SIX The Musical is coming to Playhouse Square for a limited five week run beginning on Tuesday, August 8! The show will play eight times per week through Sunday, September 10!
{Complete show and ticket information can be found on our events calendar: HERE!}
The 2x Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of the six wives of King Henry VIII through the eyes of the women who were married to him. The ladies take turns telling their stories to see who suffered the most in the marriage in the form of a pop-rock concert!
National Tour cast member, Zan Berube, who portrays one of the wives (Anne Boleyn), discussed the show with CleveRock in a recent phone interview.
“SIX is the retelling and reclaiming of the six wives of Henry VIII and their stories from their point of view instead of from Henry’s gaze and his perspective,” she described. “It’s kind of like these women retelling history in their own words. And, it’s fun, because it’s definitely turned on its head and put in this fun pop-rock concert. It’s definitely a nice spin on musical theater. It will be something new that the audience has never seen before.”
Each wife’s performance is loosely based on some of the most notable female pop stars. Berube’s Anne Boleyn character is said to be modeled after two of this preview writer’s guilty pleasures.
“I did a lot of research into Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne, in specific, and how they take up the stage with their stage presence and how they rock the mic,” Berube said. “I definitely would say those two are my inspirations for my Anne Boleyn.”
Cyrus and Lavigne are two of the best female pop stars to ever step up the microphone. Berube finds the challenge of playing her character to be quite enjoyable.
“I got my musical theater BFA from the University of Michigan, so I definitely have a lot of training in the musical theater stylings,” she noted. “But coming into SIX, and it being such a pop-rock concert, it was definitely new for me in a fun and challenging way.”
Real talk: Almost EVERYONE dreams of being a rockstar. Berube was asked, even in a theater role, if playing Ann Boleyn helps scratch that itch.
“It’s definitely a dream come true because, in pop-rock concerts, the performers get to interact with the audience,” she replied. “It’s definitely a fun experience from the performers’ point of view because we get to break down that wall and just have a party and a blast with you all and I get to really feel like a rock star every night.”
To say Berube was excited to land this role is an understatement!
“It almost brings me to tears thinking about it. It was one of the best moments of my life,” she said. “I was actually in the midst of recording another audition for a different project and my agent called me and I got the entire call on camera because I was filming. It was surreal. The first thought that went through my head is, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to call my parents.'”
While Henry VIII’s wives were not written in history as pop music stars and a great deal of artistic license was necessary when story/music/lyrics co-authors Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss composed the show, there is still a decent amount of British History that theatergoers are schooled in when attending SIX.
“I feel like people who do know the story of Henry VIII, they get to see these glimpses of history and they get to laugh along with us,” Berube stated. “And, for people, who might not know British history as much, they get to learn through our retelling of it. I definitely think they walk away with some history plot points.”
‘Music’ is the root of the word ‘musical.’ The music is what makes or breaks any show. Oftentimes, the other great theatrical elements are lost in the shuffle. Berube was asked what ticket holders should keep an eye out for during SIX.
“We get to wear Tony Award-winning costumes every single night. It is such a blessing because these costumes are incredible,” she answered. “They have this tutor style and shape to them with modern-day materials that make them so glamorous and so sparkly and so shiny. They’re really captivating to the eye.”
What else, Zan?
“Whenever I get to watch the show, I am just taken aback by the lighting design. I feel like it is absolutely stunning and it enhances the performance tenfold, and then the choreography is a blast,” she continued. “I feel like, as an artist, I’m so grateful to get to learn from these choreographers and do their material every night. It’s one of my favorite parts of the show to do besides playing Anne Boleyn, is getting to dance these dance moves.”
Berube was also asked what her favorite part of the show from a performer’s standpoint is:
“That changes daily or weekly with the audience. I really enjoy getting to be Catherine of Aragon’s backup dancer and supporting her in her song. You know, she’s the first queen out of the cannon, and that dance, it’s such a fun time to feel like a woman. At this moment in time, that’s my favorite part of the show.”
Road life is more challenging than some might imagine. Eight shows per week is no picnic! Sometimes being stuck in a great city is a tease when there is tiring work to be done. Berube was asked if she is ever able to find time to explore the cities she performs in and if she’ll have time to see some of the great things that Cleveland has to offer.
“For the one weekers, where we’re really, you know, shot out of a cannon, one could say, and we don’t have as much time to explore. But for this five-weeker, I am so excited because we will have four official days off where we get to explore the city and I think we’ll have some time to really settle down and hopefully have some good food and meet some good people in Cleveland.”
Good food? Good people? The cast of SIX The Musical are coming to the right city!
