24 Things I Learned From Six Actress Lauren Byrne's Dance Workshop and Q&A

July 03, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head” “Heart of Stone” “Haus of Holbein” “Get Down”
The Tudor Crown Inspiration in Six’s Logo; The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations; Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes; Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!; The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical; How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

This has taken me a while to get up because frankly my depression is MUCH worse than usual right now because of all the self-isolation and the continued COVID-19 pandemic, which I …was really hoping would be over by July 4 but clearly won’t be. I’m working on it. Anyway, here you go.

I did a dance workshop and Q&A with Six actress Lauren Byrne last Saturday through Theatre Fan Workshops. Byrne plays Jane Seymour on the Six UK Tour, which interestingly enough, will be back soon in the form of a drive-in tour! I hope to get a post about that up soon too.

Byrne taught us the ending Dance of “Six” (from the end of Catherine parr to the end, but put in the dance break from ex-wives at the end) and the dance break from “No Way.” She had some wonderful commentary throughout on the dancing and choreography, which I’ve included throughout this post as picture captions.

In response to someone saying they’re too uncool for the dance warmup with the cabbage patch, bismark, and wu tan, Byrne said “The first thing we did at rehearsals was we did grooves like that to get used to things like and get our bodies used to th… — In response to someone saying they’re too uncool for the dance warmup with the cabbage patch, bismark, and wu tan, Byrne said “The first thing we did at rehearsals was we did grooves like that to get used to things like and get our bodies used to the dancing – and I definitely kept being like “I am way too uncool for this” – they used to call me cardboard lady.”

While demonstrating the “crown hands” which are brought to the forehead, Byrne commented “In the show, it’s horrible because you’re sweating buckets and you don’t want to touch anything to your face – but then the choreographer comes and is like ‘NO… — While demonstrating the “crown hands” which are brought to the forehead, Byrne commented “In the show, it’s horrible because you’re sweating buckets and you don’t want to touch anything to your face – but then the choreographer comes and is like ‘NONE OF YOU WERE TOUCHING YOUR FINGERS ON YOUR CROWN HANDS’ –so she’s really picky about it.”

1. Duck or giraffe? Giraffe. They’re just so cute – they’re like dogs but with long necks.

2. What was your favorite UK tour show? Guilford. That was full circle for me. I trained at Guilford. The venue we opened at was where I did a show in drama school. My family was first row.

Also the sing a long in Manchester will forever stand out in my mind. It was absolutely insane, I’ve never felt so much like Beyonce in my life and I very rarely feel like Beyonce actually.

3. Funniest moment while performing - There was one where i forgot my line – it was horrendous at the moment but hilarious to look back.
Also, the moment that Maddie [Maddie Bulleyment, who plays Anne Boleyn in Six] fell down the stairs in her song. I think it was right after “I think he’s really going to chop my head off. I guess he likes her head” – and she fell onto her hands and knees from the top step down at the bottom – once we knew she was okay, she fell apart.

4. Most challenging part of the show to perform – all you wanna do – it’s a marathon – all the choruses are really similar and just slightly different every time – learning it was a nightmare because of that reason – just slightly different – and performing every night – if you even slightly switch off in that number you forget what chorus you’re on, there are so many times where I’ve accidentally done the moves to chorus 2 in chorus 3

5. What queen she wanted to play when she auditioned? – I’d never listened to it before I auditioned, I thought it wouldn’t be my cup of tea, which is hilarious All my friends when I auditionered were like OMG lauren you’re going to get Jane Seymour so I assume I ended up in the right place.

6. What’s it like being in musical theater but also a band? [Lauren Byrne is in the country band Remember Monday with her friends Holly, who played Christine in the UK tour of The Phantom of the Opera, and Charlotte]
While I’m out of work, it gives me something else to focus on that’s creative and a use of that creative energy that isn’t like acting. I still have something that can be using that creativeness so I’m not just dying in a waitress job waiting to commit, I’m giving myself a creative outlet outside of the acting world – and being in a band with your best friends is like a childhood dream, isn’t it?

7. Favorite musical she’s participated in – Definitely Six but before Six came along, my first job was Sunny Afternoon. It isn’t a very well known show actually, but it’s such a cool show, I love it. And we all did music too; I played guitar as well. It’s about a band called The Kinks and it’s like a proper rock show – it was that kind of poppy rocky genre. It’s more like 60s rock rather than pop rock. I was a swing so I covered like all of the girl parts.

8. Favorite musical she’s seen – gypsy with Imelda Staunton- that’s my example when anyone says musical theatre actors can’t also be on screen

9. If you can be any kind of potato which one would you be? – Chips.

10. How she gets emotional in her song and still sing? It’s about being aware of where your larynx is – because your larynx rises when you cry. They give me a second before I do the high note thankfully. I say this with all my students as well: everything with singing on stage should be with how it feels rather than how it sounds – you want to base things on where it feels like placement wise.

During the Six improv dance break, “We’re basically just having a massive party on stage -0 = after five minutes in six – we’re six “woo party, do whatever you like for 3 counts of 8." She mentioned that she usually another actress throws a lasso at… — During the Six improv dance break, “We’re basically just having a massive party on stage -0 = after five minutes in six – we’re six “woo party, do whatever you like for 3 counts of 8." She mentioned that she usually another actress throws a lasso at her on stage and she hops toward her like a fish ona line.

Lauren emphasized that your wrists have to really be straight and strong in this position in “Six.”

11. Favorite Harry Potter characer – Hermione- I am Hermione.

12. What tattoos does she have? I have a Lightning bolt on a wrist from me being a massive nerd. Little shamrock on foot for grandad – he has one on his arm – we went to Dublin with SunnyAfternoon and I got it there. I also have one on back – a sun and a star and a moon – that’s for the band – we all have the same one.

13. Favorite joke in Six – one of bobo’s (Anne Boleyn’s) – all of her lines are just great – she’s got some really great one liners- she shuts everyone down with her sarcasm – and I can’t think of one right now, but all of her one liners are great.

14. Dream role – miss honey in matilda – everyone alsways asks me this and I feel like I’ll jinx it but I’ll tell you one –

15. What’s your best positive affirmation/mantra? – everything happens for a reason – last year when I was auditioning for miss honey – I was in for the third year in a row, and every time I go for it =- I’ll be like – oh this’ll be the year I get it – and I got to finals every year previously and – then third time – I had my final and it had gone well – then found out a few weeks later that my friends’ friend had gotten the part – so I found out through someone else that id idn’t get the part – iwas gutted, sobbing all day – then my agent calling me – and here’s the “I’m sorry you didn’t get the job call” – and she’s like “oh hi lauren I’m just calling you with an offer from six” – and I was like “what?” – if I had gotten Matilda, I would never have gotten this opportunity –

All the rejections you get could be over stupid little reasons – like oh we’d rather not remake the costumes so let’s get someone who fits the costume from last year, or based on height – it’s all just about timing and you’ve got to try to believe that it’s nothing to do with you personally – I know it’s harder to do than to say – but

16. About her yodeling: Why did she yodel? –[ lauren’s friend said she’s really good at yodeling at a stage door in bath]– and I yodeled. And it’s quite a country thing and people really like it. There was a show I did in GSA – there was one line and it literally sounded like I was yodeling and it wasn’t intentional that’s just how it came out - = she’s tall enough to be a mother. [she sang it for us to demonstrate]

17. Glinda or elphaba? [in Wicked]– Elphaba – I can’t sing soprano at all to save my life – because holly is one of those annoying people who can do everything – she’s over there singing Christine and pops uver to the band and sing a country song?

18. Which heather would you be? I don’t know heather very well, I’m sorry. [sees people’s shocked faces] I see your faces are so shocked – [people in the chat said heather mac.]

19. What do you think of the Six fandom? it’s so cool, honestly – I’ve never been part of anything like this show before – ti’s really amazing the social media presence it has – it allows you to interact with the people who love the how – never had that before [older shows have older fanbases that aren’t on social media as well] – you get to see how that the work you do can impact other people – I’ve never experienced anything like it – it’s unlike anything else, it’s so so cool.

20. What’s your favorite type of dog? – Labradors – I’ve got two – they’re very goob – I love them so much.

21. Funniest backstage moment – I actually can’t pinpoint one because there are so many – we’re all mental – when we were in the small space we were all in the same dressing room, and that doesn’t happen in any other venue –….it was so much fun, I mean it was hectic and manic and we were all like sardines but it was so so funny.
and any time there’s a show stop because everyone’s insane backstage – because we’re relieved that we get a breather – except if you have a show stop mid song and you have to go back – all you want to do and go do it again throughout.

22. Favorite cast album – Waitress – I love soft place to land and I love – Bangers.

[Follow up question - Who would you play in waitress? Someone has photoshopped my face onto Jenna, holly’s onto Dawn, and Charlotte’s face onto Becky’s – and I feel like that would work quite well – and I’ll be like I’ll take that,

23. Challenges performing in different venues – Every Tuesday or Monday when we load in, because that’s when you have to run the show a few times in sound check and then do it that night – it’s like a three show day, it’s tiring – soundwise – obviously we wear in-ears [mics] – the sound is so different in every venue depending on where the monitors are and the desk – that can be a massive struggle – it can take 2-3 shows to get the sound in your in-ears the way you like it.

24. What’s your favorite place you’ve been to because of tour? – I loved going to Ireland and I’m so sad we missed Dublin because of stupid corona – and I absolutely love going to Dublin and Belfast – I’ve been to Belfast as well on another tour – maybe it’s just because my family’s Irish and I just love to be there!

Over-Analyzing All the References in Six: "Ex-Wives"

June 26, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater, English History

I’ve been meaning for a while now to write out analyses of all the songs in Six, looking at all the historical and pop culture references in them, but i’ve had a lot of trouble finding the focus and motivation to do so during all this self isolation. I started this blog post in like….April? But here we finally are. Hope you enjoy it. I plan on putting up one for each song, hopefully at least one a week for a while. I need a purpose!

We’re starting off today with the opening song of the show, Ex-wives. Lyrics in the show are in bolded font and my commentary is in italics. :)

Abby Mueller (Jane Seymour), Samantha Pauly (Katherine Howard), Adrianna Hicks (Catherine of Aragon), Andrea Macasaet (Anne Boleyn), Brittney Mack (Anna of Cleves) and Anna Uzele (Catherine Parr) in  the Broadway production of Six - Joan Marcus… — Abby Mueller (Jane Seymour), Samantha Pauly (Katherine Howard), Adrianna Hicks (Catherine of Aragon), Andrea Macasaet (Anne Boleyn), Brittney Mack (Anna of Cleves) and Anna Uzele (Catherine Parr) in the Broadway production of *Six* - Joan Marcus from WhatsonStage

Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived, And tonight, we are...Live!

So I’ve actually been trying to find the origin of this rhyme for a while and haven’t had any luck. At some point I want to do an in-depth search of a lot of old texts to try to see when it was actually stated first. It appears that there are actually at least two other mnemonics for remembering the wives. I’m still researching the history on these as well, but here they are.

King Henry VIII, To six wives he was wedded.
One died, one survived,
Two divorced, two beheaded

Boleyn and Howard lost their heads,
Anne of Cleves he would not bed,
Jane Seymour gave him a son – but died before the week was done,
Aragon he did Divorce,
Which just left Catherine Parr, of course!

All of these rhymes are slightly inaccurate, in that technically, both Aragon’s and Cleves’ marriages to Henry were annulled. The word “divorce” WAS used in renaissance times, but it really just referred to annulment. The distinction? An annulment basically says that the marriage is null and void and was NEVER valid. A divorce recognizes that the couple was validly married at one time. Divorce in the modern sense simply did not exist in England in the 1500s; if you married someone, you were stuck until one or either of you died, unless there was some reason that the marriage was invalid from the beginning.

