 First Night: Six @ The Saenger Theatre Review by Dorian Hatchett Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived. A glittering pop musical for the modern era, about some very historic drama, Six introduces the ex-wives of Henry VIII in a concert for the ages. An all-female cast (Including the band, the “Ladies in Waiting”) brings down the house with humor and humanity, as the audience is led to confront some complicated truths about the way we contextualize the infamous characters throughout our history (ahem: herstory, per Catherine Parr). Each of the wives is styled after a modern musical inspiration. Our own idols are written in an oh-so-clever trick to make anyone without a heart of stone feel instant camaraderie with the celebrities of yesteryear. There’s enough factual history here to warrant serious attention, and enough fun to make you catch yourself singing along, long after the curtain closes. Don’t lose your head, though, because the cast encourages all the singing and clapping you wanna do, while the seamless choreography proves that you don’t have to be raised from the dead to get down, but it might help. A royal feast for the eyes, the costumes are a techno fantasy through a tudor lens. Puffed sleeves and peplums strike a tone, metallic vinyl and sequins pull the shapes through 500 years into the future. The set is a concert stage, simple bones with dynamic lighting and a beautiful changing backdrop of Tudor arches that offer a sophisticated, almost tactile shift in emotional atmosphere along with the music. Each queen has her own story, and you can watch it change the visual flavor of the stage every time the focus shifts. Without words, the set and lighting designers of this show tell the story as effectively as a Greek chorus, building suspense and mirth with equal effectiveness. You may not need our love, but you certainly have it ! Six: The Musical is playing at The Saenger Theatre through April 19th. Click here for show information and ticketing  Movie review: The Drama (Kristoffer Borgli, 2026) Just to be clear, right off the bat: I really liked Kristoffer Borgli’s previous English-language movie (Dream Scenario, starring Nicolas Cage), and I’ve enjoyed performances by Zendaya (Challengers, Dune) and Robert Pattinson (Good Time, The Lighthouse). I’ve also loved and rewatched various recent films in the ‘high-stress caper’ genre, such as Uncut Gems, and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (plus the aforementioned Good Time). I was, therefore, algorithmically inclined to like The Drama, with director, cast and genre all right up my alley. Perhaps this was the problem. The movie I watched right before The Drama was Die My Love (2025, Lynne Ramsay), yet another tense ride, as R-Patt and Jennifer Lawrence navigate rural isolation and marital discord to sometimes violent ends. It’s raw and visceral, and it stayed with me. I hate to say it, but personally, The Drama felt tame in comparison. It has some engaging framing devices: the meet-cute, with Zendaya’s Emma having deafness in one ear, and Charlie (Pattinson) being a bumbling academic, all good fun stuff. The inciting incident - a game of confession gone awry, alienating their best friends when a shocking revelation about Emma’s past is uncovered - makes for an interesting set-up, on a par with everyone dreaming about Nick Cage’s character in Dream Scenario. The pieces are all there. The ticking time bomb of the wedding, the fresh doubts that sow unease in the relationship, the increasingly desperate measures that our protagonists take to iron things out before the big day…it should have been a dramatic home run for me. But I just didn’t click with this film. I think part of it is that the lead characters - to me, at least - get less likeable as the plot progresses. They manipulate their best man and maid of honor (Mamoudou Athie and Alana Haim respectively, both doing solid jobs as support), lie to each other, and are generally unsympathetic. I tried to relate, to the circumstances of Emma’s former life, to the betrayal that Charlie must have been feeling, but I just couldn’t muster anything. I don’t feel like Borgli delved deep enough into what should be the abyssal ethical mire of Emma’s past. We kind of skip along the surface of it, with comedic (sometimes slapstick) reactions, from its introduction, to how it affects Charlie’s feelings (shown by his constant rewriting of his wedding speech). But it all felt a bit lighthearted, in the vain of Bridget Jones’ Diary or similar romcom fare. Our increasingly-unhinged couple don’t reveal any hidden depths as chaos ensues, and the characters felt one dimensional to me. There’s some rich, dark comedy in the positions that they put their friends in, and I loved Haim’s snark and Athie’s exasperation. I wish they’d both been on screen more, as Charlie and Emma continue apace with their self-absorbed wedding prep, becoming more judgmental and unforgiving as they careen towards the big day. To me, this felt like a Safdie Brothers-style romp, but designed by committee. The script hits a fair amount of the right notes, but it feels like it’s done so too knowingly. I felt this from the purposely-disorienting editing, to the now-well-used trope of a single-note score that is used like an aural second hand to create suspense. Maybe a rewatch that’s NOT after a more extreme version of the same general premise would mean I could enjoy it more, but for me - and again, I love the idea of this movie on paper - I would have been happy to see these two just walk away from each other long before the nuptials. (PO) The Drama is playing in movie theaters across the city |
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