SIX the Musical: A West End Guide

SIX the Musical is a pop concert-format musical theatre show in which the six wives of Henry VIII tell their stories through original songs performed directly to the audience. Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss while they were students at Cambridge University, the show began at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 and transferred to London's West End, where it has built a substantial and devoted audience. A Broadway run followed, and the show has toured internationally, but the West End production at the Vaudeville Theatre remains the original London home of the show. This guide covers what the show is about, the format of the production, what audiences can expect from the Vaudeville Theatre, the best seats and how to book. The central conceit of SIX is that the six wives of Henry VIII have escaped historical narrative and are competing, in a pop concert setting, for the title of the queen whose story was most defined by her relationship with the king. The competition structure provides the show's basic dramatic arc, with each queen performing a song that represents her perspective and her claim to having the hardest deal. The queens are Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr, and each has a distinctive pop-influenced musical number that reflects her historical story and personality. The format of the show is that of a pop concert rather than a conventional musical. The queens perform to a live band, the Ladies in Waiting, who are positioned on stage throughout the show. The staging emphasises direct address to the audience, movement and choreography that recalls pop performance, and costumes that combine historical reference with contemporary concert fashion. The effect is highly energetic and deliberately immediate in its relationship with the audience, and the response it typically produces is closer to that of a gig audience than a conventional theatre audience. SIX runs for approximately eighty minutes without an interval. This is a notably short running time by West End standards, and the compressed format contributes to the show's energy: the performance moves quickly between numbers and does not linger. For audiences who find long running times challenging, or who are attending with younger children or others whose attention span suits a shorter show, the running time is a practical advantage. The score of SIX uses contemporary pop idioms throughout, with each queen's number drawing on different styles and influences to reflect her character and story. The range of the material covers pop, R&B, electronic dance music and ballad forms, giving the show a varied tonal palette within the overall pop concert frame. The lyrics are witty and historically informed, playing with the queens' actual biographies and the ways in which they have been understood and represented across history. For audiences with some knowledge of the six wives and their fates, the specific references add a layer of enjoyment to material that also works as straightforward entertainment for audiences encountering the history for the first time. The show has a strong singalong quality, and at many performances the audience joins in with choruses and recognisable lyrics, creating the communal participation associated with live music events rather than the more passive spectatorship of conventional theatre. For audiences who enjoy this kind of interactive entertainment and for those who know the music from recordings, the live performance adds a dimension that the recordings cannot replicate. SIX the Musical is staged at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand. The Vaudeville Theatre is a mid-sized Victorian theatre with a traditional proscenium-arch arrangement and three levels: Stalls, Royal Circle and Grand Circle. The capacity is approximately 690 seats, which is relatively intimate for the West End, and the scale of the house suits the pop concert format well: the direct address performance style that SIX employs works better in a compact space where the relationship between the queens and the audience is close. The Vaudeville Theatre building dates from 1870 and has a decorative Victorian interior. It has been refurbished at various points in its history and its facilities have been updated, but the historic character of the auditorium is preserved. For audiences attending for the first time, the intimacy of the house relative to larger West End venues like the Apollo Victoria or the Victoria Palace is noticeable, and the proximity to the performance it creates is a positive feature for a show in this format. The Stalls at the Vaudeville Theatre are raked and provide generally good sightlines through the central area. Central positions from approximately rows D to L are the most recommended in terms of proximity and direct sightline to the stage. Because SIX uses a wide playing area across the stage and incorporates significant movement across the stage width, seats with a clear central view rather than an extreme side position are preferable. The Royal Circle provides an elevated view of the stage and suits the concert-format staging well: looking down slightly at a performance that makes use of the full stage width gives a broader overview of the full picture than the Stalls close to the stage. The central Royal Circle front rows are among the most valued seats in the house. The Grand Circle is at a greater elevation and involves a steeper angle of view. Central positions here offer reasonable sightlines at lower prices, and for audiences prioritising value over proximity, the Grand Circle provides an adequate view of the full stage. For SIX specifically, given the show's concert-format staging and its emphasis on energetic ensemble performance rather than intimate dramatic close-up, being further from the stage is a less significant disadvantage than in a show built on nuanced character performance. The energy of the show carries well across the house. For first-time audiences approaching SIX, the most useful frame is probably that of a live pop concert in a theatrical setting rather than a conventional musical theatre experience. The show does not have a traditional narrative arc; it is structured as a competition between the queens, and the emotional journey is one of cumulative engagement with each character's story rather than a single through-line. The ending resolves the competition in a way that is surprising and genuinely affecting without depending on conventional dramatic mechanics. The audience at SIX is notably broad in demographic range: younger audiences form a significant proportion of the house, but the historical premise and the sophisticated wit of the writing attract older audiences who may not typically attend pop-influenced musicals. Groups of friends, hen parties and family groups are all common at the show, and the resulting atmosphere on most nights is energetic and participatory. The show's short running time and lack of interval mean there is no conventional intermission for refreshments. The Vaudeville Theatre has bar facilities in the foyer that are open before the performance and, at some shows, briefly after the curtain comes down. For audiences who enjoy jukebox and pop-influenced musicals and are considering other shows alongside SIX, the West End programme includes several productions that share some of its characteristics. Mamma Mia! uses a similar approach of building a narrative around familiar pop songs, though its format is more conventional and its tone more nostalgic than the contemporary concert style of SIX. Hamilton shares SIX's interest in history told through contemporary popular music, and both shows demonstrate what becomes possible when historical material is approached through a contemporary musical idiom. For tickets to SIX the Musical and the full West End programme, tickadoo provides seat maps, pricing and availability for the Vaudeville Theatre and all London venues. For the complete current West End listing, BritishTheatre.com provides full production details. tickadoo also offers theatre gift vouchers. What is SIX the Musical about? SIX is a pop concert-format musical in which the six wives of Henry VIII compete to tell their stories through original songs. Each queen has a number that reflects her historical story and personality, performed directly to the audience in a concert setting. How long is SIX the Musical? SIX runs for approximately eighty minutes with no interval. This is notably shorter than most West End musicals, and the compact running time contributes to the show's energy. Where is SIX the Musical in London? SIX the Musical is staged at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand in London's West End. Is SIX suitable for children? SIX is generally suitable for children aged eight and above, though the show deals with themes including divorce, execution and the political treatment of women in the sixteenth century. The tone is comic and the treatment is not graphic, but parents may wish to consider the age-appropriateness for younger children. The theatre's own guidance should be checked before booking. Who wrote SIX the Musical? SIX was written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, who created the show while studying at Cambridge University. The show debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 before transferring to the West End.