Grounds for annulment included:

one member of the couple was pre-contracted to someone else. A pre-contract was basically a formal engagement that was, in the eyes of the church and the law, as legally binding as an actual marriage. You could enter into a pre-contract just by promising to marry each other before witnesses. Fun fact: This is probably why, even though lots of Shakespeare’s plays feature weddings, none of them actually SHOW a wedding.
Example: This was one of the grounds for annulling Henry’s marriages to both Anne Boleyn (before her death) and Anne of Cleves.
a blood or spiritual relationship between the individuals. Basically, if the husband and wife were related or had some sort of prior spiritual relationship - like as a godfather and goddaughter, that could be a justification for an annulment. “Blood relationship” referred to both consanguinity (an actual blood/genetic relationship) and affinity, which is the kinship relationship created between two people as a result of someone’s marriage. Dispensations could be and were secured for familial relationships all the time though, as the nobles in England and Europe at large were VERY interbred. You see a LOT of first cousin marriages at the time. So frankly, marrying your cousin wasn’t a great idea at the time, as even if a dispensation was secured, the marriage could possibly be annulled later (although of course, it was easier for the king to get his marriage annulled than many other nobles).
Example: Although Catherine of Aragon and Henry were both descended from Edward III and John of Gaunt, the familial distance was enough that she didn’t need a dispensation to marry Henry’s older brother Arthur (if you’re curious, John of Gaunt was Catherine’s great-great-grandfather on one side and her great-great-great-grandfather on another side and Henry’s great-great-great grandfather on both his maternal and paternal sides. As you can see from this being on both sides, marriage between cousins was actually pretty damn common at the time.). She DID need a dispensation to marry her brother-in-law Henry after Arthur died, due to the rules of affinity. Henry’s argument
Other grounds that are less important to this current story: Impotence, the use of force/fear to obtain consent, the carrying out of a crime (usually adultery), marrying a minor, clandestine marriages, marriages entered under false pretenses.

Listen up let me tell you a story - A story that you think you've heard before
We know you know our names and our fame and our faces - Know all about the glories and the disgraces
I'm done 'cause all this time I've been just one word in a stupid rhyme

This refers back to the “divorced beheaded died” rhyme and speaks to the queens’ frustration at being reduced to just one word describing what Henry did to them.

So I picked up a pen and a microphone - History's about to get overthrown

Pun Watch: Overthrown - Overthroned**

Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived, And tonight, we are...Live!

Welcome to the show, to the historemix - Switching up the flow as we add the prefix
Everybody knows that we used to be six wives

Pun watch: History- mix, remix - they’re literally telling the story from their own POV instead of the historical male-centric, Henry-centric view.

“The prefix” here refers to “ex.” Although the queens are collectively known as the six wives of Henry VIII, this line points out that they’re actually ex wives now.

Raising up the roof till we hit the ceiling - Get ready for the truth that will be revealing
Everybody knows that we used to be six wives - But now we're Ex-Wives

All you ever hear and read about Is our ex and the way it ended - But a pair doesn't beat a royal flush You're gonna find out how we got, unfriended

Innuendo and Pun watch: It took me way too long to realize that in this case, although the obvious reference of “pair” and “royal flush” is to poker, a “pair” also refers to the wives having breasts.
“A royal flush” refers to Henry being royal, and also puns on the fact that this hand in poker literally contains an Ace, King, Queen, Joker and 10, all of the same suit. It’s very rare and hard to achieve and is the strongest hand in poker. Similarly, as king, Henry VIII had all the power in his relationships with his wives.
”unfriended” is an obvious Facebook reference.

Tonight we're gonna do ourselves justice 'Cause we're taking you to court
And every Tudor rose has its thorns
And you're gonna hear 'em live In consort

Pun watch: “taking you to court” - this refers to both a court of law and the royal court.

Pun watch: “live in consort” refers to the fact that all of these queens were queens consort, which means they were married to the sovereign. A queen regnant would rule as sovereign in her own right, e.g., the Queens Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II.

“Every Tudor Rose has its thorns” - This one line has like three important references in it.

1. The Tudor Rose was an emblem that Henry VIII’s father, Henry Tudor, created when he married Elizabeth of York, effectively joining the houses of Lancaster and York and ending the long-running War of the Roses (which was referred to as the Cousins’ War at the time). Every noble used lots of different heraldic emblems at the time, and one of the York family’s was a white rose. The Lancasters DID have a red rose badge among their many emblems, but Henry Tudor himself probably used a red dragon (which signified his Welsh heritage) prior to his marriage. However, the Tudors were MASTERS of propaganda, and Henry VII revived the red rose as an emblem and combined it with the white rose of his wife to create “the Tudor Rose,” to signify the combining of the houses and the ending of the war. It bolstered his claim to the throne, which was actually fairly tenuous.

(I’m not going to get into it at length now, but basically, Henry Tudor was a descendant of Edward III and got his claim to the throne through Edward’s son John of Gaunt. However, he was a descendant of Gaunt’s long time mistress and eventual third wife Catherine Swynford; at the time, Gaunt’s children with Swynford WERE legitimized, but a clause was inserted by their half brother Henry IV at the time stating that these children were barred from the line of succession to the throne of England. If you want more info, I have a whole family tree of the Wars of the Roses and the Tudors here).

2. There’s a long history of historians claiming that Henry VIII called Catherine Howard, his fifth wife, his “rose without a thorn.” However, Claire Ridgeway of the Anne Boleyn Files did a deep dive on this topic and found that in fact, although there WAS a gold crown coin from Henry’s reign that included the Latin legend “HENRIC VIII RUTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA,” which translates as “Henry VIII - a dazzling rose without a thorn,” this crown was produced long before Henry ever met Catherine Howard and referred to him, not his wife. It appears that a victorian historian started this misattribution. However, the myth that Henry called Howard this is so well known that this line HAS to be a reference to that.

3. This also obviously refers to the 1988 song “Every Rose has its Thorns” by Poison.

Welcome to the show, to the historemix
Switching up the flow as we add the prefix
Everybody knows that we used to be six wives
Dancing to the beat till the break of day, once we're done we'll start again like it's the Renaissance

“Renaissance” - This is a French word meaning “rebirth” that refers to a cultural and artistic movement throughout Europe. The English Renaissance is sometimes said to have started in 1485 (when Henry VIII’s father Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and became king), but is more often thought to have begun more in the 1520s, during Henry VIII’s reign. So by saying they’re literally going to start again after they’re done, they really are referencing the actual meaning behind the word “renaissance.” It’s also a probable reference to “party like it’s 1999,” from 1999 by Prince.
Although Six is always performed in the actor’s normal accents, this specific line is always pronounced in the British - Reh-nay-zance - to make the rhyme work.

My name's Catherine of Aragon, was married twenty-four years
I'm a paragon of royalty, my loyalty is to the Vatican,
So if you try to dump me, You won't try that again

Catherine of Aragon was a Spanish princess and the daughter of the famed and rich Ferdinand and Isabella (of “Columbus sailed the ocean blue”), so she really was a paragon of royalty.

Securing her marriage to Henry VII’s son Arthur was a huge achievement for his reign, as it garnered legitimacy to the fledgling Tudor dynasty. Catherine came to England in 1501 at age 15 and married Arthur, but alas, he died less than a year into their marriage. Catherine stayed in England in increasing poverty and instability over the next 8 years, the victim of a fierce disagreement between her father-in-law and her father (who wanted Henry VII to return Catherine’s dowry). However, when Henry VII died, the 18-year-old Henry VIII immediately married the now 23 year old Catherine, getting a dispensation from the pope to marry his former sister-in-law. Their marriage lasted until Henry VIII had it annulled in 1533.

Catherine was very religious throughout her life and was a steadfast roman catholic. The seat of Roman Catholicism was then, as it is now, in Vatican City.
I’ll get into all this more in depth when I talk about “No Way.”

I'm that Boleyn girl and I'm up next, See I broke England from the church
Yeah I'm that sexy, Why did I lose my head?
Well my sleeves may be green but my lipstick's red

“That Boleyn girl” likely refers to Philippa Gregory’s novel “The Other Boleyn Girl,” which told the story of Anne and her sister Mary and was later turned into a film starring Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johannson. Both the book and the film were incredibly successful.

Henry VIII notoriously broke away from the Roman Catholic church and founded the Church of England, with himself as its Supreme Head, in order to get his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Henry was likely motivated at least a bit by several things - his love/lust for Anne, his frustration with not getting his dispensation from the Pope (who actually usually issued such dispensations to European kings pretty easily, but in this case, was under pressure NOT to issue such a dispensation from Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor, who literally held the Pope prisoner during a lot of this time), his lack of a son from his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and perhaps even his own sincere religious belief that his marriage to Catherine was invalid.

The lyric “why did I lose my head?” obviously refers to Anne’s ultimate demise and her song in the show, but it also refers to Anne Boleyn’s infamous temper. Anne was brilliant, but it’s well documented that when angry, she often said spiteful, threatening things. I’ll get into this more when I talk about her song “Don’t Lose Your Head.”

Six makes GREAT use of the long standing myth that Henry VIII wrote “Greensleeves” for Anne Boleyn, both in this line and in its use of the Greensleeves melody throughout the show (in fact, I recently discovered while playing through Ex-wives on the piano that the entire damn song is built around the greensleeves chordal structure). However, Henry VIII did NOT write Greensleeves, which was partly based off of a romanesca, an Italian style of musical composition that did not reach England until after Henry VIII's death.

“My lipstick’s red” refers to the very long history of red lipstick as a symbol of a sexy, powerful, rebellious woman. There’s a whole article on the history here, but I particularly love that suffragettes specifically wore red lipstick for its ability to shock men, and prior to the 20th century, red lips were strongly associated with morally dubious women.
Makeup was not terribly fashionable during the reign of Henry VIII, however lipstick DID exist in a form during renaissance times, as crusaders to the middle east had brought back cosmetic products, including a type of rouge made from red ochre which was used to stain the lips. Henry’s daughter with Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I, actually popularized makeup in her reign by famously wearing white makeup to cover her smallpox scars and yes, red stained lips. You can see that Elizabeth’s lips are stained red in this portrait.

Jane Seymour the only one he truly loved (Rude)
When my son was newly born, I died
But I'm not what I seem or am I?
Stick around and you'll suddenly see more

The concept that Jane Seymour was Henry’s favorite wife and “the only one he truly loved” was forwarded by Henry himself, but doesn’t actually track with his actions at the time. Jane DID give Henry his only surviving son, the one he had wanted for so many years, which is probably why he viewed her with such fondness in later years. She WAS the only one of his wives who was given a queen’s funeral. There are all sorts of stories about how Henry wore black and mourned for Jane for years, but in reality, the search for his new queen began shortly after Jane’s death.

Henry looked at Jane with a lot of fondness in later years. She was painted into several family portraits after her death, even when Henry was married to other women, and Henry was indeed buried next to her when he died. This was almost certainly because she gave birth to his longed-for heir, which is something she addresses in her song “Heart of Stone” later.

Jane Seymour did die shortly after giving birth to her son Edward, later Edward VI. She had a very difficult labor that lasted two days and three nights. Edward was born on October 12, 1537, and Jane lasted until October 24. Modern historians believe she probably died of either an infection from a retained placenta, puerperal fever following a bacterial infection, or a pulmonary embolism, but it’s hard to know.
If anyone ever tells you that she had a c-section and died of it, you should ignore then because they’re very very wrong. In renaissance England, c-sections were really only performed when someone had already died or was about to die and the baby had to be removed immediately. People just didn’t survive c-sections. An example of an actual c-section from that time period is the character of MacDuff from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, who was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripped" (Act 5 Scene 10).

The mysterious ending line to Jane’s bit here refers to the fact that we don’t actually have a ton of information about Jane. We don’t know her birth date, she wasn’t particularly notable or well known before her marriage to Henry, and most of the descriptions of her during her time as Queen focus on her meekness and gentleness rather than giving us much indication of her personality or thoughts.

UPDATE: It’s been pointed out to me by commentor Blin4 that “suddenly see more” is also a reference to a song from Little Shop of Horrors! Brilliant.

Ich bin Anne of Cleves (Ja)
When he saw my portrait he was like (Ja!)
But I didn't look as good as good as I did in my pic
Funny how we all discuss that but never Henry's little-

Henry’s armor with his ah, little…codpiece.
(Credit: Gary Ombler / Royal Armouries)

Parts of this segment are in German because Anne of Cleves was in fact, German.

As described hyperbolically in Haus of Holbein, Henry VIII did really send Hans Holbein around Europe to paint pictures of eligible women so he could decide which one he wanted to marry, and this is indeed how Henry chose Anna. The “Anne of Cleves didn’t look like her portrait” story started very early on, but there are several facts that don’t support this story. 1. Holbein was specifically instructed not to flatter the women he was painted, but only to paint what he actually saw, and 2. Holbein kept his job and worked for Henry for years after his marriage to Anna was annulled. This indicates that the painting was a good likeness, but Henry didn’t like her for other reasons. I’ll get into this more later, but it’s likely that a VERY bad first meeting, in which Henry tried to surprise Anna without revealing his own identity and she didn’t react well, hurt Henry’s pride terribly.

”Henry’s little- …prick“ As far as I know, there’s no historical evidence about the size of Henry’s penis to support the joke at the end of this line. However, this may refer to two different related facts. One of the grounds for the annulment of their marriage was that Henry claimed he could not consummate the marriage with Anna, which of course, implicates his penis and his masculinity. In addition, codpieces were a HUGE trend during Henry’s reign and were also literally huge, so all of Henry’s portraits and armor from the time has a very large, uhm, groin area. It’s uh, very obvious.

