Photograph by Liz Lauren, courtesy of Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Six
Editor’s Note: Six was created and written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, 20-something students at Cambridge University for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017 before it took the U.K. by storm in 2018. The production brings forward—and gives voice to—the wives of the notorious former King of England. The modern musical made its U.S. debut with sold-out performances in Chicago earlier this year and begins its local run on November 29 at the Ordway, before opening on Broadway in 2020. The musical has especially resonated with young women—including teens—so when given the opportunity for an interview with the six actors who portray the queens while they were in town recently, we sent a fourteen-year-old fan and budding reporter.
I, like a surprising number of new fans, was introduced to Six via the music on the social media app TikTok. (My sister and I joined when it was still called Musical.ly, but I’m very happy to say all of those old videos have been lost to the depths of social media.) Anyways, once my friend convinced me to download TikTok, my For You page was filled with people lip syncing “…don’t be bitter/’Cause I’m fitter…” (from the song “Don’t Lose Ur Head” from Six). And when I got into the cosplay side (people dressed as characters from a movie, book, or video game) of the video-sharing app, I found two accounts specifically, @ceekayye and @mmeelizabeth, who wear especially cool cosplays of Anne Boleyn (wife #2) and Catherine Howard (wife #5), and I decided to check out Six.
I was instantly hooked. How could I not be? Lyrics with double meanings, amazing songs, history lessons, and an all-female cast—it was the perfect musical. I showed it to everyone, even my mother—turning the volume down and skipping “All You Wanna Do” to avoid embarrassment—who liked it, too. Little did I know that, five months later, I’d get to interview the Broadway cast in St. Paul.
I started by asking if they were aware of TikTok (core users are under 24-years-old), to which they collectively said they didn’t know much about it, “No! But we hear really good things!” I gave them a quick description and mentioned that I’d actually found Six off of TikTok and that a lot of their newer fans had come from the songs that had gone viral. I also mentioned my favorite cosplayers and the Queens told me about the time when they met them, dressed in full cosplay, during the Chicago tour. “They surprised us,” said Samantha Pauly, who plays Catherine Howard. “I saw them in the front row, and I thought ‘there is one of me!’ They looked amazing.”
Not surprisingly, at least to me, the actresses hadn’t known about Six before auditioning. In fact, Brittany Mack, who plays Anne of Cleves (wife #4), thought she was auditioning for The Wizard of Oz. “After my call-back I looked it up ‘oh, wow, this is really a big deal.” Most of them didn’t realize what a really big deal Six had become until they looked it up or listened to the album, which was similar to my experience. “When I got my final call back,” added Mack, “I realized the magnitude of this show.”
One of my questions was “what is your favorite part of getting to play the queens?” They chatted enthusiastically about being actresses who are playing pop stars. “We are playing pretend pop stars,” said Mack. “It’s bizarre,” said Pauly, “this is happening!” They were surprised that people genuinely believe that they are naturally pop stars when they’re really just average people. “We get to be queens for a night.”
When I asked which queen who they related to the most, they each gave an interesting response. “There is something relatable about every one of the queens,” said Abby Mueller who plays Jane Seymour. “The whole point is that we are all full human beings, and there is something relatable in each of these queens.” Mack then started to sing Whitney Houston’s "I’m Every Woman." “'I’m Every Woman' is the theme of this show,” she said. “Each aspect of these queens and, yet, us, make the woman. The one woman we can’t quite put into words.” The best part of the musical is that every fan sees a part of themselves on the stage. They were glad that I, as a freshman, could have someone to look up to in these characters. “Growing up, we didn’t have anything like this at your age,” said Mack.
From a historical perspective, I was shocked to learn how young Catherine Howard really was. When she was executed, she was only 17, and hadn’t even been married to Henry VIII for a year. She was only 3 years older than me when she died.
I also wanted to know what they like most about playing their queen.
Adrianne Hicks on Catherine of Aragon, who Henry VIII divorced: “Her heart towards her people. And how she learned that from her family and brought it into England. And even though she couldn’t produce an heir, she gave him a beautiful daughter.”
Andrea Macasaet on Anne Boleyn who Henry VIII had executed: “Though she went through times of weakness, she never showed it. She was so strong.”
Abby Mueller on Jane Seymour who died shortly after childbirth: “Jane is seen as this door mat. Obedient. There is a twist in my song, and she has just as many feelings as everyone else. You can be strong, and vulnerable.”
Brittney Mack on Anne of Cleves who Henry divorced: “She is very, very clever. You were not going to out-do her. Especially some old man.”
Samantha Pauly on Catherine Howard who was also executed: “She was innocent. And fun. She was a kid. She was so young. She never got a chance to mature and be a woman. I like that she kept that innocence.”
Anna Uzele on Catherine Parr: “Each queen is a piece of the Tudor story. But Henry is only one piece of the Catherine Parr story.”
My favorite part of Six—and what drew me to the music—are the lyrical parallels and double meanings in the songs. For example, “One of a kind, no category/Too(two) many years lost in history (his story)/We’re free (three) to live our crowning glory/ For (four) five more minutes/We’re Six.” I asked them what they thought of the lyrics. “The writers are brilliant,” said Mueller. “The lyrics are so smart. So full. So dense. So funny,” she added. “Amazing material. Accessible material. It’s a pleasure and an honor to have such good material. The perfect bite.”
I left also feeling honored by the queens, knowing they shared my opinion that the lyricists are masterminds.
Andrea Macasaet, Abby Mueller, Brittney Mack, Samantha Pauly, Adrianna Hicks, Elinor Olson, Anna Uzele
Front row: Andrea Macasaet, Abby Mueller, Brittney Mack, Samantha Pauly. Back row: Adrianna Hicks, Elinor Olson, Anna Uzele.
Six runs November 29–December 22 at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. Visit Ordway.org for tickets and to learn more about special pre- and post-show events, including Friday Night Drag Dance Parties hosted by Flip Phone.
