jane Seymour a completely different presence. Her performance is more restrained and emotional, giving the musical an important change of pace. “Heart of Stone” was one of the moments where I realized this show could do much more than make me laugh and give me catchy music.

Infectious, and “Get Down” feels like the moment where the theater turns into a full blown party. I loved how unapologetically confident the character becomes after realizing that her situation actually worked out pretty well compared with everyone else. McIntosh owns the stage during that number, and it became one of my favorite performances of the entire show. Aimie Atkinson’s Katherine Howard performance might have surprised me the most. At first, the character fits perfectly into the glamorous pop star presentation of the musical, but “All You Wanna Do” gradually becomes something much more uncomfortable. The song starts playful and catchy before the reality of what Katherine is describing begins to sink in. I thought the way the performance changes emotionally without abandoning the upbeat structure of the song was brilliant. It is easily one of the strongest examples of how SIX can use pop music to communicate something much heavier.

Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr becomes incredibly important during the final portion of the musical because her story forces the queens to question the competition itself. I really liked the realization that arguing over who suffered the most still means allowing Henry VIII to remain the center of their identities. That was the point where SIX became more than a fun history lesson set to pop songs for me. The musical ultimately becomes about these women reclaiming their stories and deciding how they want to be remembered. The music is another huge reason the show worked so well for me. Every queen gets a musical identity that feels different from everyone else. “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” “Heart of Stone,” “Get Down,” “All You Wanna Do,” and “I Don’t Need Your Love” all bring something different to the production. The songs are catchy enough that I could easily understand why people listen to the cast album outside of the theater, but they also serve the characters instead of simply existing because the show needs another musical number.

I also loved how much the Ladies in Waiting are incorporated into the production. Keeping the musicians visible makes the entire show feel more like an actual concert. The queens acknowledge them, interact with them, and make them feel like part of the performance instead of musicians hidden somewhere underneath the stage. That live band energy adds another layer to the show and helps sell the idea that we are watching six historical figures transformed into a modern pop group. The pro shot itself is well handled in terms of preserving the stage production. One of my concerns with filmed theater is always that aggressive editing can destroy the feeling of watching an actual stage show. SIX The Musical Live! never feels like it is trying to pretend it is a traditional movie, and I appreciated that. The cameras get close enough for me to appreciate facial expressions and smaller character moments that someone sitting farther back in the theater might miss, while still giving us enough wider shots to appreciate the choreography, lighting, costumes, and staging.

However, I also think the biggest weakness of the film is that it does not always take full advantage of being presented in a different medium. Compared with Hadestown: The Musical, which uses camera movement and framing more strategically to pull me into the emotion of the performance, SIX often keeps the camera relatively stationary for long stretches. I understand wanting to preserve the feeling of sitting in the theater, but there were moments where I wanted the filmmaking itself to be more dynamic. The energy onstage is enormous, and I sometimes felt the camera could have done more to translate that energy to the big screen. There were also a few moments where I wished the camera had stayed wide a little longer. That is one of the strange balances a pro shot has to find. I want the camera to move and use the cinematic format more effectively, but I also do not want constant cuts taking away my ability to watch the entire stage. When I am physically sitting inside a theater, I can choose which performer I want to watch at any moment. The best pro shots find a way to guide my attention without making me feel like I am losing that freedom, and SIX does not always find that perfect balance.

The stage design itself is fairly simple, but I never saw that as a weakness. SIX is designed like a concert, and the queens themselves are the spectacle. The lighting, costumes, choreography, music, and personalities provide all the visual energy the show needs. Adding massive scenery changes would probably take away from the immediacy of the production. Everything keeps moving, and the simplicity allows the performers to remain the focus. I especially loved that the audience remained such an important part of the experience. You hear the cheering, laughter, applause, and excitement throughout the performance, and that energy matters. I never forgot that I was watching something performed live in front of an actual crowd. The queens constantly feed off that audience, and the audience gives that energy right back to them. The pro shot does a great job preserving that relationship.

The pacing also worked perfectly for me. SIX gets in, establishes its concept, gives each queen her opportunity to shine, develops its larger message, and gets out before the gimmick has any opportunity to become repetitive. There is virtually no wasted time. It feels like a concert because it moves like one, with every number immediately feeding into the next part of the experience. Watching SIX The Musical Live! also reminded me why I want to see more stage productions preserved through professional recordings. A pro shot will never completely replace physically sitting inside a theater, but it gives audiences access to productions and performances they might otherwise never experience. Casts change, shows close, and performances disappear. Capturing them professionally allows those moments to survive. By the end of SIX The Musical Live!, I completely understood the hype. I had a fantastic time with this production. The songs are catchy, the comedy consistently landed for me, the performances are excellent, and underneath all the fun is a surprisingly thoughtful story about six women taking ownership of narratives that history has traditionally defined through one man.

The biggest compliment I can give the pro shot is that it never made me feel like I was watching someone attempt to turn SIX into a conventional movie. It made me feel like I had been given a great seat inside the theater. I just wish the filmmaking had occasionally been a little more adventurous in taking advantage of the big screen.