Prick up your ears I'm the Catherine who lost her head (Beheaded)
For my promiscuity outside of wed - Lock up your husbands
Lock up your sons - K Howard is here and the fun's begun

“The Catherine who lost her head” - refers to the fact that Henry had three wives named Catherine/Katherine (spelling wasn’t standardized at that time).

”my promiscuity outside of wed - lock” - wedlock is of course, an old fashioned way of referring to marriage. I actually always thought that Catherine Howard’s adultery was pretty well supported by evidence (i mean, it’s certainly more supported than the allegations against Anne Boleyn), but it’s apparently more nebulous than I realized. Her relationship with Thomas Culpeper was supported by a “love letter” she wrote him found in his chambers; however, the phrasing in the “love letter” was actually pretty standard for letters between friends in that time, so it’s definitely possible that their relationship wasn’t a torrid love affair at all. The show alludes to this more in her song “All you Wanna Do,” which addresses the sexual abuse she faced throughout her life.

“Lock up your husbands, lock up your sons” was in the 2001 Martina McBride song “When God-Fearin’ Women Get the Blues.” This lyric itself referenced the more common “Lock up your daughters, lock up your wives,” which was featured previously in the AC/DC song “TNT.” From what I can tell, THIS actually originated from the phrase “Lock up your daughters,” which is a pretty old one and is referenced several times in other pop culture works, including a 1959 musical.

Five down I'm the final wife I saw him to the end of his life
I'm the survivor, Catherine Parr
I bet you wanna know how I got this far

Catherine Parr was Henry’s last queen and she was indeed Henry’s wife when he died in 1547.

Beyonce Watch: ”I’m the survivor” is written in a similar pattern and tone as the melody from Destiny’s Child’s 2002 hit Survivor. This is the first of several Beyonce references in this show.

Get your hands up, get this party buzzing
You want a queen bee, well there's half a dozen

Pun watch: “buzzing” “queen bee”

DIALOGUE:

We are… Six. We’ve got riffs to ruffle your ruffs!

Pun watch: Riffs are vocal embelishments by a singer. Catherine of Aragon does an actual cool riff right after this line.
”Ruffs” refers to Elizabethan ruffs, which actually weren’t worn at all until at least 13 years after Henry VII’s death, but show up in the show both in the Ladies in Waiting’s costumes and in Haus of Holbein.

Shimmys to shake up your Chemise.

Pun watch: A shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, xcept for the shoulders, which are quickly alternated back and forth. A chemise was a simple long undergarment worn during the English renaissance to protect clothing from sweat and body oils.

And a whole lot of history. Or as we like to call it… her-story. So obviously, you know who we are. Please, no portraits.

Pun watch: His-tory vs. Her-story. The word herstory was first used by feminists in the 1970s and was recently popularized by various nonprofit and youth campaigns to get the stories of women out in the news more often.
“No portraits” is a cheeky reference to modern day celebrities saying “no pictures” to their fans.

But give it up for our ladies in waiting! We got Maggie on the guitar! Bessie on the bass. And killing it on the keys, we’ve got Joan! And with drums so sick they’ll give you gout, It’s Maria in the drums!

I’ve written a lengthy blog post on the Ladies in Waiting of Six that you can read here, but in short, the Ladies in Waiting are all named after real life women who waited on the six wives. Maggie refers to Margaret Wyatt/Lee, who served Anne Boleyn, Bessie was Elizabeth “Bessie” Blount, who served Catherine of Aragon and Anna of Cleves (and also gave birth to Henry VIII’s only acknowledged illegitimate son), Joan was Joan Astley, who served Jane Seymour, and Maria de Salinas served Catherine of Aragon.

The gout reference is pretty funny, as gout was referred to as a disease of the lords, as it was strongly associated with intemperance in the form of over-eating and over-drinking that was really only possible to the very rich in 1500s England.

So you came here tonight to party with us old-school. Really, really old-school… But we’re not here to have fun! Uh-uh, we’ve got a serious score to settle. We’ve been in the shadow of one man for too long. And we came here tonight to step back into the spotlight! The problem is there’s Six of us, and we know you’ve all got your favourite.

Fun fact. From Henry VIII’s point of view, he actually only had three wives, not six.
He believed his marriage to Catherine of Aragon was invalid from the get-go because she was married to his older brother Arthur first.
He had his marriage to Anne Boleyn annulled before her execution, on the grounds that Anne Boleyn had been pre-contracted to marry Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland (despite the fact that Percy had denied this pre-contract both in a letter to Thomas Cromwell in 1536 and by swearing on the Blessed Sacrament in 1532). Another reason possibly given for the annulment was Henry’s prior sexual relationship with Anne’s sister Mary Boleyn, although Henry had applied for a dispensation from the Pope in 1527 that would allow him to marry Anne even if there was an impediment of “affinity arising from illicit intercourse in whatever degree, even the first.”
He did believe his marriage to Jane Seymour was valid, so there’s one.
His marriage to Anna of Cleves was annulled on the basis of a pre-contract between Anna of Cleves and Francis of Lorraine (which was considered unofficial and cancelled five years before her marriage to Henry), Henry’s lack of consent to the marriage, and lack of consummation.
Interestingly enough, although Henry did order Katherine Howard’s execution, their marriage was not actually annulled before her death. This was likely because Howard didn’t have any children with Henry (so no one for Henry to care about rendering illegitimate) and Henry didn’t have an immediate next wife in mind yet.
Henry also believed his final marriage to Catherine Parr was valid, of course.

Everyone always wants to know who’s the most important wife. And they’ve been arguing about it for centuries. We’ve heard it all… “Who lasted the longest was the strongest.” “The biggest sinner is obvs the winner.” “Who had the son takes number one.” “Who was most chaste shall be first placed.” “Most inglourious is victorious.” “The winning contestant was the most protest-ant.”

Protestantism was really gaining ground in the early 1500s throughout Europe, and England itself became more protestant under Henry due to his founding of the Church of England, but Henry himself was Catholic in everything except the pope until the day he died. And of his wives, really only Catherine Parr would probably identify as a protestant. Anne Boleyn was a reformer and an evangelical, and was definitely painted as a Protestant Martyr by later authors serving their own purposes, but contemporary evidence indicates that although she was a reformer, she certainly wouldn’t have considered herself a protestant. And although Anne of Cleves makes all the protestant jokes in Six, and did indeed originate from a duchy that was protestant at the time of her marriage to Henry VIII, she herself didn’t appear to have very strong opinions on her religion. She was born and raised Catholic, became protestant later in life along wiht much of her family, and went back to Catholicism later in her life at the request of Mary Tudor when she became queen.

But we came here tonight to answer your questions once and for all! And tell ya whatcha want, whatcha really really want—...to know.

Spice Girls “Wannabe” reference!

That’s right, we’re gonna help you figure out which one of us is— The queen of the castle. The rose amongst the thorns. The Thomas Cromwell amongst the royal ministers between 1532 and 1540.

Queen of the castle - This references Anne of Cleves’ song later in the show and is taken from the classic children’s rhyme of “King of the Castle” (which goes back to at least 1850).

Rose amongst the thorns - previously explained above.

This royal ministers joke is so strange and hilarious to me. Henry VIII had four different chief royal ministers while he was king. Two of them (Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell) were executed for Treason, one died just after being arrested (Cardinal Thomas Wolsey) and one just managed to outlive Henry (Thomas Howard). The weird thing is - Thomas Cromwell was his ONLY chief minister from 1532-1540. There were other royal ministers of course, but that’s the only one we hear about during that time really. And he was EXTREMELY good at his job. So basically this is a fancy way of saying “who’s the best?”

But how the purgatory are they going to choose their leading lady?

This purgatory reference is very offhand (and replaces the modern phrasing of “how the hell”) but in fact, the existence or non-existence of purgatory was a pretty big religious issue during Henry VIII’s time. Catholics believed that after death, souls went to a place or state of suffering called Purgatory and are punished for their sins there before going to heaven. Protestants didn’t believe in Purgatory, as it wasn’t mentioned explicitly in the Bible. This is still a big difference among Catholicism and Protestantism today.

Hold up! If this is going to be a fair competition, they’re gonna have to judge us on the one thing we’ve all got in common. The one to take the crown should be the one who had the biggest, The firmest, The fullest Load of B.S. to deal with from the man who put a ring on it. So, (city name), we’re going to hold a little contest for you. And the rules are simple: The queen who was dealt the worst hand, The queen with the most hardships to withstand, The queen who everything didn’t really go as planned, shall be the one to lead the band!

Innuendo watch: “the biggest, The firmest, The fullest Load of B.S. “

Beyonce watch: “the man who put a ring on it” - There’s really nothing to analyze here except to note that this is the second Beyonce reference in the show and we haven’t even reached the second song yet, lol.

13 Things I Learned from Original Six Alternate/Dance Captain Grace Mouat's Workshop/Q&A

June 06, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

I did a dance workshop and Q&A with Grace Mouat last Sunday through Theatre Fan Workshops! Grace was the original swing/dance captain for Six the musical! She started on the first UK tour, which opened in July 2018, as the tour’s only swing (covering all six roles and debuting ALL of those roles in July and August 2018). She then moved to the West End and stayed there as a swing until August 2019. She now is an ensemble member and Juliet understudy in &Juliet.

Grace was utterly brilliant and taught us a dance from &Juliet that I was really honestly just very bad at, but it was fun! She makes the best faces and thankfully, I got screenshots of a lot of them!

Disclaimer as usual- I was typing as fast as I can and tried to mark which parts are direct quotes, but some of these may be slightly paraphrased.

1. What’s the story behind the shoes in &Juliet? (look at the costumes on my &Juliet posts 1 and 2 to see what i mean!)– “We got to choose what shoes we wanted. We got these amazing trainers to rehearse in and were like ‘they’re so new and shiny.’ And then they told us to bring them in to rehearsal because we’re going to ruin them. [New shiny trainers] wouldn’t go with the costumes and the tudor/modern mix up. Can you imagine me walking out in shiny white trainers? It’s totally deliberate. We’re also shakespeare’s players [so it goes with that sort of rough and tumble players look.]”

2. Advice for surviving in quarantine: Grace suggested doing lots of dance workshops, youtube live, barre classes, etc. to prepare. Theatre Fan Workshops host Taylor also chimed in to say that everywhere he auditioned, he had to do ballet and jazz, freestyle and jazz.

3. Hardest queen to sing – “Katherine Howard – she’s ridiculous. She was on all the low harmonies throughout the show – and then she sings all you wanna do and then with your voice –the set up is strange. Then with jane Seymour, it’s like why &Juliet is hard – low low low BELTY BELTY – etc – it’s not even about the range it’s about the up and down.” [She noted that this was the case in the West End version, apparently the harmony assignments for queens varies a lot between casts]

4. What was the audition process for &Juliet like? – “There was a massive buzz around it in terms of performance. They didn’t even tell us what it was called before we got the job, it was just ‘the max martin musical.’ I’d worked with [director] Luke Sheppard before. My audition was the DAY after I got back from the Edinburgh fringe with Six. I did ‘hit me baby one more time,’ I did the first scene with Juliet and my own pop song, and the director sat down and talked to me. It was so much more chill than people think – both six and &Juliet have been the most chill audition experiences I’ve had. I found out I got the job when Six was in Manchester, when I was cathy P.”

5. Advice for getting into musical theater: “Do more of these [dance workshops] if you want to enter the industry some day. Training in your own space -I pick up choreo so much quicker when I’m in my lounge than when I’m in my class because there’s no one around to compare you too – so use that.

I had a big fat notebook on my gap year when I hadn’t got into drama school. I used that as my musical theater dream life book. Every show I’d go to, I’d stick my ticket in the book. I’d put down who directed, who performed, performers that stuck out to me, performers I’d seen in shows before. I’d look for people that caught my eye and learned from that.

Learn from other people, go to as many shows as possible. There are so many shows that have been professionally filmed so you can see it up close. Watch films, watch acting, watch dancing. And connect with other people. Unfortunately the industry is so much about who you know, not to get a job even but to get into an audition. Be nice, be genuine, don’t be fake, because people will know.”

6. Fave choreography from any show I’ve been in – “First thing that came to my head is the ‘No Way’ dance break from Six. And in &Juliet – ‘Kissed a Girl’ is actually REALLY fun, and it’s on a revolve so it’s so hard, and I only come off the revolve once.”

