International smash hit musical Six has returned to the Lowry theatre in Salford, telling the tale of Henry VIII’s notorious marital history… through pop songs.
First performed by Cambridge University students at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2017, Six has since ruled the theatre scene with its chart-topping soundtrack and powerful female cast.
West End productions and Broadway shows have garnered rave reviews and Six has been nominated for multiple awards at the Laurence Olivier Awards.
Credit: Johan Persson. (Caitlin Tipping as Jane Seymour, Vicki Manser as Katherine Howard, Lauren Drew as Catherin of Aragon, Maddison Bulleyment as Anne Boleyn, Shekinah McFarlane as Anna of Cleves & Elena Gyasi as Catherine Parr.)
Postponed twice already, the return of the six Queens was long awaited. Queues for the Six merchandise at the Lowry outdid the queue for food twice over.
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Groups were singing the songs in the foyer, snapping their fingers and grooving their hips, hyping themselves up to finally see it live. The Six album has reached over 10 million views on YouTube.
The Queens begin on stage with the chilling ‘Ex-wives’, introducing themselves explaining how they are more than ‘just one word in a stupid rhyme’.
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Each take centre stage in turns to prove they were the the worst-treated of Henry’s wives, with clever lyrics laying bare Henry’s blatant mistreatment of women and how he got away with it.
Credit: Johan Persson
It’s historically accurate, but this time it’s herstory – Six is a re-writing of the history books and takes the crown as this year’s musical must-see.
Writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss – masters of comedy – fill the hour and twenty minutes with laughs, catchy lyrics and some home truths about female victimhood and empowerment.
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Each wife takes to the stage in a hip-hop, rap, techno, soul, rock battle, fighting for the crown of the worst treated by Henry VIII.
Credit: Johan Persson. (Caitlin Tipping as Jane Seymour, Vicki Manser as Katherine Howard, Lauren Drew as Catherin of Aragon, Maddison Bulleyment as Anne Boleyn, Shekinah McFarlane as Anna of Cleves & Elena Gyasi as Catherine Parr.)
The queens really do sparkle. Gabrielle Slade kills it with her modern glittery take on 18th century dress.
The costumes here are made up of corsets, puffed sleeves, skin-tight trousers, short petit-coats and delicate hair crowns, all topped off with cute heels and biker boots.
All the anthems are girl power to the max. Spice Girls meets Beyonce meets Avril Lavigne meets Little Mix with a Tudor twist.
The performances are slick and flawless. The cast of all-female power icons are set to become musical-theatre giants after Six.
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Credit: Johan Persson.
The stars are supported by their ‘Ladies in Waiting’ who are instrumental (excuse the pun) to the performance. Usually, the band sit in the pit of the theatre, but these rock-stars are front and centre jamming on the electric keyboard, drums, bass and guitar.
The performances are wonderfully overwhelming, chills are guaranteed, and tears will well with the uplift of female empowerment.
The crowd at The Lowry become a sea of beaming faces and pumping fists, with a standing ovation and cheers of ‘encore’ echoing long after the music dies.
The play spins GCSE history into a much more entertaining experience, filled with glittery corsets and banging break-up anthems.
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Teach your children the right version of history and go and watch Six – we cannot wait to see it again.
Six sexy ex-wives give you their take on the infamous stories that have defined them for centuries, and Henry VIII gets what he’s had coming for him… a revenge musical.
It’s on it’s 2021 tour – so grab your tickets online here.
Theatre
Dear Evan Hansen at the Palace Theatre Manchester – a sensitive tale of teenage torment
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
Dear Evan Hansen,
Today is going to be a good day because you’re running at the Palace Theatre until the 22 February and the show is fantastic.
It has been a pretty tricky 10 years since the show first debuted, with Covid, worldwide unrest, wild fires, etc and the storylines that make up the fabric of the show are more prominent than ever before.
With music and lyrics written by the talented duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, famous for creating some of the most popular modern musicals of our time (La La Land and Greatest Showman), this show reaches heights well beyond the treetops of its rivals.
The show covers some quite sensitive topics including suicide, grief and mental health, which are all treated with compassion and gentle care whilst still being realistic and honest with the audience.
