“Six: The Musical” bands together all the wives of King Henry VIII as a pop girl group ready to retell their story through a new lens. And now South Florida audiences will get to experience this Broadway sensation at either one of two major performing arts centers – in Fort Lauderdale and Miami – this October.
The pop concert production puts a modern spin on English history. The story looks at the queens from a new perspective, focused not only on their deaths, but on the lives they lived through the course of their marriages.
(Joan Marcus)
Olivia Donalson as Anna of Cleves (center) in the North American Six: The Musical” Aragon Tour.
“Six,” which won a Tony Award for best original score this year, creates a concert experience for the audience with glitz, glamour and belting songs. The queens seek the audience’s approval in deciding who will lead the girl group as they sing about their marital misfortunes.
The musical premiered in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival after Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss wrote the play as students while attending Cambridge University. After being picked up by U.K. producers, the musical was staged around the U.K. and Australia, and performed on cruise ships.
(Joan Marcus)
Didi Romero as Katherine Howard (center) in the North American Six: The Musical” Aragon Tour.
Since then, “Six” has become a global sensation, reaching the hearts of young fans everywhere with its historical banter and powerful soundtrack. Its North American tour was meant to begin in 2020, but was shut down due to the pandemic. The 2022 North American Aragon Tour began in March.
The show uses a diverse and multicultural cast in the place of historical figures, much as “Hamilton” does.
“It’s so nice to have the opportunity of experiencing different cultures, and the cast is so open to other cultures that it’s all like a breath of fresh air,” said Didi Romero, who plays fifth wife Katherine Howard.
(Joan Marcus)
Gabriela Carrillo as Catherine Parr(center) in the North American Six: The Musical” Aragon Tour.
Diversity exists, not only among the actresses in the musical, but among the real historical figures being portrayed. Some of Henry’s queens were Spanish or German, and they ranged drastically in age. Romero’s Queen Howard, for example, was Henry VIII’s youngest wife and is thought to have been between the ages of 15 and 19.
Romero feels her queen fulfills a particular purpose within the “Queedom,” the name given to “Six “fans.
“Young women of this generation are still very misunderstood, and my queen represents that,” she said. “A lot of girls will come up to me and tell me their tragic stories, so hearing my queen’s tragic story reminds them that they’re not alone.”
(Joan Marcus)
The “Six” queens looking back to the audience.
Howard’s story ends with her tragic beheading, but her life was initially unknown to Romero, along with the rest of the queens. She grew up in Puerto Rico, where English history wasn’t taught to her and her classmates.
But many people are equally uninformed about British history and the wives of King Henry VIII; small details of the production can easily slip past even the most observant audience member.
“People really do need to see it a few times to catch everything,” said Romero. “Everything tells a story, from our costumes, the choreography, our songs … even the lighting tells a story.”
Romero’s costume, much like the other queens, was carefully concepted to express the character’s personality and be used as a storytelling tool.
(Joan Marcus)
The “Six” queens at the front of the stage.
Gabriela Carrillo’s Catherine Parr, Henry’s final wife, is the only queen who wears pants throughout the musical – a costuming choice perhaps meant to express the character’s sensible, calming influence. Olivia Donalson plays Anna of Cleves, the fourth wife, and the shorts she wears tell the audience she’s not a regular queen, but a force to be reckoned with.
Romero’s high ponytail and tight corset portray a fierce and sultry queen, leading the audience to assume she is as revealing as her short skirt. But according to Romero, she’s more than the legs exposed by her clothing.
“Her costume is more of a mask. It’s just your first impression of her,” she said. “You look at her and think she’s cute and sexy, but when you listen to her song, she’s not OK.”
According to Romero, the rest of her costume is part of a bigger story of Howard’s life. The choker the actress wears, she says, symbolizes Howard’s unfortunate demise; the ropes on her chest represent the society that wouldn’t let her be herself as a free teenager.
As the rebellious young girl among the queens, Romero found some difficulty in portraying Howard as such.
“I had some trouble in the beginning because I’m 23, not 15 years old. But after talking to Megan, our associate director, she told me to let the writing do its thing,” said Romero. “Looking at Kat’s lines you can see that the way she talks is like a teenager, and as the energetic person that I am, people tend to think I’m younger than I am. So you find those little things to help you in the creative process.”
Other issues arose during that process, including having to figure out how to accurately characterize Howard, given the scant amount of information that can be found about her.
“Kat only lasted a year in the palace, so with the information I did get about her, it was a lot of fun because I got to create the character,” Romero said. “I got to make her my own. I’m goofy and I decided she would be, too. She became this fun, free soul. She is so curious, and I will defend her until the end.”
The queens compete and bicker on stage, but the essence of the show is filled with “unity and sisterhood,” according to Romero, as they bring their characters to life. Those themes are threaded throughout the story of every queen in “Six.”
“Working on this masterpiece is so much fun. It’s amazing working with all these people to make everything fit together,” said Romero. “It’s all about teamwork.”