7. What she misses most about being on stage – “Having fun with my friends! I miss those moments when you look across the stage and just [mugs for camera]. I miss reacting with people and being an ensemble, especially with the cast of &Juliet because they’re so much fun. And I really miss playing Juliet, it’s just the most special role.”

8. Most Memorable celebrity visit to &Juliet – “Katy Perry without a doubt. I was Juliet in front of KP. And she looked at me and I went [happy shocked face]. I was getting dressed after and going like, ‘I can’t believe that just happened, I can’t believe that just happened, I can’t believe that just happened’ and the band could hear me and they were just laughing at me. I met her afterward and she was just lovely."

Press night was the most bizarre night of my life. We didn’t get to meet everyone. I was like [singing and dancing] ‘one less problem without you’ and I looked up and Ed Sheeran was up in the box dancing – and I was like [open mouth].”

9. Favorite part of &Juliet – “As ensemble - The beautiful moment at the end when she’s like ‘it’s just the first day.’ I’m like YES I love feminism.

As Juliet - I love doing Roar but it’s just so stressful, there’s so much going on. ‘One More Try’ is probably my favorite because Jordan [Luke Gage, who plays Romeo] is one of my best friends. We actually got a note being like – ‘We can tell you’re friends.’ And I had to work to flirt with Jordan, but it wasn’t that hard because he’s one of the most beautiful people in existence.”

10. What was it like after doing Six (with only six cast members and no costume changes) going back to a musical with a large cast and costumes? “Uh SO WEIRD. I was telling everyone like, ‘Girls I can’t do it. I hope you all know how lucky you are’ while talking to the cast in Manchester. The costume changes in &Juliet, like in Roar. Y’all don’t know what’s going on in the wings during ‘Hit Me Baby One Time, it’s MAYHEM, because we’re all changing for ‘Show Me the Meaning.’

All the costume changes in &Juliet – at the beginning it was stressful. But you got used to it, and you usually have the same dresser so they know everything about how you put on the costume and such.”

11. How much did Six change over the time (from summer 2018-August 2019) she was in it? “Six changed a ton! I had a different costume on tour. Alexia [McIntosh, who played Anna of Cleves] had a different costume for some of the tour, she used to be silver, and she used to have longer hair. And jayej [referring to Jarneia Richard-Noel, who played Catherine of Aragon and had much longer hair on tour]. Everything’s different. The choreo’s different, the scenes are different. There were SO many changes until we got to the London.

It was ridiculous as a swing. I was a big journey with Catherine Parr. She used to have a plug she’d pull and the whole thing would go [womp womp sound], and she’d go ‘STOP.’ I’m doing a queendom blog soon and there will be unseen footage there.”

12. Funniest onstage moments– “[The Six cast] actually had a massive chat about this the other day. Let me see if I screenshot that chat. There were just so many! My number one favorite was early on, when Millie [O’Connell, who played Anne Boleyn] had to say promo code and she couldn’t get it out and she said, ‘make sure to check out the slogan mogan frogan promo code.’ Something like that.

When I went on on as Jane Seymour, I accidentally said ‘Let’s all commiserate the loss of his mother, my son.’ It just was weird.

In ‘All You Wanna Do,’ I was thrown on as Cleves and I was facing the front and all the girls are facing the back. Everyone’s in the back laughing, and I’m directly behind Aimee. I just had to turn it into a sarcastic smile, which is what I would do whenever Millie would make me laugh.

There will be more stories in the [Queendom] blog/vlog – like when Jayej [Jarneia Richard-Noel, who played Catherine of Aragon] threw a shoe and natalie’s knee slide [Natalie Paris, who played Jane Seymour] in Haus of Holbein.”

13. Advice about going into the industry as a director/choreographer? – “I think that is one of those things you really have to work yourself up to. It does help if you have a bit of a performer’s background as well. Look at assisting jobs, if you can assist directors, taking people to work on scenes when they’re free, helping the ensemble find their things if the director’s focusing on the main action, running cover rehearsals, etc. It’s a very hard and fun job that will give you loads of experience with directors and knowledge of how directors work.

And social media is your friend. Start choreographing now and send it to choreographers you admire, like Drew McOnie , Tom Jackson Greaves. Send it to them and ask, ‘can you give me some feedback – what do you think of my style?’ You never know who’s going to come across the video saying ‘choregraphed by your name’ and say, ‘I want to get them on my next project.’”

24 Things I Learned from Six (Bliss) Alternate and Show Captain Nat Pilkington's Workshop/Q&A!

June 02, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

I did a dance workshop and Q&A with Natalie “Nat” Pilkington last Saturday through Theatre Fan Workshops! Nat was show captain and one of the alternates on the Bliss 1.0 production of Six from September 2019 to March 2020.

Nat taught us “Don’t Lose Your Head,” which I had learned already at Vicki Manser’s workshop, but frankly, I was bad enough at it that I was quite happy to learn it again. I feel like I’ve gotten quite a lot better at it! Particularly that weird foot thing in the beginning.

Nat has a wonderful sort of manic energy and brought that to her teaching style. When we were doing warmups, she asked her Alexa to play Dua Lipa’s “Physical” and when Alexa responded “I don’t know that one,” she just yelled “YES YOU DO.” It was hysterical.

During the dance teaching portion, she suggested that we try to act like gossiping flamingos talking about Anne Boleyn. As she said, “I’m sure some of y’all have done that before - Like ‘oh my god look at her skirt’ – like a Mean Girls vibe – but we shouldn’t do that.” She also definitely caught me dancing around with my cat at one point and laughed about it, lol.

At the end of the class, she actually went through and watched /everyone/ do the routine, specifically going from screen to screen and calling out everyone’s names. It was a little intimidating but fun to actually know she was looking at you!

Natalie “Nat” Pilkington - “I’m literally like Anne Boleyn, it’s chopping my head off”

1. On working and living on a cruise ship- It’s hard to explain - It’s kind of like being in quarantine only you can move around a little and be social with a few people. You have to be very independent and okay with your own company. You spend a lot of time alone.

2. Favorite Queen - I love them all but I really like Catherine Parr.

3. The queens she covered - Alicia went home [Alicia Corrales-Connor, who played Katherine Howard as Bliss 1.0, but she left the show a month early and was the understudy Katherine Howard on the UK Tour] and then Byrony [Duncan, another alternate on the cruise] was Howard while we were waiting for her replacement. Then Lori came in for Howard [Lori McLare, who was originally a rehearsal swing but came in in February as an understudy for Katherine Howard]. I then had the choice to do either Seymour or Howard – I chose Seymour because she’s nice, although I’ve got the hair for howard - I only had a few days to learn Seymour – but I sang more for Seymour than anyone else at the audition.

[Sidenote: Pilkington’s hair is SO GLORIOUS AND SO LONG - Like IN a ponytail it looked like it was still down to her elbows, it was insane]

4. Favorite part of the show – From a selfish ‘being on stage’ point of view – the remix. When we get out there and do “this is the remix” and you go up and you’re like “henry this is how it is.” And the megasix, there’s no better feeling than doing the megasix.

5. Origin of her accent - I am from a place called Chorley In Lancashire - Near Bolton and preston, not far from Blackpool.

6. Most challenging thing about doing a production on cruise - The audience don’t necessarily come for the shows, which sounds really sad but obviously if you’re on the West End or Broadway, people have paid specifically to come out to watch six, while with the cruises, people come on holiday and the show is just a free bit at the end of the day. Especially with Americans, and it was mainly Americans on the ship, it was us telling people how good it is and getting them to come. And still people were like ‘was this real, did this guy actually have six wives?’ YES [claps hands on either side of face].

Also, the stage on the ship is humongous. We were so tired and out of breath trying to run from one of the place – it’s so much different from on the West End.

7. Pilkington’s parents were both involved in theater growing up - How did that influence her acting?

Mum’s a dance teacher and father does sets. She teaches tap and modern at like a proper dancing school and they do acro and street dances and all that (she doesn’t teach all of that, she’s a bit old). That’s a big influence because I didn’t really get a choice, I danced since I was 2-2.5, that’s a long time.

My dad built sets and stage managing and such, never professionally as such, but more like amateur dramatics and such. It definitely had an influence on me wanting to do this because we used to spend every weekend at various show rehearsals and things so I was just always surrounded by it honest,

8. Hardest queen to play physically – Probably jane Seymour actually . Aragon and Boleyn and Cleves are so big and like ‘here I am!’ I play Cleves more like cooler. But Jane and Parr, you had to be a bit more together and bit more – can’t think what to describe it - the physicality of it. Cleves and Aragon are a bit more like my personality.

9. Audition process/how she got the part - It’s a tough tough business, let me tell you – but it’s great.

[Pearson Casting, the casting directors for Six] had never heard me sing or dance before, if they thought I was good enough –they could put me to the Six people –but they don’t want to just send you directly to the six auditions in case you can’t sing or dance. So I sang for James and Rosie [Pearson, who run Pearson Casting], than I got called down to London and sang for Lucy [Moss, one of the writers and co-director of the show] and one of the directors Jamie [Armitage]. I literally sang for one song, and they were like “thanks” and I was like “what does that mean?”

Oh there were so many rounds. I was called back to dance. We did ‘Get Down’ with Carrie-Ann Ingrouille [the choreographer] and loads of walking around and being queens. Some people got cut from that, then they gave you the specific queens they thought you’d be suitable for, and all the Aragons went in, then all the Anne Boleyns in. I was seen at first for Seymour and Howard actually, two that I wasn’t meant to cover [later after she’d been cast as an alternate]. Then after that day there was another round. I can’t even tell you how many rounds there were all together, but obviously they have to find the right people. The last week was very much a similar sort of day. We did more singing,some acting, putting different people together to see if they worked well together.

Lots of us were waiting for an awfully long time to see if we got it – That was the west end – I didn’t get that, but got called back for the cruise auditions a couple months later.

We did a dance round, then we sang. I did that whole process, than had to go back again and be like ‘it’s me, that you’ve seen loads’ – and then I sang a pop song, then a full week of singing in front of people, doing dance rounds, doing the ultimate chat of the musical – the whole bit at the beginning after ex-wives. Then I got a call like the next day, because the cruise was starting next month – and they were like, ‘Want to be a swing and a dance captain?’

10. Advice for getting into Musical Theatre: You need to eat, live, and breathe it or you’re not going to survive. It’s such a cutthroat industry. I queued up once at 9 am and got to the front of the line at 5 pm and they were like’sorry that’s it for the day.’ After queuing up all day in the freezing cold! And afterward I called my agent and was like ‘are they seeing the people that didn’t get seen today because I want to be in this.’ And that’s what you need to succeed.

11. Favorite Choreo – ‘Get Down.’ That was the first choreo I learned in my audition and I don’t think I’ll forget it til the day I die. And cleves is just so funky.

12. Costume Variations – I had three, but some of it was wearing the same parts in a different sense.

Aragon – the black alternate costume with the silver and the spiky shoulder pads, and a leotard and the black skirt. I think my skirt was a bit different than now; they’ve made a new version haven’t they? Grace [Mouat, an alternate for the West End who wore a black costume as well] and the Broadway version [they’re not using alternate costumes on Broadway, but i think she’s referring to Mallory Maedke’s alternate costume she wore for the North American tour] have a full skirt. Now they’ve made a cut from it – they keep changing it all the time which is nice.

Cleves – [this costume is] pretty much like a replica of the normal Cleves outfit but in black and silver. The shorts, chains, crop top and the jacket they whip off you.

Parr – same top as Aragon but a different leotard with black sequins. That was really nice and leggings – similar to what Parr wears but in my costume.

I actually had a Howard skirt as well but I never got to wear it. They made Bryony some leggings, and then they made a Howard costume, but measured my leggings off Bryony’s leggings. Bryony is 5’2 and I’m like 5’5’, so my leggings had a very interesting fit. At least they had stirrups so they didn’t reveal my ankles.

Seymour – I basically wore my Parr outfit but I changed my hair.

Natalie “Nat” Pilkington demonstrating the foot move at the beginning of the “Don’t Lose Your Head” chorus.

13. What’s your go to Holbein move? The hike from Fortnight or whatever [demonstrates]. I don’t know, I’m not cool like that. Or a crab like this [demonstrates].

14. Favorite place that she went on the cruise – Maybe Aruba in the Caribbean, the beach was amazing and we had lots of nice cocktails. And if anybody has a chance to go to Alaska, it’s beautiful. It’s very different to aruba because it’s freezing. We had those nice walks and trails and waterfalls.

15. Would she ever teach the Haus of Holbein dance?– It’s not really choreographed is it? A lot of it’s improvised. Plus we’re not allowed to teach Holbein.

