insight

Royal Divas

‘SIX’ makes its debut in Columbus, telling the story of Henry VIII’s wives

By Rachel Karas

Photos courtesy of Joan Marcus

FOR DECADES, MUSICALS have told stories that not only take viewers on a melodic journey, but a historical one as well.

Productions such as Oklahoma!, Newsies and Hamilton have been engrossing theater-goers for years with colorful sets and costumes that make viewers feel like they have gone back in time.

One musical that has recently gained popularity and several awards, including a Tony Award for Best Original Score, sheds light on the nearly 500-year-old story of one English monarch’s love life.

SIX tells the story of King Henry VIII’s six wives, sharing the truth about who they were and what really happened behind the palace doors. The show stops in Columbus from Jan. 24-29.

Written by two Cambridge University students, SIX made its debut in 2017 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, it has entered the world of Broadway, and won 23 awards during the 2021-22 Broadway season alone.

Didi Romero, one of the six “queens” performing with the North American

tour’s Aragon company, grew up in Puerto Rico before attending the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York for two years. Before she was cast as Henry’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, Romero performed in In the Heights and as part of the cast for Gina Yei and Mixtape (The Movie). SIX is unique in its format and emphasis on audience interaction, Romero says. “We break the fourth wall all the time,” she says. “The audience is the seventh character in the show, and we have so much fun with them and their reaction affects what we do. So it is a different show every single night.” Another thing that stood out to Romero was the style of music, as the “funky and catchy” songs lean more into the pop genre. “It’s not your typical musical theater song,” Didi Romero Romero says. “It talks about their stories, and you are hearing what they’re saying because they’re talking about what’s happened to them. But it’s in a pop song and it’s super catchy and fun.”

While the show may not have a large cast – with only the six queens and their all-female band known as the Ladies in Waiting visible to the audience – it makes up for it with engaging music, attentiongrabbing lighting and detailed costuming.

Adorned with glitter and rhinestones from their crowns to their shoes, Romero says, each cast member’s costume finds subtle ways to not only represent the era they are from, but also highlight details from their unique stories.

Despite the queens’ differences, Romero says, they eventually learn that they have more in common than they realize. By the end of the show, they all band together, knowing they can be more powerful together than they ever were apart, which is something that Romero loves.

“This is literally a woman-powered show,” Romero says. “And it’s about just fixing each other’s crowns and not only being fierce and amazing and talented. It’s about not comparing women with women anymore.” CS

Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.