United Queendom: Adapting the Tudors through SIX and Historical Collections

Learn how ‘SIX the Musical’ bridges the gap between history and pop culture through its many collaborations with cultural institutions across the U.K. to bring the Tudors to a broader audience.

SIX the Musical has transformed the six wives of Henry VIII from textbook footnotes into global pop icons. Remixing 500 years of Tudor drama into a high‑voltage celebration of female agency, the show reframes the queens on their own terms. In this talk, Caroline Marcus explores how SIX has forged dynamic partnerships with major U.K. cultural institutions, including Historic Royal Palaces and the National Portrait Gallery to adapt the Tudors. These collaborations connect the musical’s themes with portraits, letters, artifacts, and historic sites, creating fresh pathways into Tudor history for diverse audiences.

Presented in conjunction with United Queendom: Legacies of Gendered Power in the Early Modern British World.