Divorced….Beheaded….Live…. Her Majesty’s Theatre is set to welcome the Queens this week as SIX The Musical opens this Saturday, May 21.
SIX was written by students Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss for the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and since then it has taken the world by storm. Using the stories of the six wives of Henry VIII, SIX is an empowering, uplifting and fierce 75-minute, high-octane show that combines the stories of these six strong women from history, with a setlist of extraordinarily well-written pop songs that will get stuck in your head for days after seeing the show.
Ahead of their Adelaide season, two of the Queens, Vidya Makan (Catherine Parr) and Chelsea Dawson (Katherine Howard) sat down with me to talk about the show, their beginnings in the industry and why the show is such a world-wide phenomenon.
Vidya Makan
Excitement for the show oozed out of Vidya when we started talking.
“I think it’s a mixture of the fact that the songs are all incredibly written, but within a musical theatre format. They do incredible storytelling, but they do it in a way that actually sounds like good pop songs, not bad pop songs. They are so well written. So, with the fact that they are such bangers, you can come and just enjoy the music. The subject matter is also pretty incredible and also very timely. It’s this big celebration, and a fun night out at the theatre, which we are all needing, but at the same time it has a strong message that’s about reclaiming these women’s stories and retelling them for modern audiences, and everyone can come and feel empowered. I think it’s this really neat mixture of meaningful theatre and really entertaining theatre. That’s what the goal of Six is.”
Theatre seems to have been part of Chelsea’s life from a young age. She was part way through her final year of a Bachelor Of Music Theatre when she received the call to be part of the show.
“Personally, it started in high school. I fell in love with the drama program that they had at the college I went to, much to my mother’s dismay; she wanted me to do graphic design and I was like, “Not for me, Mum! I want to do theatre.” So, I was in the school musicals and I had some amazing mentors at school and with an amazing youth theatre company, and they led me to get into uni. I went to Griffiths University in Brisbane and did my Bachelor of Musical Theatre. In my final year of uni, the audition brief for Katherine Howard (SIX The Musical) came out, and it was my first professional audition. I went down purely to have fun and some ‘in the room’ experience, but a week later I got a call saying they would like me to play the role in Six. So, I was getting ready to pack my bags and start this journey, and figuring out how I could finish my bachelor degree early…and then the pandemic struck. I waited two more years, but it was a worthwhile wait.”
Chelsea Dawson
For Vidya, it was a slightly different path into musical theatre.
“I have been playing music my whole life and I actually learned to read music before I could read English. I always wanted to be a musician, but at the same time, I was a real tomboy and played a lot of sports. I was obsessed with soccer. I was this hybrid between this soccer player and a musician who played in the orchestras at school. When I was 15, I reached the peak of my soccer career and went off to England and did this amazing workshop at Manchester United, and there was something about that week where I knew I had reached my peak with soccer and had done all I could do with it. My family had taken me to see theatre my whole life and it was something we had all really been into. My Dad and I went to the West End in London and we saw Wicked. Something about Wicked got underneath my skin. When we got home, I auditioned for the school musical and got Dorothy in The Wiz at school. I just fell in love with theatre. My parents are so supportive as they are theatre obsessed as well so I moved from wanting to play soccer for Australia to much a more stable career in pursuing the performing arts. I auditioned for universities and finally got into Griffiths in Brisbane. I studied for three years and the rest is history.”
Part history lesson, part rock concert, SIX is really like no other production. While the Queen’s stories and character traits are modernised and exaggerated, there are still a lot of historical elements of their lives in both their songs and characters – what’s it like being able to portray these historical female figures?
Chelsea:
“It’s crazy. We have to constantly keep reminding ourselves that these queens actually walked this earth. I think the power of sharing their stories is almost energetic in what we give off to each other and the audience; it’s just indescribable. As much as I try to put words to it, I keep finding myself speechless because the power within these women and their stories is truly indescribable.”
Vidya:
“There is also something very universal about these women as well. They are six women in history, but they are also every woman in history, every woman alive right now and every under-represented voice. We are also six people who all look completely different – we come from different backgrounds and are different ages – so being up on that stage, I am not only playing Catherine Parr, but I’m also representing all the young Indian women out there. I’m representing every woman who can say “I survived”.”
The costumes in SIX are brilliant. As Vidya explained, every Queen around the world, including the three fabulous swings who cover all six roles, have their own unique design that’s individualised to the performer.
“A cool thing about the show is we get to bring ourselves to the stage. It’s the only show that I know of in its own right that works like that to the extent that it does. Our amazing swings have their own stunning costumes, so it’s not hidden when one of the swings is going on and one of us six Queens is off. We all celebrate each other because we bring our own take on each role.”
Another unique aspect of SIX is that not only is the cast all female-identifying, but so is the band and the majority of the company’s production team and touring crew. The focus really is on telling HERstory.
Chelsea:
“I will never forget, in the audition room where they all sat everyone down and told us they were really, at the core of it all, looking for good humans. They asked us to relax and just bring ourselves to the table. From then, the atmosphere in the room completely changed. There is something so wonderful about being around female-identifying people, and experiencing that with each other is very empowering.”
Vidya:
“Having women at the forefront is incredible as well. Back at uni, I remember being told once that we couldn’t go into the boys’ dance class because I had to learn what it is to be feminine to work in the industry. What I love about Six is you have so many women at the helm that we all get to define what femininity is.
While it is centered around six strong female characters, it’s so much more. It’s about women being in charge of our own narratives.”
When asked about their sensational band, The Ladies In Waiting:
Chelsea:
“They are the coolest humans I have ever met in my entire life. They try and steal the show. They are just the best to work with.”
Vidya:
“You need to watch out for their acting – they are in the story telling.”
The Queens will be walking down the purple carpet and into Her Majesty’s this week. SIX The Musical opens at Her Majesty’s Theatre May 21 for a strictly limited season. Tickets can be purchased through www.sixthemusical.com.au .
Interview by Ben Stefanoff
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