Bass Hall’s ‘Six’ combines history, humor and music to deliver powerful feminist message

Imagine if the six wives of Henry VIII could get together and share their stories, competing over who has the best to tell.

Oh, and imagine if those stories are told in the form of a pop concert inspired by some of the most popular female singers of today.

Stop imagining and start enjoying as the musical “Six” takes the audience on exactly this kind of journey. The show is running through Dec. 3 at Bass Performance Hall in downtown Fort Worth.

Created by friends Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss while in college together at Cambridge University in 2017 “Six” delivers a powerful feminist message. It features each of the six wives of the legendary king, who ruled England from 1509-47 and was known for his appetite and his love of women.

It won a Tony Award in 2022 for Best Original Score (music and lyrics) after making its Broadway debut a year earlier.

Among the many challenging things the show is known for, in a historic move the Broadway cast album was recorded live on opening night. But then, when you see the show you’ll realize the cast unapologetically shies from virtually nothing in its revision of history — make that her-story.

Infamously, Henry sent two of his wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, to their deaths via beheading on the executioner’s block at the Tower of London. While they are arguably the two most famous of his spouses because of the way the “relationship” ended, each of his wives had their own story to tell. And they do so through the style of several modern day queens of music.

The performers open the 80-minute show — the perfect length — with a thunderous ensemble number entitled “Ex Wives” that introduces the audience to each wife with a brief description of their ultimate fate. In the process they engage with the audience to begin a contest to determine which of the six will be the champion queen at night’s end.

Thereafter, each character performs their own song, telling their story. The performances are presented in the order of when each was married to Henry.

Their modern day musical inspirations are:

Catherine of Aragon (played by Gerianne Perez), Beyonce’ and Shakira.

Anne Boleyn (Zan Berube), Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne.

Jane Seymour (Amina Faye), Adele and Sia.

Anne of Cleves (Terica Marie), Nicki Minaj and Rihanna.

Katherine Howard (Aline May Agoitia), Ariana Grande and Britney Spears.

Catherine Parr (Adriana Scalice), Alicia Keys and Emeli Sande’.

Exquisite choreography combines with dazzling lights and effects to keep the audience enthralled. The performers, each with impeccable vocal ranges, combine their voices with perfect chemistry and harmony through a wide assortment of song styles.

Catherine of Aragon gets the individual performances started with the zesty “No Way.” She refused to accept that her marriage was invalid and delivered a dramatic speech to Henry when he brought her to court to have it annulled.

There’s the quirky “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” performed by Ann Boleyn (of course), who has some of the show’s funniest lines in the song and in dialogue.

Boleyn plays up the fact that she ended her life with her head separated from her body to many laughs. In one instance she says, “There was this really cute time when I had a daughter — and he chopped off my head.” In another, she responds to the question of what’s worse than a cold heart with the answer, “Uh, a severed head!”

There’s also some cute interaction between Boleyn and Howard, seeing as they both exited their time with Henry in the same fashion. Howard describes a nice moment with Henry, finishing with the zinger “And then I was beheaded!”

Howard’s “All You Wanna Do,” describes the friskiness of Henry, presenting the idea that he wanted pretty much nothing more from their relationship, hiding the sadness of the situation in the upbeat. He was pushing 50 and she was 17 when they married.

The song “Get Down,” performed by Anne of Cleves, has a burlesque feel reminiscent of a juke joint. She is remembered for being chosen from her portrait and then being rejected when Henry met her, marriage annulled.

There are two very moving numbers in the show. The first is “Heart of Stone,” performed by Seymour, the one it is said Henry truly loved and the lady-in-waiting to Boleyn. She died after giving birth to Prince Henry, their child together.

From the outset, the slow and steady build of the song tugs the heart along. It’s hard to hold back the tears as Seymour describes missing the child she never knew.

In her song “I Don’t Need Your Love,” Parr relives the heartbreak of having a life of happiness with the man of her dreams, Thomas Seymour, all planned out only to have Henry order her to marry him instead. She actually survived their marriage and did eventually marry Thomas in secret a few months after Henry’s death in January of 1547.

She was also known for having several marriages, four, in fact, two before Henry. Again, referencing Boleyn and Howard, she notes her marriages, saying with a smile, “I did manage to get through them all without decapitating anyone.”

In telling their stories, the queens and the audience realize they are more than simply the wives of Henry VIII, though that is how history has combined them. The questions are posed, who was married to Henry VII? Henry VI? Henry V?

Which brings them to the finale, entitled simply “Six.” They proudly proclaim that they are not a category, but each a person, the ultimate point of the entire production — and a message each audience member should take back into society.

Performing Arts Fort Worth presents “Six”

Where: Bass Performance Hall, 525 Commerce St., Fort Worth

When: Now through Dec. 3.

Tickets: basshall.com, but inventory is extremely limited. You can enter the digital lottery for $36 tickets to all performances at basshall.com/lottery.

The show is 80 minutes long without an intermission.