The award-winning musical SIX is gracing New Zealand shores for the first time and we were lucky enough to get all the goss from the cast before opening night.
For context, I saw this show in Melbourne last year with my girlfriend. I went in having not seen or read anything about it, and truth be told, I hadn’t even seen a live musical before.
A couple months later, 'Six: Live On Opening Night' was one of the top albums on my Spotify Wrapped for 2024.
The infectious show is the most entertaining history lesson you’ll ever experience, with the story of King Henry VIII’s ill-fated wives told through an 80-minute pop concert.
Each of the six Queens have been reimagined as a composite of modern popstars, all competing against one another to see who got the worst end of the deal with the King.
The show has been in Australia since 2020 with a stellar Aussie cast, and they’re all excited to be finally hitting New Zealand, many visiting for the first time.
As for how they expect Kiwi crowds to hold up next to their homeland?
"I heard some people going off at the park last night. They were having a rowdy good time," Chelsea Dawson, who plays Katherine Howard, told me.
"I was like, ‘okay, I think Auckland kind of goes off a bit. This is kind of fun!’ I think SIX might be the perfect show."
The show's historical roots haven't been lost on the cast, with some getting right into the research and finding modern similarities between their characters and themselves. "I love Tudor history," said Giorgia Kennedy, who plays Catherine Parr.
"Which isn't something I loved before the show, but we all kind of had to bring research to the rehearsal room." "I listen to my Tudor history podcasts, my movies, my books. Because it's so fascinating to me, really, how the history that we explore relates to 2025."
"There’s still so many correlations, still so many things that are relevant today.
"In terms of relating to my queen (Catherine Parr), she was the survivor," she continued.
"She was the first Queen in England to write her own Psalms and meditations, her own books. So she was really an independent woman. They were all really phenomenal women.
"I think that's why Henry VIII is such an infamous king. Because of the six amazing queens that he ended up marrying."
The show features an all-female cast and company, which exemplifies its whole ethos of rewriting ‘her-story’. It’s something the cast are excited to champion.
"It's very rare to have such a female dominating cast and crew and company," said Kimberley Hodgson, who plays Catherine of Aragon in the show.
"When you're within a company like that, the dynamic is unlike anything I've really ever experienced.
"On a professional level, I think it's incredibly empowering, and it's a wonderful environment to be working in. I think we all thrive."
The cast isn’t the only thing that makes the show unique. It's a rollicking 80 minutes long rather than the two or three hour long performances we're used to, and exists somewhere between musical and concert, leaning more closely towards the latter.
"It's [also] that thing where there's no fourth wall," the show’s Jane Seymour, played by Loren Hunter, said.
"There's this aspect of bringing yourself to the character more so than sort of going ‘Oh, I’m playing Jane’."
"It's like, no, actually. I'm playing myself in a lot of ways, with about 10% of the history of it. That's a big, big difference, I think."
"We get to be in bed by 9.30, which is excellent," added Dawson. "Short, sharp. Quick witted. Just in and out."
Zelia Rose Kitoko, who plays Anna of Cleves, added: "The thing about our show is that we're on stage the whole time.
"It's such an amazing exercise of resilience and stamina."
As far as favourite songs go, Kitoko was quick to defend hers. "I like my song. You’ll see it. It’s really good. There's a surprise in my song as well." Keep your eyes peeled for that.
"How (SIX creators) Toby (Marlow) and Lucy (Moss) have written this show is just genius," said Dawson.
"They've sequenced it so well that everyone's getting to ride this amazing roller coaster where the ballad comes in at the right time, and then we've got this techno German funk dance break just to mix it up."
As a 29-year-old male I may not be the target demographic on paper, but I think that, if anything, I can speak to the broad appeal of the show.
"I think what is so wonderful about this show is that it really kind of suits everyone," Hodgson told me.
"I think we all relate and resonate through all of the queens. We all have it within ourselves to be the queen that we are."
Hell, after meeting the cast I’m starting to wonder if I can find the Queen that I am. Oh and they taught me a couple of dance moves, too. There might be a video of that a bit further up if you’re lucky.
So, if you feel like being inspired, learning a little something and getting half a dozen new songs stuck in your head just like me, make sure you get down to Auckland’s Civic and see SIX.
It’s truly can’t-miss theatre.