16. What’s it like doing a show without an interval - You don’t really realize it until you’re at the end when you’re absolutely shattered and desperate for a drink and then you come off. But it’s not like a fifteen minute break, like a full hour and a half before you have to go again. I’ve worked for ships before though, so I’m used to performing without an interval.

17. How long it takes her to get ready for the show – Some girls took like 2 hours. Cleves took me a bit of time to get ready, and I have so much hair so have to deal with that, but still probably just an hour.

18. Did she audition with anyone else who’s in Six? I remember Maddie [probably Maddison Bulleymetn, UK tour Boleyn] at my West End auditions, she’s so sweet. V [**Viquichele Cross, who played Catherine Parr. Thank you to @musicalcoversUK on Instagram and L in the comments for the info!]- was in my west end and then all my cruise auditions. Bryony [Duncan, fellow Bliss 1.0 alternate] was in my west end and Caitlin [Tipping, Bliss 1.0 Seymour] and Hazel [Karooma-Brooker, Bliss 1.0 Boleyn] actually –and then they were all at the cruise auditions. Candy [probably Candace Furbert, Bliss 1.0 Aragon] I met for the cruise auditions and Sophie [Golden, Bliss 1.0 Cleves].

Sophie and I made friends straight away. And then she made me cry when she did Jane Seymour and then I had to get up after her and i was just bawling my eyes out. Shaka – I remember Shaka being at one of my auditions [Shekinah McFarlane, who was originally an alternate on the West End and then became Cleves on the second UK tour]. I remember Lauren [Byrne], who is Seymour on the tour – and the other Lauren [Drew] who plays Aragon [also on tour] and Collette [Guitart, swing on the West End]. Literally the whole world was at my auditions. You don’t necessarily speak to all of them, but you see them.

Natalie “Nat” Pilkington demonstrating one of her go-to Haus of Holbein moves.

19. What’s the difference between a dance captain vs. show captain? Because I was like the first one to do it on a ship, I think show captain is just covering everything: making people are in the right spaces and making sure they’re not changing the words, etc, and being involved with the wardrobe as well, making sure they’re not changing the way they’re doing their hair or makeup or wearing their flat shoes when thy should be wearing their high heels. Dance captain is more choreograph-y. I never thought about that, I just did it all with Alex, the musical director. She left the dancing with me because she wasn’t a dancer

20. What’s it like Dancing in the costume? The first time you do it, you’re like, ‘I can’t do this I’m never going to be able to do this.’ It’s so heavy and restrictive. But after the first few times, you don’t even think about it. You jou have to get used to it.

21. Dance teaching restrictions? – From a choreographer point of view, if you’re part of the show and it’s so successful, it’s a respect sort of thing. As a choreographer, she’d love for everyone to know all the routines but you don’t want to ruin the magic for the regular bits. [someone mentioned Aimee Atkinson teaching all the songs at this point] Aimee does workshops but she makes up her own choreo, not the actual show choreo.

22. What did she think of the Queendom video? – It was fun! I knew what the idea was, but I didn’t know what it was going to be like. I made my boyfriend film me for like a full afternoon sitting on my couch drinking a cup of tea for it. It was a nice surprise when it came out. I had Byrony texting me like “it’s amazing!” “what’s amazing” “the video, have you not seen it” and then I had to go look at it and it was brilliant.

23. What’s it like being a dance captain – It’s nice! Everybody’s so friendly and just wants to get the job done. It’s a small cast and it’s really nice and chill. I felt really honored that I’d been given the trust by the creatives to oversee that. I’m still really proud of myself for that. I had never been a dance captain before. And I was like ‘oo I could change things.’ [wicked smile] I would never do that, but I COULD.

24. Future plans - I’d like to stay on land for a while – I’ve done a few ships and I think I’d prefer to be on land now.

22 Things I Learned from Sam Pauly from Six on Broadway

May 28, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

FYI: I will be attending dance workshops and Q&As with Natalie Pilkington and Grace Mouat this weekend, however, the blog posts covering these workshops will not be up until likely June 2nd or 3rd as I have a big writing application deadline on June 1 that I’ll be working on the majority of the weekend. Thank you for your patience!

On Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day here in the states), I took a virtual dance workshop and Q&A with Sam Pauly through Theatre Fan Workshops. Sam played Katherine Howard in Six on Broadway and also played her on the North American Tour, which went to Chicago, Illinois, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Edmonton, Canada, and St Paul, Minnesota. This was the first American and US based workshop I’ve taken, and it took place at 10 AM EST (where I’m based) instead of the 5 am or 7 am EST the other workshops I’ve done before. It was GLORIOUS. I got to sleep y’all! <3

Sam was really sweet and wonderful and encouraging. Her dog kept wandering in to show off one of his toys (lamb chop from lamb chop’s play-a-long, which was one of my favorite TV shows as a kid) and at one point, her husband also randomly came in and did the entire dance with her perfectly!

While she was teaching the dance, she advised everyone to “Channel your inner whatever you want – you’re the baddest b in the castle. I wish y’all could see our choreographer do it sometime, she’s a hip hop aficionado and she’s insane.” She also suggested that everyone do some little character show: “What queen are you? it doesn’t have to be Cleves – everyday for me it changes.”

Don’t forget, Sam’s been doing a “song a day” challenge on her Instagram throughout all this self-isolation - she’s on day 72 + now!

Sam Pauly AND HER SWEET DOG RIGHT THERE IN THE BACKGROUND

On how she keeps her dyed pink hair looking so good - I only wash it once a week or nine days. I have a deep conditioner that I use when I DO wash it, and that deep conditioner has the actual neon hair dye in it.
Audition process for Six in the US - I would venture to guess that [the audition process for Six] is probably the same in the US as it is in the UK, but it was a lot different than auditions in the US nromally are. For final callbacks we wer ein Chicago, there were people from Chicago, New York, and Canada. It was a full 8 hour day.
We danced at the beginning of the day - we did three different dance combinations, including Get Down and Freakum Dress by Beyonce.
They went in queen order - every time they would start a new queen, they would bring everybody in at one point, everybody that was up for Boleyn, etc. We’d go through it and then we all would sit there and watch each other sing. I have Never done that in my life.
Toby and Lucy [Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the writers of the show] do that becaus ethe whole show is about queens supporting queens. They wante dto see how people treated each other, who supported each other and who got along with who and who meshed well with each other.
It wa sa very long day - 8 hours. and then after that I went on a plane to New York to audition for Evita.
It was very chill. And [Toby and Lucy] are also very young, and they were very supportive. They were just having the best time watching everyone sing. In Chicago, I missed the first two round and then they went in for final callbacks in Chicago and FINAL final callbacks with everybody. I don’t know how many rounds they did.
Funniest onstage mishap - Happened during our second to last show in Minnesota. It didn’t happen to me, it happened to us collectively. One of Andrea’s buns started to come out of its little stud thing but she didn’t know it; it was kind of flopping around like a dog ear, so all of us were trying not to laugh at her. At one point when Anna was beginning to sing, I tried to silently ask her about - ‘ do you want some bobby pins’ and she handed me a water bottle. By the time we got to “Six,” everybody was quavering “for five more minutes” and everybody was laughing so hard none of us got it. I was still singing out, but I was crying so hard from laughing, just tears streaming down. Nobody was singing because everybody was laughing so hard. That was after we’d been going for so long though that even our stage manager was like [shoulder shrug].
Audition Tips - My two biggest ones are: Always walk into the room thinking that the people on the other side of the table need you far more than you need them. It’s great to have a job and it’s really great to book a show, but those people - the director and the choreographer and the producers - they all want you so badly to be what they’re looking for, because then their job is done. If you can walk in there with that confidence, it makes everything so much easier. Also - Dress for the part you want. It doesn’t mean come in a full costume, but if the character is a little sexy, go ahead and dress that way. If it’s a business type, cater to that. I feel like a lot of people go into an audition and dress in a very neutral way, but i’m like, ‘this is rock of ages, put on some jean shorts and fish nets.’
Dance Training Tips - Find a modern and jazz class. Between that and ballet, that would hit everything that would typically be in a dance class. Take a tap class if you like (I don’t like it), but I’d do like a beginner level of like anything you can find. You can get the core and the basics from a ballet class but Musical Theater is changing. There’s a lot of hip hop, a lot more modern stuff- there’s a lot more stff that never used to be in MT. Start with the basics in a ballet and a jazz class and then do a lot of other stuff that yo u might not try normally.
Best memory with the Six cast - Probably the first day we got to the Broadway theater. We have a lot of great memories, as we’ve done a lot of great things together. But that first day of being in the theater and being in our dressing rooms - that’s the first time we all collectively got to like cry and be totally mind blown that we’re there.
The Queen she initially aimed for in auditions: I honestly thought I had the best chance at Seymour because it’s kind of a park and bark where you can just stand and sing, but the more I started to work on the K Howard material, I realized - this is it, this is the one – so once I figured that out, I went for K Howard at callbacks.
Favorite moment in the show - Ex wives at the very top, when it starts ‘tonight we are’ – and we start singing and the lights come up. To see the look on everyone’s faces when that happens is usually a collective [MOUTH OPEN]. For me, that is what always motivates me, because my favorite thing is and always will, be the fans. I love meeting people at the stage door, having people send fan emails. If I’m not feeling well, those are the things I think about. Somebody has waited months or a year to see this show tonight, so I’m going to go out there and give them what they’re waiting for.
Healthy Voice recommendations - I don’t have any fancy tricks – some people swear by teas or lozenges or whatever. I am a classic ‘as much sleep as you can get and as much water as you can possibly drink.’ And even if you think you’e had enough water, you probably haven’t had enough water. That’s my two biggest tips – when I don’t get enough sleep, I can always tell. And you have to say no to a lot of things – parties, get togethers – because you have to get as much sleep - but it’s worth it.

Sam Pauly’s imitation of the audience’s faces when the music starts and the lights come up at the beginning of the show.

11. On people criticizing Six for having the actors perform in their natural accents - My thought is the same as the though as toby and lucy – whether or not you have an accent, it does not affect how the story is told. If we were really being true to each character, cleves would be speaking and singing with a german accent, aragon with Spanish accent. It always is interesting to me when people get mad about not speaking with British accents. For me, I don’t really care – I get what people say when they’re like – they sound so cool with the accents - a year ago when we were preparing we were all like ‘do we think they’re going to maeke us do the british accents?’ …but honestly I think we would ha.ve butchered them so I think it’s honestly best that we don’t do them anyway.

12. Biggest Takeaway from being involved in Six - Just surprising myself with what I can do. We all sing in every song, no one has a break and still being able to do all that dancing – that’s probably been my biggest takeaway so far.

13. Broadway vs. West End (she performed on the West End with Evita)- Broadway might be a little bit more of an excitement to it just because that’s always been my dream. Last year if you had asked me, ‘Do you think you’d ever do anything on the west end'?’ – I would have been like – ‘no why would I, why would I ever go there, who would hire me to go to London?’ To say I’ve done both is wonderful!

14. How she almost performed last minute in the West End - I was in London for rehearsals for Evita. I had already gone to sleep – and Kenny [show producer Kenny Wax] texted me this big long thing, ‘We have a lot of injuries and illnesses right now – I’l talk to director at regents park – can you come in and do the 4 or 7 pm show tomorrow?’ I talked to my agent and the company manager – because I was hired to go over there to do Evita and nothing else and Jamie Lloyd our director was like, ‘as long as you can do rehearsal on Monday, sure.’ It was a lot of back and forth with Kenny and my agent. I had packed up all my things – they said ‘we’re going to find some costume for you to wear,’ I had literally walked up to the train station and about to get on train there, when I got the call and was told to go home. Because I was on there on a government visa – if I had gone to work somewhere else and made money doing it – I could have gotten in a lot of trouble and regents park and theatre arts [where six was ] could as well. So they said don’t come. They ended up cancelling one of those shows for the day. I was SO CLOSE and I was so excited. Now after seeing it there, I ‘m glad I didn’t go on, because the stage is a lot smaller than what we have, so I would have been flailing it all around. I would have stuck out like a sore thumb for sure.

15. How she found out Six was going to Broadway - I remember it, but it’s kind of like my wedding day. I remember it happening, but I don’t really remember a lot about it. We were at intermission of one of our previews , and I had had a text and a missed call from my agent, saying ‘give me a call when you can.’ He kept it very casual – and that’s what kind of took me by surprise. He’s like ‘I know you’re busy. Do you want to go to Broadway with six?” – and I was like – ‘whatttttt?’ My response was “they picked me??” and he was like “yeah, yeah, they picked you.’ My roommate figured out what was going on and they filmed it – my husband was there and I got to share that with him that night – it was so special.

