Six The Musical Evaluation, Lyric Theatre A Lavish Production With Plain Vanity.

As extraordinary as the long-lasting show can be, it fails to fulfill its purpose of portraying henry viii’s wives as individual ladies with beating hearts. There’s no stopping six. It’s the form of a cultural phenomenon whose beginning tale (written by way of  Cambridge college students, premiering in 2017 on the Edinburgh fringe, and now the second most-streamed musical theatre album in the international) is almost as ubiquitous as the display itself.

It's far a juggernaut, traveling numerous international locations and beginning on broadway just as a covid hit in march. Now, briefly relocated to the lyric theatre, it reopens after multiple lockdown-related reschedulings, sashaying into the larger space with apparent ease.

The basis is straightforward: henry viii’s six other halves have accrued to decide who had the worst time at the arms of the big guy. A sing-off ensues with every queen making her case inside the fashion of diverse pop icons – Catherine of Aragon emulates Shakira, Anne Boleyn mimics Lily Allen's staccato rhythms, and so on.  

Co-directors lucy moss and Jamie Armitage's production is surely lavish: Tim dealing's juicy pink and crimson lighting swirls approximately the stage, bouncing off Gabriella Slade's rhinestone-encrusted costumes because the queens shimmy through Carrie-ann ingrouille’s nicely-oiled choreography.

It’s slick, glittering leisure, anchored by means of a few simply virtuosic performances – jarnéia Richard-noel coolly jaded as Catherine of Aragon, Sophie Isaacs bratty and brazen as Katherine Howard, and understudy Hana Stewart (protecting for Danielle steers as Catherine parr) threatening to blow the roof off the constructing with swooping, elastic vocals. 

Moss and Toby Barlow's songs are weapons-grade dynamite, the sort of catchy that wriggles its way into your mind, even though references to “epic fails” and henry “swiping right” on Anne of cleves feel like unwelcome fallout from the early 2010s.

However twee cultural references aren’t the handiest matters that feel a little tired. Whilst six isn't always precisely positioning itself as a bastion of modern-day feminism, it does lean into an increasing number of overdone “empowered women” schtick which runs its course fairly quickly. There is a simple vanity this is tough to shake off – if something, the excessive sheen and glossy production values emphasize how slight (if nicely-intentioned) the display’s politics are.