As Six Marks One Year On Broadway, Take a Glimpse Behind the Scenes of the Smash-Hit Musical
In the two and a half years since Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss—who together wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the hit Broadway musical Six—spoke to Sarah Crompton for Vogue’s February 2020 issue, a lot has happened. First, their show’s opening night, inauspiciously slated for March 12, 2020, was summarily canceled by a Broadway-wide shutdown; then, it helped to usher in Broadway’s grand return, attracting the likes of Rachel Zegler, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy O. Harris, and Michael Kors to its (actual) opening night on October 3, 2021; then, months later, it racked up eight nominations at the 2022 Tony Awards, claiming two exciting wins—for best original score and best costume design. That Six has now been on stage in New York for a full year (to say nothing of its touring productions, running simultaneously all over the world) feels like something worth celebrating.
Ingeniously reimagining the six wives of Henry VIII as dueling pop singers, the show was written with Marlow and Moss’s milieu in mind: “We had loads of women and non-binary friends who never got the good parts,” Moss told Crompton. “Women have emotional ballads; the guys have big character songs,” added Marlow. So, they created six thrilling and substantial new roles for the musical theater—roles currently played by Andrea Macasaet (as Anne Boleyn), Keri René Fuller (Jane Seymour), Brittney Mack (Anna of Cleves), Samantha Pauly (Katherine Howard), Brennyn Lark (Catherine Parr), and Bre Jackson (Catherine of Aragon).
“Getting to finally open the show in 2021 felt like a huge exhale for all of us,” says Macasaet, who made her Broadway debut with this production. “I’m so incredibly proud of each individual I get to share the stage with every night. I’ve learned so much from everyone who established the show from the beginning and the humans who have joined and brought in new energy to the team.”
She continues: “My hope for the show is that it creates the space for people to feel seen in ways they haven’t felt before. This show only works if the foundation of it comes from a place to love and honor one another as we are. We succeed and light up the world when we give one another that permission and that is what people see on stage. The love and permission we give to one another trickles down to the people who visit our palace. I am grateful to have been a piece of this empowering love monster that is Six.”
On a recent September afternoon, the producer and photographer Michael Kushner dropped by the Brooks Atkinson Theatre to capture all six stars before curtain. His pictures continue a series he calls The Dressing Room Project, launched to offer a glimpse at the action behind the scenes of major Broadway shows. “So much of what drives me is accessibility in the theatre,” Kushner says. “I want to make sure that anyone, no matter who you are and where your location, feels like you’re a part of the magic of Broadway that you cannot get with a ticket purchase.”
To feel that magic—and see how Six’s queens get into character before showtime—have a look below.
Photo: Michael Kushner Photography1/12Keri René Fuller (Jane Seymour) with hair and makeup supervisor Krystal Balleza
Photo: Michael Kushner Photography2/12Brittney Mack (Anna of Cleves)
