for 5 more minutes we're 6!

I told Carolyn after seeing the movie tonight that it seemed like "a hip student's study guide for a history class."

I was close!

"SIX" started out in late 2016 because Toby Marlow, a senior at the time, was selected by Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society to create a show to premiere at the 2017 Fringe Festival in Edinborough.

I'm guessing it was along the lines of a doctoral thesis.

Lucy Moss was also on the project, and she researched the concept by watching Lucy Worsley's "Six Wives" on BBC.

Toby Marlow researched by reading Antonia Fraser's "The Six Wives of Henry VII".

Together, they livened things up with Beyonce's 2011 video concert album, "Live At Roseland: Elements Of 4".  

They were off and running after that!

The six wives of the Tudor king were envisioned as pop divas, with each having her own unique song, and the entire one-hour show was a contest between them to determine who had it hardest under the man.

Such fun!!!

After its debut at Fringe, it opened on London's West End in 2019 at the Arts Theatre, where it ran until the pandemic shut it down.

"SIX: The Musical LIVE!" was the filmed performance in 2022 at the Vaudeville Theatre, featuring all six of the original cast from those 2019 shows, who have been singing and dancing this music at that location since September of 2021.

What a marvelous sextet they are, too!!!

 

Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour
Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard
Jarnéia Richard-Noel as Catherine of Aragon 
Millie O'Connell as Anne Boleyn 
Alexia McIntosh as Anne of Cleves
Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr
 

The women describe themselves in song as "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived", which is an odd way of looking at one's life.

Then again, isn't that how history differentiates them? 

I found it humorous that Henry VIII had three wives named 'Catherine' and two named 'Anne'; perhaps he had a problem remembering names in the throes of passion?

Hahahaha!

I also found it interesting that hand-held microphones were used instead of the ubiquitous Lavalier mics which are more common now.

Might that have been a nod to the women taking charge of the power taken from them by having a firm grasp on that penile prop?

Marlow and Moss didn't point to that rationale, but Freud would differ.

Now, how about a bit of fun?

It's been a while since I had one of my movie-time matching games, and this historical musical lends itself well to such a thing.

Plus, as I've done a lot of research on this myself, a game would be an entertaining way to pass on that knowledge! 

For those who choose to play, the names of the wives - listed in order of marriage to that king - are used multiple times, of course.

However, bear in mind that each letter has only one correct numerical answer.

I've posted their photos and marriage dates to serve as clues.

Enjoy!!! 

 

The Wives:

 

1. Catherine of Aragon

 

2. Anne Boleyn

 

3. Jane Seymour

 

4. Anne of Cleves

 

5. Catherine Howard

 

6. Catherine Parr

 

 

Their historical data:

 

a) She was lady in waiting to Catherine of Aragon. 

 

b) She was the first cousin of Anne Boleyn and the lady in waiting to Anne of Cleves.

 

c) She was the one married to him for 24 years, but is called the Dowager Princess of Wales.

 

d) She was the only one to give him a son, Edward VI. 

 

e) She was 31 and on her third marriage when she wed him.

 

f) He is buried beside her at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

 

g) She was the 30-year-old mother of Mary I (aka 'Bloody Mary').

 

h) She became the 30-year-old stepmom to his three children when they wed.

 

i) She wed him when he was only 18 years old, after first marrying his brother.

 

j) She was 24 years old when she wed him for his shortest marriage.

 

k) She was his youngest wife, at only 17 years old, but didn't live to see 20. 

 

l) She was known as "The King's Beloved Sister" and outlived him by a decade.

 

m) After his death, she wed the love of her life, then died a year later giving birth to his son.

 

n) She was the 24-year-old mother of Elizabeth I, but died within three years. 

 

o) She is the only one to have received a Queen's funeral.

 

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What?

Already looking for the answers?

I'll post those later, I promise.

Meanwhile, why not click a few links and see if that helps?

(smile!)