(photo by Jeremy Hogan)

I caught the first public performance of “The King’s Wife,” presented by Constellation Stage + Screen at the Waldron Auditorium in Bloomington, where it runs through June 29.

Please note: While there was no restriction on writing about the performance, I was told after writing this that changes were still being made up to the official June 13 opening.

Some thoughts on that first preview:

– First, let’s face up to the elephant in the room. “Six.” The hugely successful musical is still running on Broadway, and the West End and a national tour is going strong . A pro-shot version has played in movie theaters in the U.K. and a teen edition has been licensed for dozens of markets in the U.S. and overseas In short, “Six” is a juggernaut and any theatergoer or future potential production of “The King’s Wife” will certainly be taking that show into account in their consideration of this one. And the team at Constellation seem to realize that since they’ve included “Six” on an “If you like/then you’ll like” poster.

– I’m going to try to avoid that. But I thought I should get it out of the way early to focus on two of those six.

– As produced in Bloomington, Mêlisa Annis and Jamie Floyd’s musical “The King’s Wife” is a mightily sung, smartly directed and designed entertainment that may seem overly familiar to hardcore Anglophiles – or anyone who saw that other musical or watched “Wolf Hall” on PBS or caught any of many other versions of the story. Here, we first meet Katherine (Henry VIII’s first wife) as she manages the country while hubby is away making a mess of a would-be battle. The opening scene and number (the program did not include song titles) builds her up as a strong-willed woman, able to make tough choices – and cut off a head – to get a job done. She even demonstrates an element of Trump-ism stating that the “truth matters little” when putting a PR spin on Henry’s failures overseas. In the eyes of the King, though, her strength and support don’t make up for her not delivering on what he sees as her primary task – producing a male heir. So much of the play becomes “what to do about Katherine?’ and how to line up bride number two.

– Katherine is a fascinating character. But making Katherine this bold and tough and Henry so weak had me doubting why she was attracted to someone so clearly inferior on every level. More clarity on the nature of their relationship before the early death of their children could heighten the stakes. As it stands, losing the relationship with him doesn’t feel like a loss for her. Also worth further exploring is Henry’s belief that the need for a male heir is paramount for the good of country. Strong forces in opposition are more interesting than good vs. evil. 

– While the time of “The King’s Wife” is singular, a tagline (“God save the Queens”) is plural. The musical is strongest in the singular, when Katherine is top of mind. The pluralized second act spends too much time on Ann Boleyn (wife #2 to newcomers and, yes, I know it’s usually Anne but it’s Ann in the program). While the two sound great singing together, the effort to capture some of the different-women-joining-vocal-forces of “Aida” and “Wicked” doesn’t pay off and feels forced…and beside the point. Much of Ann’s second act action could be trimmed or cut. The more we get of Ann, the more “The King’s Wife” feels incomplete, as if we are only getting a third of the Henry saga rather than all of the Katherine story.. 

  – Perhaps there’s more to mine from the relationship between Katherine and the third leading lady, her daughter Mary. In the moment, I was put off by Mary’s rhythmically and whimsically Dr. Seuss-ian first song. It took her return visits for me to see that Mary’s songs mature along with her – a device that helps both her arc and Katherine’s. It’s their coming together that’s more important emotionally than the forced connection between Katherine and Ann.

– The cast assembled for Constallation’s production is solidly pro, anchored by Emma Hunton, a veteran of Broadway’s “Spring Awakening” and “Next to Normal,” as Katherine The supporting cast features outstanding work by Namisa Bizana, giving gravitas and vocal dynamite to Lady Maria Salinas, Katherine’s loyal lady in waiting. Regina Garcia’s set design simply wisely serves the piece along with Alan C. Edwards’ lighting and Dana Tzevetkov’s costumes, all under Tamilla Woodard’s direction. The intimacy of the venue serves the show well – it doesn’t feel like one that should be opened up with an expanded cast to fill largely venues. It’s a show that I hope gets developed further and sees future regional and college theater life.

– Frankly, I enjoyed it more than that other musical.