SIX in Las Vegas

Yesterday my sister Kristine and I went on a quick road trip to Las Vegas to see SIX at the Smith Center.  Both of us are huge fans of the music in this show (we listened to the cast recording during the whole drive) and we were so excited to finally have a chance to see it!  The former wives of King Henry VIII, including Catherine of Aragon (Gerianne Perez), Anne Boleyn (Zan Berube), Jane Seymour (Amina Faye), Anna of Cleves (Terica Marie), Katherine Howard (Aline Mayagoitia), and Catherine Parr (Sydney Parra), get together to perform a concert with their Band, The Ladies in Waiting (Katie Coleman on Keybords, Sterlyn Termine on Bass, Liz Faure on Guitars, and Caroline Moore on Drums).  Since they have no leader, they decide that it should be the one who has suffered the most heartache and then each Queen proceeds to tell her story.  Catherine of Aragon (Divorced) agreed to leave her homeland at age 15, come to a country where she didn't speak the language, marry a man, spend seven years in a nunnery after he died, and then marry his brother but she didn't agree to be replaced in "No Way."  Anne Boleyn (Beheaded) is sorry not sorry because she was just trying to have a little fun (what was she meant to do?) in "Don't Lose Ur Head."  Jane Seymour (Died) loved Henry but she knows that his love for her was only because of her son in "Heart of Stone."  Anna of Cleves (Divorced) was rejected by Henry for being ugly but brags about getting a castle out of it in "Get Down."  Katherine Howard (Beheaded) says she couldn't help it if she drove all the boys wild and that they used her for one thing in "All You Wanna Do."  Catherine Parr (Survived) argues that even though she survived her marriage she sacrificed true love for it in "I Don't Need Your Love."  However, they ultimately decide that they do not want to be defined by Henry and that they should lead the group together in "Six."  This is the ultimate ode to girl power and each Queen's song embodies her history so well (this show is so clever!).  I loved the fact that each performance is inspired by a real life pop star (Aragon by Beyonce, Boleyn by Avril Levigne, Seymour by Adele, Cleves by Nicki Minaj, Howard by Ariana Grande, and Parr by Alicia Keyes).  The costumes have a Tudor silhouette but feature the fabrics and bling of contemporary pop princesses and the dramatic lighting is so much fun (my favorite moment was when Henry swipes left then right while looking at profile pictures in "Haus of Holbein").  I enjoyed every Queen but I had goosebumps during Faye's performance of "Heart of Stone" because she just about blew the roof off the Smith Center!  Both Kristine and I really loved this show and we both agreed that it was definitely worth the drive to Las Vegas (we both hope that it comes to SLC at some point).

Note:  I am so glad that my sister was able to get the time off to go because she is the one who introduced this show to me and we had so much fun together!