16. How she found out about Broadway closing on the day Six was supposed to officially open- I had just had brunch with my family and my in-laws and some friends that I had scheduled. I was in a lyft on my way back to my apartment, I dropped my sister off at the mac store so she could get her makeup done, and the playbill article [announcing that broadway was closing] came out, but that said by 5 pm on the 13th and I though okay – we’ll have the party and one performance and then close. Our producers were still in a meeting with the league and that’s why it took us so long to figure out what happened. My agent called me before that; two of them had flown in to see it and he called me and told me they said the show was cancelled and wouldn’t let him pick up his tickets.

17. On Doing Evita - Working with Jamie Lloyd –don’t tell anyone but he might be my favorite director I’ve ever worked with. He is so capable of getting me to do things I didn’t think I could do. He is able to pull that out of you – and this particular production was different than any that had ever been done. It was very dirty and messy. I got the opportunity to be ugly and scream and cry – and with a lot of those things, I was able to come back to six and use that.

Sam Pauly and her husband, who after initially saying he didn’t want everyone to know who he was, agreeably popped out and did the entire Get Down dance with Sam perfectly.

18. Favorite song to perform in the show - ex wives for sure – it’s just the most exciting – the adrenaline rush we need to get into the rest of the show

19. how she heard about six – a friend from London called me and told me it was coming to Chicago

20. can people in the US audition for the west end and vice versa? - There’s a rule between the actors association in the US. At any time, an equal number of people have to be working in the opposite places. If there’s five people from the US working on the west end, there have to be five people from the UK on Broadway. It can’t be an uneven worker count. So when we went to UK for Evita – they were able to hire three people from London for Broadway – that solely depends in the unions

21. Favorite costume in the show - Aragon, it’s the heaviest, and I know it’s the hardest to put on, it takes like two people to put it on her, but it’s my favorite

22. Have you ever dropped a mic on stage? - I have not – knock on wood. In the year I have been with the show – I have only seen it happen in performance one time – maybe it happened other times and i just missed it – but I only saw it once.

22. Thoughts on the rules banning of the megasix on Broadway - we all fought for it. It’s not up to the producer or the director or anybody, it’s up to the actor’s union. We were able to do it everywhere else, and we all wish it was allowed. It’s one of my favorite parts of six and we were all really disappointed when we got the no, but it was because there was some stuff going on with Moulin Rouge. They were in the middle of issues with people filming the end of their show, so Actor’s Equity was like, ‘We can’t say yes to you guys and then say no to another show.’ So I don’t know if anything will change, when we come back – but people still film it – because everybody is on their feet and it’s a lot harder for the ushers to run around to see who is even filming – so technically you’re not supposed to, people still do – I really wish it was allowed.

11 Things I Learned from Six Alternate Cherelle Jay's Workshop and Q&A

May 26, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

On Sunday morning, I attended a virtual workshop and q&a with Six alternate Cherelle Jay (often known as CJ), where she taught a really cool dance from “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” through Theatre Fan Workshops. I didn’t end up actually dancing myself, as I was exhausted and having a lot of chronic pain issues, plus CJ is just like REALLY GOOD, y’all and it was a super hip-hop-y dance that I knew wasn’t even close to something I could handle. It was A BLAST watching her teach everyone and demonstrate different moves. She clearly loves teaching dance and was super encouraging and helpful, giving individual comments to people in the class and such about how to better embody a move or a character.

I actually didn’t know anything about “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” until I signed up for this workshop. Apparently it’s a musical about a teenager who overcomes high school bullying and prejudice to become a drag queen. The synopsis I read online sounds really amazing and the music and dance section Cherelle taught was really funny. It looks like it’s gone around the UK and Australia but hasn’t gotten to America yet; I’m definitely looking up a lot of videos of it now to learn everything I can about it.

Usual disclaimer, I typed as fast as I could but a lot of this may be paraphrased rather than direct quotations. I’ve tried to make that clear in the text but if you have any questions, let me know!

Jamie audition vs. Six audition -
Everybody’s talking about Jamie - She had the dance auditions for it and made sure to sing songs they liked. She had a good relationship with the casting people before, which didn’t necessarily HELP but made her feel more comfortable.

Six was totally different. “I’ve worked with Carrie [Ann Ingrouille, the choreographer for Six] for years… I didn’t get this job TWICE. I think it’s important to realize that the industry doesn’t just hand you a job. It really isn’t personal though. You’re just not right for THAT cast; it could come down to your height or energy or whatever.
The two times I did audition I didn’t get it - and then the last time i went in, this was bizarre, I’d never been seen for Boleyn (just Cleves and Parr), and the last time I went in and got it, they asked me to do Boleyn. That’s my quirky and silly side and really got to play with that. I didn’t really understand Cleves until I was performing. “
Dance class suggestions [She had some specific teacher and class suggestions but my cats decided to use this exact time to break out in a massive fight that i had to go break up so i missed the exact names, sorry. She did mention Pineapple, which i think is referring to Pineapple Dance Studios!] “You’ve really got to do your research about what you’re going to gain from that person. it’s just not going to a person’s class because they may have credits. try them all and have fun and have a good time.”
Favorite queen in Six: Cleves is probably my favorite. [she had some other commentary but cat fight club broke out again and I missed it, gah.]
Did you audition for anyone specifically? “I really wanted to be Catherine Parr at first. I just really loved her song. When you just strip it back and it was just about the tracks, I just loved ‘I don’t need your love.’ And then I saw it and i saw the joy and fun in a lot of the other tracks more. I loved the quirkiness in Boleyn and i loved how teasing and playful she was.“

Cherelle JayNote: I brightened up the dance photos a bit so you can see her movements better. — *Cherelle Jay*
*Note: I brightened up the dance photos a bit so you can see her movements better.*

5. How she got to musical theatre: “When I went to college, I didn’t like musical theater- I’ve always been open about it. But my teacher told me, ‘you can sing.’ I didn’t believe I could sing. I then moved from a dance course to a musical theatre course and got really into the techniques of acting, like, looking into where that characters’ come from before the song.“

6. Advice for people with more of a dancing/acting background rather than a singing background: “You just have to keep training the same you apply yourself to dance. I was like ‘CJ, you’ve been dancing your whole entire life - 13-14 years- and you might sing in the shower once a month because you’re too scared to use your voice. As scary and nerve-racking as it is, you have to bite the bullet every time [and train].’ I might sound terrible right now but we’re going to work on it. I’m learning to lvoe my voice and celebrate my voice. It takes a lot of courage and as an actor…there are so many people who say what they want without thinking, and that’s such a hard blow. We ARE humans, and you can only take so much, so it’s lovely to have that support from musical theater fans.
I’d say - believe in yourself. Every time I make myself more comfortable in myself. I got the job, I’m getting paid every week, why am I still going on stage second-guessing myself. So i have to constantly drill into my head - ‘I am good, and if it’ not right now, I’ll train and get better.’ I constantly ask myself ‘am i actually putting in that work, am i actually training?’”

7. On Learning to Love her Voice more: [she was specifically responding here to a comment about her instagram video of her singing Heart of Stone] Even if I did get any nasty negativity on that - when you’re in that really uncomfortable stage [of becoming more comfortable with your skills], that can be really hard, like when I was in the industry and got some stick about my weight. If you’re already uncomfortable about that, that’s going to be a real blow. You have to take ownership of that, and I wasn’t necessarily big or whatever the industry wanted of me - I had to be like, ‘okay, that’s your opinion, but equally, i can become more comfortable with my skills.’ There’s a beauty in really loving what you’ve got and me really loving my voice.

8. Getting the most out of a dance class: When you go into a class ask, ‘what do i want from this? Is this the confidence? Is it the industry advice?’ Ask - what am i Learning? If you approach life trying to soak everything in and in general, it’s hard - i think it’s really clever to take specific things away. Understand - ‘if i go to drama school, what do i want as the outcome? Why am I doing this? Yes I like this and it’s my hobby, but if it’s to go into MT [musical theatre], what do i need? who do i need?’ You need to be really specific about your goals to get the most out of them.”

9. How she works as a swing: “I’ve never had a swing bible in my life. I just don’t learn that way. For me it’s a visual thing, so with six, and i’ve got to go on for someone - i really quickly pull up a folder in my phone and as i put on my makeup, i go through the track.
Don’t try to swing the whole show, see it as a track. I’m following a track. Then you see how A gets to B and B gets to C, etc….. If you see it as a continuation, then you know your journey throughout the show, so even if in the middle of the show, you have to pick up at F - you’re ready. Just be very precise about the journey you take from the beginnign of the show to the end. That’s probably my best way to swing.
Also - having something in your body like a character to differentiate your people. Cleves and Boleyn, they’re both playful, but for Cleves - it’s the jacket, she’s got the swagger. Boleyn’s got a more upright [demonstrates flirty shoulder move].

10. Advice/tips for getting into a more commercial dance career from more classical ballet background: For me, commercial as a word is a style now, but if you take that back, it comes from jazz, funk, it comes from hip hop. Jamie, for example, is a lot of like, house grooves. You need to study those kinds of styles, and you don’t have to be a master, you just have to have enough knowledge that you can use it when you’re in an audition room. That’s generally how I’ve booked those jobs. I knew, if we’re going for Jamie and Six, and this is a hip hop choreographer, vs the hundreds of girls that have a MT background, I stand out. And that goes both ways - if it’s something more legit [i think she was referring to more traditional dancing styles like tap or jazz], I’m way down here [motions with her hands low to her waist].
For auditions, play to your strengths….Versatility is great, try to be open, but also try to play to your strengths, and show off the things that you’ve trained in to stand out. Knowing how to bring your qualities and other strengths…show your panel what else you can bring to the table, why you might be different from the next person.

11. Funniest Show mishap: For Jamie, I was going on for the role of Levi [she went on for both men and women in this show]. I can’t say all his lines, obviously, but at the end, I had one line that was like “I tweeted his picture, and got 12 likes, I got a giffo.” I was SO BAD at picking up a Sheffield accent. I’ve got the most cockney, London accent. I would sit on the stairs before a show and run all my lines, because i was playing so many characters, I was afraid that I’d say the accent wrong. Because I hadn’t done six months of practicing Levi’s lines, I didn’t think through what his pronunciation would be. It was the MOST TEXAS ACCENT EVER. I couldn’t adjust that in my throat at the time and everyone was looking at me like ‘get off now.’ I’ve never laughed so much.
In Jamie, because we were kids, we just about got away with how much time we were in absolute hysterics, because kids are really like that show gave me anxiety because how many things I’ve done wrong but it also gave me so much joy.

12 Things I Learned From Six UK Tour Alternate Jen Caldwell's Workshop and Q&A

May 23, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

I did another workshop this morning, this time with Six UK Tour alternate Jen Caldwell through Theatre Fan Workshops! It was only at 7 AM EST, where I live, so I got to sleep…slightly later than I have the last few weekends? Lol. Jen’s a swing on the 2019-2020 UK tour of Six the Musical and also serves as their social media captain. She temporarily served as a swing in the West End production after performing as Anna of Cleves for several shows as an emergency cover.

Jen taught us some of the moves to the “I Don’t Need Your Love (remix),” which was pretty difficult and fast. I’d put it at perhaps #2 in difficulty in the Six dances I’ve done so far? At least for me personally. I was able to get only some of the moves but I wasn’t as laughably terrible as I was during “No Way.”

5. Six (taught by Harriet Watson)
4. Sorry not sorry (taught by Vicki Manser)
3. Get Down (taught by Harriet Watson)
2. I Don’t Need Your Love (Remix) (taught by Jen Caldwell)
1. No Way (taught by Collette Guitart)

Jen has this wonderful sense of humor that kept coming out as she was teaching the class. I copied down so many wonderful one-liners from her. She also was super cool and recognized a number of people on the call, specifically noting who she’s met at various performances and such.

Joking about what’ll happen to anyone who’s late and misses the warm-up: “THEY WON’T BE WARM.”

Later: “Everyone get on your goddamn feet!” “You’re all getting it, I’m not seeing anyone who’s upsetting me.” "

On teaching via Zoom: “It’s a goddamn nightmare!”

“Guys, I belieeevvveeeeee in youuuu” /sings/

Discussing one specific section of the dance: “Do whatever you want to do - /feel your oats/” [american accent]

referring to her wooden spoon: “I’m talking into this like a microphone and i need to stop.”

“Holyyy molyyyyy” [sings]

“and then we all imagine that we have friends. singgg with allll your imaginary friendssss”

“sing into the camera like I’m henry and you HATE ME”

She joked about how people can post clips of the class but “not the whole bit. We got an email about it.”

