It’s been over 400 years since Henry VIII divorced, beheaded, grieved,brrejected, and beheaded his many beloved better halves, and then died himself,brbut Tuesday night the Orpheum cheered on his SIX wives.
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Inbrrock concert form, the ladies took the narrative back, each telling their ownbrtale through song with modern-day inspiration. Catherine of Argon belted outbrher story in a song that would give Beyonce a run for her money, while Anne ofbrCleves had all the fire of Lizzo when sharing her life story. When the wivesbrcame together on stage, it was as fun as a Spice Girls concert.
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Thebrset resembled vintage church windows but with constantly changing colors, stillbrkeeping the religious vibe of the 1500s but with lighting of the 2000s. Thebrcostumes kept the style of the Tudor times but with added glitz and glam of thebrpresent day, giving each lady her own color and personality. The set alsobrincluded a stage for the “Ladies in Waiting,”bra four-piece band playing pop-concert music for the wives’ performances. Thisbrhigh-energy show had the audience clapping, laughing and dancing throughout thebr90-minute run time.
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The jokes were clever and while fullbrof innuendo, were not so raunchy as to dissuade taking kids over the age of 12.brAt one point, Jane Seymour asks, “What hurts morebrthan a broken heart?” and a wisecracking Anne Boleyn fires back, “A severed head.” This was one of many hilarious jokes delivered bybrAnne Boleyn, who was played by an understudy Tuesday night, and she didn’t miss a beat.
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Through all the witty banter, thebrsongs cleverly gave the ladies their stories back, delivering a chance tobrchange history to “her story.” It wasbrdeliciously fun, wildly hilarious and wickedly smart. And this may be the firstbrtime I didn’t want a show to end. In the words of Anne Boleyn, “Sorry not sorry.”
SIX is running through Sun., Jan 8th at the Orpheum Theater. Don’t miss out.
ticketomaha.com/Productions/six
