Patriarchy takes a well-deserved hit in the rockin’ musical “Six,” now on the Centennial Hall stage.
The six in the title are Henry VIII’s wives, almost all of them treated miserably by old Henry. Divorces, beheadings and unkind rejections seemed to be in the king’s DNA.
So it’s nice to see the women take center stage and rock out and own their stories.
The premise is the wives have come together to compete for the title of most maligned by the monarch. It really is more of a concert than a play. Each has a solo and a chance to shine. And shine they do as they belt out their stories with electric energy, an abundance of sass and just as much talent.
Creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss fashioned the characters after contemporary pop divas, such as Beyonce, Adele and Avril Lavigne, which is part of the reason that the musical has a mad youthful following.
Another is its anachronistic approach to history — or, as the queens say, herstory. While the six died more than 500 years ago, the play is packed with pop references. All of which make the tale ludicrous and just right.
The cast was cohesive and powerful. Gerianne Pérez, Zan Berube, Amina Faye, Terica Marie, Aline Mayagoitia and Sydney Parra portrayed the queens and it was such a strong ensemble it would be unfair to single anyone out.
The play is grand fun, even while it is flimsy and sometimes feels forced in its effort to be clever and cool. On the other hand, it is so rollicking and high energy that the intended audience of young theater goers, many of whom cheered wildly on opening night, don’t seem to mind what older audience members might find a tad tedious.
While the boisterous play is entertaining, we’re glad Henry didn’t have more than six wives — it would have been too much to sit through.
The show runs through Sunday, Oct. 16, at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd.
Tickets are $50-$165 through broadwayintucson.com. To avoid the hefty Ticketmaster surcharge, purchase tickets in person at the Centennial Hall box office.