Standard disclaimer that I did the best I could to transcribe Jen’s answers all accurately but of course I might have gotten a few words wrong here or there.

Training: She did a one year course at LSMT (London School of Musical Theatre) and did a degree “Somewhere in Carlisle.” She joked: “don’t go there guys – I learned nothing.”
Audition Tips: “Just be yourself. They really want someone that they want to work with. Someone who’s moldable and malleable, someone’s who pleasant. You can have someone who’s the most talented person in the world, but if they’re a douchebag, you’d be like /ugh/ - it’d be amazing if everyone was talented and lovely – but mm, there are some REALLY talented douchebags. You must bring /yourself/ and show off what you can bring to a company and what you can bring to a course or a role. That’s what I would say - Be you!”
On her Costume: “I remember my first costume fitting, where they said you’re getting the teal, and i was like, ‘well that’s really turquoise,’ and ‘you’ve got a skirt! ‘Oh great, that’s cute!’ [makes face] And they showed the mockup of the skirt….And I was like ‘mmmm, that’s really short,” and there’s a big panel like, ‘hiiii everyone, have a look at my inner thighs, everyone look at the part of my body i hate the most.’ But now I love it. As soon as you’re on stage you forget about the bits of yourself that are showing.”

3. Favorite Queen to play: “My favorite changes all the time. I DO love Cleves. I also love Howard because she’s funny and a little bit bitchy.”

4. Least favorite Queen to play: “Toss up between Parr and Aragon. Aragon is a lot of pressure. You have to lead [the show] and she’s ALWAYS talking….and you have to sing and belt and riff and it’s very hard and not me. Parr - I’m not her. She’s very calm and I’m not particularly calm. I like singing the song but I find Parr a bit of a stretch for me. She’s hard.”

5. Funniest mistake she’s seen on stage: Apparently at one point Lauren [she just said “lauren” and didn’t specify which one, so this could be referring to Lauren Drew who plays Aragon or Lauren Byrne who plays Seymour] forgot her lines and was just “saying words” and looking around desperately at the other girls for help. “And Shaka’s [Shekinah McFarlane, who plays Cleves] got no peripheral vision, so she’s just looking around having a good time – and laruen’s looking at her like ‘HELP ME.’ Jodie came in and was like [spits out very fast patter in a great imitation of Jodie Steele, who plays Howard]”

6. Favorite part of her job: “Making some wonderful friends! God I love them so much. Not just the girls, everyone on that job is just insane. Being able to work with people that are that talented every day is insane.”

7. Advice during a gap year: “If you have the money, go to as many classes as you can - dancing and singing.” She also suggested doing amateur theater - “I always learn by doing…you learn how shows come together. You’re never too good to learn from other people.”

8. Dream role: “Miss Honey [from Matilda]. I’ve got like three that go with my age. Right now I think I’m like Miss Honey age. In 10 years, I want to go be Donna in Mamma Mia. I say 10 years, maybe 5 years [squints at wrinkles on her face, which are NON-EXISTENT by the way]. 10 years after that, I want to be Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.”

9. Harriet mentioned in her workshop a few weeks ago that Jen really helped her learn how to be a swing with her swing bible; I asked Jen how she put that together and how she learned how to be a swing. “Everyone does things differently. Cassie [Cassandra Lee, another alternate on the UK tour] tried to do a swing bible and that didn’t work for her – she learns from videos and mirrors and stuff. My first experience as swing on American Idiot; me and the dance captain made it together. I have a stage map and everyone’s got color coded dots and arrows when they move and where they move… Harriet tried to do it and was like ‘I can’t, it doesn’t work for me, can I just use yours?’ And I was like, ‘yes, yes, that’s fine.’ For me, once I’ve drawn the swing map, it like cements it in my brain. Once I draw the swing bible, I don’t need it. so I just gave it to Harriet.”

10. Differences between performing on tour and in the West End: “The house in London is smaller than the houses we play on tour. It’s a very different kind of energy. In town you can afford to do a lot less but the result is still the same amount of energy. If you’re projecting as much as you do if you’re playing the Edinburgh festival,which is like 1800 seats, if you give that much in a theater that only seats 350, you’re going to look ridiculous and people are gonna be like ‘calm down.’ Also every show that you do is different because of all the swings stepping in, which I love.”

11. Favorite show you’ve ever done: “I love all of them and I can’t say a favorite. I will not. [laughs]”

12. Did you get time to rehearse on the London stage before you went on? “About an hour? I did some rehearsals with Franny [associate director Franny Anne Rafferty]. THat was when Sophie Isaacs [who plays Howard] was rehearsing as well, so I had like an hour. She was running some Howard, so I was just running some Cleves stuff with her, which helped.”

I'm Doing 10! Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

May 16, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

Originally published May 7, 2020 - Updated May 16 and May 29

As I mentioned in my post on the dance workshop and Q&A with Harriet Watson (hosted by the brilliant Theatre Fan Parties), I’ve already signed up for a few others!

Me. A non-dancer. Doing numerous workshops with professional dancers in an intimate setting where they can TOTALLY watch me flail about badly. (Harriet was VERY NICE about my bad dancing in an Instagram comment, but let’s just be honest here)

Me. The person who avoids waking up before 10 am as much as possible. Getting up at 5 am on a weekend numerous times.

This is how committed I am to the Queendom and getting y’all good Six coverage for my blog, y’all. Also, realistically, with all this self-isolation, what else am I going to do?

Note: Theatre Fan Workshops offers a TON of different workshops from different performers in a variety of different shows. Go check out all their workshops here!

[FYI - I’ve seen the Six alternates referred to as alternates, swings, and understudies, in just a ton of different outlets, so I’m using the terms interchangeably, although in most musicals, that’s not the case]

Here are all the classes I’m taking and when! I’ll update these with the blog links as I post them!

What questions should I ask them, y’all? What burning thoughts do you have about being in Six?

1. Six Workshop with Harriet Watson, 7 AM ET, Saturday, May 2

15 Things I Learned from Six UK Tour Alternate/Dance Captain Harriet Watson’s Workshop/Q&A

Harriet Watson is a current swing and the dance captain on the UK tour.

2. Six Workshop with VIcki Manser, 5 am ET, Saturday, May 9

18 Things I Learned from Six Alternate Vicki Manser's Dance Workshop/Q&A

Manser was an alternate in the West End production of Six and was the first cover for Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard (although she did end up covering every role). She later played Katherine Howard. She left the show on December 15, 2019.

Collette Guitart, probably going on for Catherine Parr (based on the costume)

3. Six Workshop with Collette Guitart, 5 am ET, Saturday, May 16

14 Things I Learned from Six Alternate/Dance Captain Collette Guitart’s Workshop/Q&A

Guitart is currently an alternate in the West End production of Six and also serves as the production’s dance captain.

4. Six Workshop with Jen Caldwell, 7 am ET, Saturday, May 23

12 Things I Learned from Six UK Tour Alternate Jen Caldwell’s Workshop/Q&A

Caldwell is a swing on the 2019-2020 UK tour of Six the Musical and also serves as their social media captain. She temporarily served as a swing in the West End production after performing as Anna of Cleves for several shows as an emergency cover. Her first cover is Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, but she’s played all the roles.

5. Everybody’s talking about Jamie Workshop with Cherelle Jay, 7 am ET, Sunday, May 24

11 Things I Learned from Six Alternate Cherelle Jay’s Workshop/Q&A

Jay is a swing in the West End production of Six. Her first cover is Anne Boleyn and Anna of Cleves. It doesn’t look like she’s covered for Catherine of Aragon or Katherine Howard yet.
Her workshop is for a dance from “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” but I’ve been told it’s okay to ask questions about Six.

ADDED TO POST 05/16/2020:

6. Six Broadway Workshop with Sam Pauly, 10 AM ET, Monday, May 25

22 Things I Learned from Six (Broadway) Actress Sam Pauly’s Workshop/Q&A

Pauly is currently playing Katherine Howard in the Broadway production of Six. She also played the same role in the North American Tour.

ADDED TO POST 05/16/2020:

7. Six Workshop with Natalie Pilkington, 7 AM ET, Saturday, May 30

24 Things I Learned from Six (Bliss) Alternate and Show Captain Nat Pilkington’s Workshop/Q&A

Pilkington was the show captain and one of two swings in the Norwegian Bliss cruise production of Six. Her first covers were Catherine of Aragon, Anna of Cleves, and Catherine Parr.

Grace Mouat, likely going on as Catherine of Aragon

8. & Juliet Workshop with Grace Mouat, 5 am ET, Sunday, May 31

13 Things I Learned From Original Six Alternate/Dance Captain Grace Mouat’s Workshop/Q&A

Mouat was a swing and the dance captain in the West Production of Six and in the 2018 UK tour. She left the show on August 18, 2019 and currently plays Judith and serves as the first cover for Juliet in & Juliet. Her workshop is for a dance from “& Juliet,” but I’ve been told it’s okay to ask questions about Six.

-ADDED 05/29/2020-

9. Six Workshop and Q & A with Lauren Byrne, 5 am ET, Saturday, June 27

Byrne plays Jane Seymour on the 2019-2020 UK Tour of Six.

-ADDED 06/06/2020-

10. Six Workshop and Q & A with Hazel Karooma-Brooker, 7 am ET, Saturday, 11 July 2020

Karooma-Brooker played Anne Boleyn on the Bliss 1.0 cast of Six from September 2019-March 2020.

What questions should I ask them, y’all? What burning thoughts do you have about being in Six?

14 Things I Learned from Six Alternate/Dance Captain Collette Guitart's Workshop and Q&A

May 16, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

This morning, I participated in a virtual dance workshop and Q&A with West End Six alternate Collette Guitart! The workshop was hosted by the brilliant Theatre Fan Parties and is the third workshop of seven I’ve signed up for. I got up at 4:30 AM EST for it, which was…yeah, I don’t know how I’m awake right now. #committed

Collette Guitart taught us the second chorus and the dance break of “No Way,” Catherine of Aragon’s song. She noted that she really relates to Aragon because of her own Spanish roots.

Guitart was incredibly kind and helpful throughout and emphasized that this was really difficult choreography that took her a long time to learn. “Even in rehearsal when we did this I didn’t put pressure on myself to get it in one day, I was like, ‘it’s not going to look good for like a week.’”

She had a few specific suggestions for how to get the attitude of the song down, specifically referencing the backup dancers in Beyonce’s Single Ladies music video. “We’re sort of those friends to Catherine of Aragon… Think about your own friend group. If one of your friends was being treated badly, you’d just be like ‘uh no, absolutely not.’ Put your own sass on top of it.”

On a personal note, this was definitely the hardest of the dance workshops I’ve done so far. I’d rank them from easiest to hardest as:

4. Six (taught by Harriet Watson)
3. Sorry not sorry (taught by Vicki Manser)
2. Get Down (taught by Harriet Watson)
1. No Way (taught by Collette Guitart)

1. Hardest Queen to perform physically and emotionally:

Physically, Aragon, because of that [gestures to dance we just did]

Emotionally is either Howard or Seymour. Seymour’s got the beautiful ballad and you don’t want to cry too much or get too emotional so you can still sing the song beautifully. And Howard has such an emotional journey through her song that it’s such a roller coaster because it’s such a really deep song and it starts out so funny; it’s really hard to do that even though the song is like 7 minutes.

2. The Queens she initially auditioned for:

I did No Way (Aragon’s song) definitely. I think I had to do “All You Want to Do” (Howard’s song) too, which was terrifying because it’s really fun but it’s friggin hard. And Parr’s song, “I don’t need your love.” I didn’t end up signing Seymour’s song (Heart of Stone) throughout the whole audition process, but I did all the others.

3. Favorite part of Six:

The slow bit in “Six,” where it’s like “And now we’re one of a kind, no category.” At that point, all the audience is lit up and everyone is joining in together.

4. Has she ever collaborated with the Queens from other countries?

No, but we do had the random tour thing that happened, when he had jen and alisia? It’s totally random, that only really happens in time of need. We haven’t had a country cross over yet.

5. Her training:

I went to a performing arts college in Cambridge called Bodyworks Company. It was very dance heavy because I chose to go on a dance course. In your first year, you’re all trained to the same level and do the same thing. In the second year, you can either choose musical theater or a dance course. I wanted to become a better dancer, so I took that, and then outside I took private singing lessons.

