Review: Exuberant ‘Six the Musical’ showcases all six queens. Why did one get more cheers?

The buoyant, decidedly crowd-pleasing pop musical “Six” made its debut in Charlotte on Tuesday, the Fourth of July, a fitting day for revisionist British history.

The six in the title refers to the wives of King Henry VIII. Make that his ex-wives, or as the show puts it, “Divorced/beheaded/died; divorced/beheaded/survived.”

That would be Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr. Presented as a pop-rock-style singing competition, each wife gets to tell “her story” her way — to see who had the saddest history, with the audience judging who the winner is.

The cast had a blast belting, cavorting and shimmying through their clever solos and group numbers at Belk Theater. And a number of female audience members young and old were sporting their own tiaras as they got ready to welcome the queens.

But the biggest cheers were showered on homegrown star Amina Faye as Jane Seymour, wife No. III of H the VIII. The Union County native is a Central Academy of Technology & Arts grad and a 2016 local high school theater Blumey Awards winner making her national Broadway tour debut at age 25.

For this queen of ‘Six’ the musical, Broadway tour in Charlotte doubles as homecoming

Faye’s solo was a power ballad, “Heart of Stone,” which she nailed to the rafters. Well-deserved waves of applause at the end stopped the show for a few moments.

But all six wives were having a ball, playing to the crowd with various call-outs to Charlotte throughout.

No matter, from the comic chops of Zan Berube’s Anne Boleyn to Taylor Pearlstein’s vivacious and knowing Katherine Howard, these queens ruled.

Each of the wives stakes out her own identity. At one point, they ask if anyone knows the name of Henry VII’s wife, or Henry VI’s? OK, I know that the wife of Henry II was Eleanor of Aquitaine, but that’s mainly because I’m a big fan of “The Lion in Winter” and Peter O’Toole.

There are also lots of puns and anachronistic references to be had.

When Henry griped that Anna of Cleves did not look like a portrait of her (he decided to marry her based on her appearance in said portrait), Marilyn Caserta’s assertive Anna tartly responds, “You, you said that I tricked ya/’Cause I, I didn’t look like my profile picture. /Too, too bad I don’t agree/So I’m gonna hang it up for everyone to see.”

Clever day-glo and strobe lighting, shimmery costumes and a sharp, four-person band on stage helps you overlook the minimal plot and lack of sets. And if there isn’t a gold confetti shortage in Charlotte, there will be by the time this show’s run ends, given what happens at the end of the last group dance number.

There’s no 11 o’clock number in “Six” since the fast-paced show breezes by with scant dialogue and no intermission in just over 80 minutes. But the audience was ready for the party to go on and on, for Faye and the rest of the queens.

In short, this “Six” is a 10.

Want to go?

Where: “Six” is at Belk Theater, 130 N. Tryon St., Charlotte.

When: The show runs through July 16.

Tickets: blumenthalarts.org.

Also: It’s an 80-minute show with no intermission.

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