By Sherrie Rose
SAN DIEGO — SIX explodes Tudor history into a pop concert with Burning Man style costumes. For those who love glitz, the boots: ankle, calf, and over the knee, mesmerize the audience with every dance scene. The stage lighting plays an active part in each song.
The six wives of Henry VIII with their commanding voices, humor and high-energy anthems are more than historical casualties. The beheadings, miscarriages, and death in childbirth are woven into each song. In era of struggle between Catholicism and emerging Protestantism in 16th-century England the divide is central to the lives of the queens.
Judaism, while not represented by a queen, is part of the historical reality SIX inherits. Jews had been expelled from England centuries earlier, and by the Tudor era Jewish identity existed largely in absence, defined by exclusion rather than participation. That absence is palpable because religious power determined not only who suffered within the system, but who was denied entry to it altogether.
Catherine of Aragon had a strong Catholic faith that led to her rejection once Henry breaks from Rome. Anne Boleyn’s perceived alignment with Protestant reform makes her both politically useful and fatally vulnerable. Jane Seymour, Catherine Parr, and the others navigate a court where belief is not personal. It is currency, weapon, and verdict.
Musically, SIX replaces religious orthodoxy with pop defiance. Each queen’s song rejects the doctrine that reduced her to a cautionary tale and reclaims identity from institutions such as church, crown, and marriage that dictated women’s worth.
SIX is not a lesson in theology. It is a critique of how belief systems influence power, punishment, and silence. And in giving these women the microphone, the musical answers history’s long refusal to let them speak.
To wrap the musical, the queens refuse to compete over whose faith, loyalty, or suffering was most correct. Instead, they choose authorship over obedience.
At just 80 minutes, SIX is sharp, modern, and deliberate. By the finale, everyone in the audience was on their feet dancing, cheering, and participating in the heart-thumping experience.
SIX, presented by Broadway San Diego, at the Civic Theatre plays through January 4.
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Sherrie Rose is a masterwork advisor and author integrating digital legacy with future vision and AI.