6. Best advice for someone who has never danced before:

Do not put pressure on yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. You can look up to people, I certainly do, but you can’t compare yourself to anyone else because everyone is an individual. You’re never going to have the same talent as everyone else unless you’re like an identical twin. Whatever you’re doing, you just have to really enjoy it. Enjoyment comes first and that’s how you learn to love it. No comparison, because that can be a real soul crusher and that’s not what dancing is for. Dancing is meant to lift your spirit and all. The most important thing is that you’re enjoying yourself and it makes you happy.

7. Role as Dance Captain:

I have to know all the parts. I have to take warmup before the show, I have to do show watches a week. And those have to be different versions of the show with different alternates so I can give notes to everyone. I give notes to the girls; sometimes it’s not that they’re doing anything wrong, it’s just that they’ve gone so far into their character that they’ve lost the initial essence of the move. And sometimes if the girls have any questions, I’m sort of the person they go to to answer the question.

8. Favorite line in the huddle before singing “I don’t need your love” all together:

This isn’t my favorite but it got the biggest reaction from the audience – I didn’t hold my mic to my mouth but I held it here [down by her chest so it could still pick me up] – and said “I’m so sorry about this guys, this is so embarrassing,” turning to the audience before going back into the huddle. They LOVED it. It was quite the naughty thing though, it’s not supposed to be about the individual there.

9. Advice for learning more about musical theater:

Go to as many show as as you can afford and figure out what you like. Is it contemporary? Is it old school Sondheim? Discovering that is not only fun, because you get to see loads of musicals, but it also helps you figure out what kind of musical theater performer you want to be.

10. Tips on being a swing or alternate:

You need a swing bible. There is no person on this earth that can retain the information of an entire show just up here [points at head]. I think my brain is pretty good, like sometimes I don’t need to look at the Bible before going on a track, but I do it anyway, because if you mess up, even though everyone does it and you’re only human, you blame yourself. And you can only let yourself do it so many times before it becomes unprofessional

Stage Bible – I have a map of the stage for the covers I do. I put different colors for different characters and I mark out every single formation that there is in the show, even in the scenes where we’re quite static and don’t move too much. Like in Holbein, I’ve mapped that out; everyone changes their seat at every “tinder moment,” and you want to know where everyone is going and you don’t want to bump into them. You just want to have as much knowledge as possible before you go out there.

11. Are there any easter eggs in the choreography referencing history or the Tudors?

It’s all mental. There are bits in the show that, for example, in the song “Don’t Lose Your Head,” when she sings “I wouldn’t be such a b—if you could get it up.” She obviously didn’t say it like that, but she did say something like that, that her and henry’s sex life wasn’t going so well. There’re so many moments in thes how that they’re taking what they said in history and switched o modern life so we know what they’re saying and can go like OHHHH. We did loads of history research in the rehearsal process for this show. I was like /eye roll/ but it was SO INTERESTING. I learned so much more at Six than I ever did in history in school – Okay lies, I probably learned more in school, but I’ve retained more of it now.

12. How do you find remembering all the different choreography and harmonies?

It’s hard. It’s not easy, it’s a difficult job, but it’s also really rewarding, because I personally have that sort of brain at this point. I didn’t always, it’s all built up. My first few jobs gave me the knowledge of how to swing. If this was your first swing job, it would be mind blowing.

13. What was your most last minute show?

Manchester was WILD.

The shortest time getting ready was - Courtney was on for Seymour and she was having an allergic reaction and couldn’t stop coughing on stage. It wasn’t severe, she was fine, non-panic, but she couldn’t get rid of it and she couldn’t sing. Every time she opened her mouth, she couldn’t’ sing. We were so close to the end of the show, I was all packing up and everything. She came off at the beginning of All you wanna do,” and they were like, we need you to go on for Seymour. I just had the rest of “All you wanna do” to get ready and had to finish out the show. They didn’t even make an announcement because they just wanted to carry on.

14. Advice for auditioning for Six:

Be Yourself, because they want to see you and your personality. Have fun, because that’s all they want to see as well. Just have fun while you’re in the room. Look at them, they love a bit of eye contact, because as you know, we always look at the audience to connect with them. That’s quite rare [in musical theatre], it’s individual to this particular show. Have as much fun and be as relaxed as possible. Audition situations aren’t relaxed really, but the more you can show who you are as a person and not try to be “one of the queens,” the better.

18 Things I Learned from Six Alternate Vicki Manser's Workshop and Q&A!

May 09, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in theater

This morning, I participated in a virtual dance workshop and Q&A with former Six alternate and former Katherine Howard actress Vicki Manser! The workshop was hosted by the brilliant Theatre Fan Parties and is the second workshop of six I’ve signed up for. I got up at 4:30 AM EST. It was rough. I really don’t know how I’m awake right now but honestly I’m going to take a nap right after I post this.

At the beginning of the class, Vicki stated that like with Hamilton and many other shows, Six performers are only allowed to teach certain parts of the dances. She taught us the second chorus and second verse of “Don’t Lose Your Head.” The workshop was only about 25 people so you got to like, talk to Vicki a bit in the chat and get specific clarifications on dance steps such. When I joked that my cats weren’t cooperating with the “switch places” part in Don’t Lose Your Head, she even asked to see my cat!

For the workshop, Vicki brilliantly turned the lights in her apartment purple, the Six theme color! She noted that the first move in “Don’t Lose Your Head,” with the penguin hands, head and shoulder leans, and heel/toe movements, took her weeks to learn, and encouraged participants to just do it with the head and shoulder movements if it was easier. She was super encouraging throughout.

Disclaimer as always on these notes: I typed as quickly as I can, and tried to maintain all Vicki’s exact words, but I can’t promise that these are perfect quotations unless there are actual quotations around them. They’re more like a paraphrase capturing all the original intention of her words.

1. Is the choreography the same in all the Six productions throughout the world?

Yes! They did some adaptations to the choreo on Broadway, but then they went back and taught it to everyone, so every version should be exactly the same.

2. Favorite queen?

I’ve got a soft spot for Boleyn.

3. What queen do you relate to the most?

I relate to Boleyn the most, 100 percent.

4. What’s going to be the first show you see after lockdown is done?

Dear Evan Hansen! She previously had plans to see Courtney [Stapleton, another Six alternate, who previously did “Bat Out of Hell” with Vicki] in it as Zoe and definitely needs to see her in it.

5. How much of the history behind the musical was taught during the rehearsal process?

We were sent documentaries and videos and things to watch before we started the rehearsal process, so we understood where Toby and Lucy got all their ideas and inspiration for the show. While Courtney [Stapleton] and I were in Bat Out of Hell, we sat and watched them in our room backstage.

6. How much time do you have to learn a dance routine for Six?

You’ll have maybe a couple of hours [of dance rehearsal] in the morning, then a couple hours of singing, then boom – done, then you’re on to cleaning. [Cleaning refers to making the movements of the dance more accurate and precise]

7. What’s the toughest queen for you to play physically and emotionally?

Physically? The hardest by far in my opinion….you know what, they’re all hard.
Aragon, when you don’t play her all the time, is hard. The stamina that you need for that track is INSANE. It’s really difficult. It’s also got quite a lot of choreo as well.
But saying that – when I started as Cleves, I listened back to my dress rehearsal run and I’m like, ‘I sound awful.’
Also, Howard is very difficult to get your breathing right as well. You have to schedule your breathing and swallowing points. If you don’t swallow, your mouth fills up with saliva and you can’t breathe.

Emotionally, I think Howard is the most challenging to get right, because she goes on such a journey and literally tells her whole life in the one song. And it’s such an important message to get across. You need to get the audience to laugh with you and be on your side [at the beginning] and then you switch to, ‘how dare you laugh at me, what I went through was heart breaking.’ When the audience feels guilty, you know you’ve done your job. I used to love it when I didn’t get a round of applause at the end, because people feel so uncomfortable, and you FEEL that uncomfortableness and I’m like, ‘YASSSS.’

8. If you auditioned for Six again, what would you sing?

She mentioned that she sang ‘Run to you’ by Whitney Houston at her initial audition. ‘Maybe I’d do dream girls – something Effie.’

9. What thoughts do you have on the alternates having their own separate costumes? Did you have any input on the costume color or style?

I didn’t have any input on the color or style, but I LOVED the fact that the alternates had their own costumes. Everyone is unique and has their own version of the character. I think they chose the blue for me because they thought it would suit me and like, match my eyes [at this point she moved near the camera and opened her eyes very wide]. Gabby [costume designer Gabby Slade] thinks about what suits you as a person.

They wanted to put me in shorts because I go on as Cleves and that’s easy to dance in. They put Courtney [Stapleton] in pants because she goes on as Parr.

And now everyone has their different bits to go on as different queens. If I went back as an alternate now maybe I’d have like six different costumes.

I have a whole post full of photos of different alternate costumes over here, by the way!

10. What inspired you to do musical theatre?

I danced from the time I was a little girl. When I was 3 or 4, I started ballet. I was obsessed, that’s all I wanted to do. I broke my leg twice, and the second time around, I Just gotten out of plaster. I wasn’t able to dance and it was our annual dance show. She said well, you can’t dance, so maybe you can sing something. I was like 8 or 9. I sang a song and she gave me a little acting part as well, and that’s when I was like, oh it’s not just dancing I like. I love it all, give me it all. Let me do it all please. I joined a youth theatre troupe when I was like 10 and started doing it then.

11. What did she think about booking Six?

When I got the audition for Six, I hadn’t heard of it ever. There was nothing on youtube yet, maybe a bit from when they were in Edinburgh and when they were on tour [the 2018 tour]. As I got through the audition process, I realized how amazing it was.

“When I found out I got Six, I ordered 80 pounds of Chinese for three people to celebrate.”

12. Where did the absolute classic line [which vicki often said at performances] come from?

I used to be terrible about ad-libbing in the show. I got told off for it all the time and told to stick to the script, but in the moment I’d go crazy. The part where they huddle at the end was never supposed to be funny, but I kept saying funny things and now everyone does it and tries to get the funniest line. I’m the bad influence definitely. As Boleyn one day, I just said “Absolute classic” into the phone while doing a silly face and it stuck.

13. What’s the most last minute show you’ve played?

I never went on midshow at Six, but I did them all the time at Bat Out of Hell.

The quickest for Six was I found out at the quarter, maybe about 15 minutes before hand. I think it was Cleves maybe?

[host Taylor Farrow Said that sounded terrifying to him, and Vicki responded] Sometimes it’s better, it gives you no time to think about it and no time to panic.

14. How do you stay motivated while in lockdown?

You have to stay ready. I have to be mentally ready and physically ready for future auditions and keep my vocals fit. I’ve just been thinking – I don’t know when it’s coming back, so I’ve got to be ready at all times.

Various Auditioning and “Making it” advice:

15. What happens if I don’t get into drama school?

If you don’t get in, don’t stress, it’s not the end of the world. A majority of people in the industry didn’t get in the first time. A lot of people did gap years and just worked to train and expand their abilities and auditioned the next year. Don’t stop training just because you didn’t get into what you wanted this year! Also, not everyone has finished auditioning yet, so if you didn’t get into what you wanted straightaway, then apply for a last minute place somewhere else. That’s exactly what I did. When I was 18, I had my heart set on going to Artsed, as I could stay home while going there and I didn’t feel ready to leave home yet. I auditioned for maybe 6 schools and got into three of them, but not Artsed. I was gutted, absolutely gutted. That’s when I auditioned for Erdang [which also would allow her to stay at home while going there], in May or June time, and I got in. That’s where I ended up going.

[host Tayler popped in here to also note that because of COVID19, a lot of drama schools have heavily extended their audition period]

16. How to get into drama school and pursue a musical theater career if you’re not the strongest dancer:

Don’t give up just because you’re not a strong dancer, that’s not the end. If that’s not your strongest thing, work on it, train, attend Instagram live classes. Don’t stop working! Also – it doesn’t necessarily matter if you’re the best dancer or not – they’re looking for a diamond in the rough.

17. Dealing with setbacks:

You get so many nos and so many knockbacks. You think you can be perfect for a job and get cut within 20 second. (cough, Frozen, cough). I give myself a day where I say – okay, that didn’t go my way, I’ll have a cry, say I’m really annoyed, and give myself the day to mope around and feel sorry for myself. Then I gotta get back on it the next day. You’ve gotta be your biggest supporter and find that confidence from somewhere.

18. Auditioning Tips for Six:

If you have any idea about what Six is looking for, get it out of your head. They want to see what you as an individual can bring to the table that’s different. You only have to look at the difference between me and Lexi [McIntosh, who plays Anna of Cleves]. We are two totally different people. She is so cool. I am an absolute goofball. When she performs she’s got so much swag and has the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. And I was her understudy. Don’t go in pretending to be someone you’re not.