We follow the story of Evan Hansen (Ryan Kopel), a socially anxious teen who is trying to navigate high school, his mental health and trying to be noticed by those around him. His mum (Alice Fearn) is a single mother, trying to do right by her son whilst doing her best to create a life for them.
Evan has a run in with Connor Murphy (Will Forgrave who stepped in for Killian Lefevre), a troubled young man battling with a number of demons and fighting with his rich yet dysfunctional family played by Helen Anker (Cynthia Murphy – mum); Richard Hurst (Larry Murphy – dad); Lara Beth-Sas (Zoe Murphy – sister and stand-in for Laren Conroy). Connor finds a letter that Evan has written to himself that mentions his sister Zoe and causes him to spiral out of control.
It is Evan’s letter that his family finds on Connor when they discover that he has unfortunately taken his own life. This sets in motion a profusion of events that catapult Evan into the spotlight as his letter is mistaken for a deep friendship between the two. His “family friend” Jared (Tom Dickerson) encourages Evan to keep up the facade which really gets out of control when the well-meaning Alana (Vivian Panka) takes the school-wide movement of grief to new heights.
Dear Evan Hansen is in Manchester until 22 February 2025
Ryan’s portrayal of Evan is nothing short of magical. His anxious ticks are natural and respectful, pulling you in with compassion for his character and his timing is impeccable. His vocals are absolutely electrifying, every song is a power house, emotive performance with barely a dry eye in the entire audience, especially after the iconic “You will be found.”
Alice Fearn deserves a special mention for her depiction and performance as Heidi Hansen. Reflecting how many parents must feel in trying to do the best for their children and feeling like they always come up short. Her vocals were fantastic throughout, but her final solo song “So Big/So Small” had everyone weeping.
Not all the vocal performances were of a high calibre, but this is likely down to either first night nerves or just the unfortunate comparison to Ryan, Alice or Vivian. Some of the dancing by one or two of the ensemble also seemed slightly robotic, although as a previous treader of the boards myself, I know first-hand that some people just aren’t natural movers (myself included) and this doesn’t detract from the absolute spectacle that is this show.
The show is only on a short run, from 18 – 22 February at Palace Theatre, Manchester, so if you miss it, I recommend chasing it to another theatre on its UK Tour, you won’t regret it.
Audience members ejected from Dolly Parton musical in Manchester due to homophobic heckling
Daisy Jackson
The Manchester run of Here You Come Again, a new Dolly Parton musical comedy, has been repeatedly disrupted by vile homophobic heckling from the audience, its star has revealed.
Actor and West End star Steven Webb shared a video addressing the issue on TikTok, saying that audience members had to be ejected from the Manchester Opera House.
The star of the lively new musical, which tells the story of a diehard Dolly Parton fan and is packed with the country star’s biggest hits, said the cast had faced an ‘insane’ amount of homophobia.
Steven said they once had to do a full show stop in Manchester and leave the stage after one audience member was ‘disgusted that there was a gay character on stage’ and began shouting mid-show, causing ‘a ruckus’ in the audience.
He said: “It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.”
Steven also said: “Travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”
The Manchester Opera House stressed that it has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to ‘bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff’.
The theatre, and its sister venue the Palace Theatre, said: “Our theatre team is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for everyone – both on and off the stage.
“Whilst these incidents are rare, we have a zero-tolerance policy to bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff. Anyone engaging in such conduct will be removed from the venue immediately.
Actor Steven Webb stars in Here You Come Again, a Dolly Parton musical, in Manchester. Credit: TikTok, @thatsteviewebb
“Thank you to all our theatre goers who continue to act with respect and kindness towards others.”
Steven said in his video: “The amount of audience members we have had to eject from our show due to homophobia is… insane. It is insane.
“Just this week in Manchester alone, last night we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs, and on Wednesday we had to stop the whole show.
“We had to do an entire show stop and leave the stage, because a woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character on stage, and she was shouting out and then all the audience started shouting at her and then there was a sort of massive ruckus. So she eventually was ejected and we could start again, but we were stopped for 15 or 20 minutes.
“It’s crazy. It’s happening nearly every single week and it blows my mind. This is a Dolly Parton musical, first of all.
“It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.
“It’s really opened my eyes, because we’re in such a bubble in this industry. But travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”
Dolly Busby -
16th December 2021 
