By Amelia Dykes | Arts Angle Vantage Reporter
Our Lady of Providence High School, Class of 2026
Heartbroken, powerful, full of love — these are some words describing Jane Seymour. Seymour was an important wife of King Henry VIII. She provided the first male heir to the throne and was the “only one he truly loved,” as she sings.
Seymour (Amina Faye) is one of six in “Six,” the touring musical that opened as part of PNC Broadway in Louisville’s season and ran April 9 through 15 at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.
Amina Faye as Jane Seymour in The North American Tour of “Six” (Boleyn Company). Photo by Joan Marcus. Courtesy PNC Broadway in Louisville.
Faye gave an amazing rendition of Seymour’s “Heart of Stone.” Vocally, this song is based on Adele and Sia, and their iconic ballads. Faye hits every note perfectly. A personal favorite is when late in the song she belted out “Yeah,” sending shivers down my spine. Faye’s deep power and the emotion in her voice showed the character’s anguish because she died and left an orphan son. She shows her caring, quiet, and soft-tempered individuality, unlike the other queens who are outspoken and loud. That is why her song is so powerful: she finally gets to have her moment in the spotlight, literally.
“Six” was written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss when the two were students at Cambridge University. The musical turned “pop sensation” tells the stories of all the queens who were “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”
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Some of the most iconic female pop stars — Beyoncé, Shakira, Lily Allen, Avril Lavigne, Adele, Sia, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Arianna Grande, Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, and Emeli Sande — inspired the writers.
This gorgeously written musical takes you on a journey about the six wives of Henry VIII: Seymour, Catherine of Aragon (Gerianne Pérez), Anne Boleyn (Zan Berube), Anna of Cleves (Terica Marie), Katherine Howard (Aryn Bohannon), and Catherine Parr (Adriana Scalice). Each wife tells of their marriage with Henry VIII as each tries to be the leader of the singing group.
The contest sometimes trumps the storytelling banter. “The queen who was dealt the worst hand… Shall be the one to lead the band,” are some of the quips in between songs.
The North American Tour of “Six” (Boleyn Company). Photo by Joan Marcus. Courtesy PNC Broadway in Louisville.
The popular two songs in “Six” are “Don’t Lose Your Head” and “All You Wanna Do.” Don’t Lose Your Head,” sung by Boleyn (Berube), is based on pop punk alternative star Avril Lavigne and pop star Lily Allen. “All You Wanna Do,” sung by Howard (Bohannon), is based on pop artists Arianna Grande and Britney Spears. Both are super-upbeat songs you can rock out to.
Berube and Bohannon showed the emotion at the perfect spots in the song, better elevating the songs’ storytelling. On both songs, the unique lighting mirrored the colors of their clothes.
The songs are both different, too. Berube strongly illustrated the character’s confident and cocky attitude. She brings that attitude into her singing. Likewise, Bohannon knows the trauma that Kathrine went through. She takes it and uses it to show that emotion in “All You Wanna Do.” The song focuses on Katherine’s lovers and reveals how much men used her — from her father through Henry. “Don’t Lose Your Head” focuses on Boleyn’s career. She rose to her status from the French court and made it to be queen.
“Six” displays women making their voices heard. The actresses portraying the queens embody the characters. Even the musicians in the band playing on stage were women. That lineup — Sterlyn Termine (bass), Rose Laguana (guitars), Kami Lujan (drums), and Jane Cardona (keyboard/music director) — also made the production unforgettable. The musicians boosted the fun. They chimed in on the banter, even talking to the queens in the background during arguments among the queens. Sometimes during songs, the queens gave them a shout-out and the musicians performed solos.
This all made the show scream FEMALE POWER! I know that “Six” will blow the roof off every theater.
Amelia Dykes (she/her), a sophomore at Our Lady of Providence High School, is on the girls soccer team and manages the track team. She also is a singer at Bella Voce and participates in Providence’s theater arts program. She wants to share the magic of live theater with as many people as possible.
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