The lights may be brighter, the volume dialled up and an extra five minutes added to the running time since I first saw it at the Arts Theatre, but they simply enhance what was practically perfect to begin with. Now ensconced in its ‘forever home’ at the Vaudeville, this phenomenal musical – written in three days by students Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow – is to theatre what JK Rowling is to publishing: unstoppable.
As each wife takes the spotlight in a competition to claim her position as the most abused of Henry’s consorts – “Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived” – their collective girl power rises to put the king firmly in the shade and stake their place in history, or ‘herstory’.
Half rock concert, half history lesson, it is adrenaline-fuelled entertainment.
The witty lyrics (“Tried to elope but the Pope said ‘Nope’”) are wedded to music that ranges from anthemic pop-rock (SIX, Ex-Wives) to heartbreak ballads (Heart
Of Stone) and my favourite, the pastiche electro Teutonica of Haus Of Holbein.
London’s longest-running shows, The Mousetrap and Les Miserables, are West End institutions. Given time, SIX will almost certainly be joining them.