Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far far away, there was a boy and a girl who braved the harsh climate and hiked a thousand miles to the big prestigious city of Bath. They fought monsters, swiped the snake heads off their bodies, and fought through the dense forest and bowed before Henry the Eight and his six wives. Scary... Just kidding, we caught a train to Bath, the only weather we braved was the rain and Bath is 36 miles away!

My friend and I went to see a musical at the Theatre Royal, named ~Six: The Musical” You will probably know what it is about, after I tell you the rhyme that the show links to.

“Divorced... Beheaded... Died... Divorced... Beheaded... Survived...”

Recognise it? It’s about the six wives of Henry VIII and their fates. Six is a modern retelling of the six wives of Henry VIII. The six queens (serialized in order as Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived) strut on stage as the show opens, setting a take-charge tone with the audience that lets us know we are in the best possible hands. These ladies are not waiting — they are in overdrive as they announce the singing competition that structures the 80-minute long performance.

The wives famously cast aside until their lord was made powerless by death ask the audience to listen to their stories, and then decide who was the most hard-done-by. Who is the true Queen of the castle, the mostly ingloriously victorious? Each woman makes her case with a song inspired by pop stars from Avril Lavigne to Ariana Grande and asks the audience to “choose your leading lady.” It takes the admittedly tragic stories of the six wives and flips it into a celebration of her-story!

The show was first made by Toby Marlow and director Lucy Moss in 2017, when they were university students at Cambridge for their finals and it just blew up. Following their world premiere at Edinburgh Fringe, the musical became a global sensation with a West End run, two bouts of a UK tour, an Australian bow, a premiere on the Norwegian Cruises, premiered in Chicago, briefly premiered in Canada and just recently, debuted two weeks ago on Broadway. It was nominated for a Best New Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music awards at Oliver Awards 2019

It went from a small student performance for their university courses to a global sensation in a matter of three years. Why has it become such a global sensation? Nobody really knows but a lot of SIX fans agree that the musical embodies an empowering message, which is, you are just as important as everyone else. There’s power if you all support each other.

The show was amazing, I really loved it and I’m actually going back in October to watch it again when it next visits Bath! I might go see it again in London! Who knows?!