Pop musical ‘Six’ heads to the Schuster

For the particulars, head to the Schuster Center Jan. 14-19 when “Six” comes to town as part of the Broadway in Dayton series.

The 80-minute pop musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss won 23 awards in the 2021-2022 Broadway season, including the Tony Award for Best Original Score (Music and Lyrics) and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical.

Like “Hamilton”, the show takes a look at history through the lens and music of today. In this case, it’s a chance for each of Henry’s mistreated wives to share her side of the story. Suffice it to say, It isn’t a pretty picture. As you’ll hear in the show’s opening, in chronological order these six Tudor Queens ended up “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”

The plot revolves around a singing competition in which the six discarded wives compete to determine who suffered the most from their notorious husband. Ultimately they decide that instead of comparing themselves to one another, they should be celebrating their individual stories and their history as women.

The road to royalty

Jane Seymour was Henry’s third wife and the only spouse to give him a long-awaited son. The two were married for just under a year and a half; Jane died of childbed fever less than two weeks after giving birth to Edward VI, Henry’s heir.

In the musical, Jane will be portrayed by Kelly Denice Taylor who’s been touring with “Six” for three years. Before taking on the role, Taylor spent two years on tour with “Six” as an understudy for three of the queens. At various times, she portrayed each of them on stage and was once called to New York to play Jane Seymour on Broadway.

“Jane is such a fun and interesting part because unlike shows where I play some version of myself and sing modern songs, in this show I’m playing an historical figure,” said Taylor. “It’s an interesting balance — playing a real human being that existed and telling the story with a modern twist.”

The modern twist is the music. If It sounds familiar, that’s because the six queens are modeled after iconic pop stars of today. Taylor said her character channels Adele and Whitney Houston. Jane’s story and her love for Henry are told through a ballad, “Heart of Stone.”

Musical styles for the other queens range from Latin to rock.

“The show doesn’t take itself too seriously,” Taylor said. " It’s funny and pop and comedic.”

This Broadway musical is Taylor’s first, and a far cry from her Disney days. A graduate of Hollywood High School, she began her singing career on Disney cruise ships and is a recording artist for Walt Disney Records. She’s made TV appearances on Disney +, the Disney Channel, ABC and traveled with Disney’s six-person a cappella group, DCappella.

“Working on a ship and seeing faraway places was fun,” she said. “I was seeing Norway and Scotland, Denmark, Mexico, really cool places. That’s where I got my love for performing on tour, on the road. I also lived two years in Japan when I performed at Universal Studios Japan. It was interesting to live in a different culture and make Japanese friends.”

Preparing for the role

Actors are typically sent a script before rehearsals begin and asked to do their own research, figuring out for themselves how to interpret their characters. But Taylor said, like the musical “Hamilton,” there’s less room for manipulation when the characters are based on real people.

“Even before our first day, the directors sent us movies to watch and books to read,” she said. “We watched the television series ‘The Tudors’ and a documentary about Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife. We read some of the poems Henry wrote to Anne.”

Cast members also watched Beyonce’s Rose Bowl concert in order to study the way superstars portrayed themselves at a halftime show.

“My character, Jane Seymour, grounds the show a bit,” said Taylor. “She talks about her actual love for Henry while other queens talk about the downside of being married to him and how crazy he was. He was known for having a wandering eye and being sleazy. Jane talks about her short-lived relationship with him, about never having lived life. Childbirth was dangerous in those days.”

Taylor admits she was a bit confused about the role at first.

“I remember thinking Jane was a hard sell because she backed up Henry. But she was known for being lovely, charming and quiet, a really kind person. It’s nice to play someone who is in love. Maybe she didn’t have the chance to be with him long enough to see his negative side.”

While Taylor said her own personality doesn’t relate to Jane’s, she can relate to Jane’s story.

“Many of us have been in a toxic relationship where everyone is telling you, you gotta leave him, but you don’t. At the end of the day, she was a normal 28-year old woman who fell in love with someone and passed away prematurely.”

Taylor hopes those who see the show will learn to celebrate the six women who married the king. “Henry was known for having six wives but we never got to know their stories,” she said. “I hope our audiences learn that women’s stories are worth telling, that we are no longer just associated with who we marry.

“It’s a good time to uplift women to be their own person, be separate and take men off the pedestals they’ve been on for so many years. And for women to learn they can create history for themselves.”

HOW TO GO

What: “Six,” the Broadway musical

When: Tuesday, Jan.14 through Sunday, Jan. 19

Where: The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, 1 W. Second St., Dayton

Tickets: Starting at $59. Plus processing fees. For the best and most accurate ticket prices, check out daytonlive.org or contact Dayton Live Ticket Office at 937-228-3630.

Related programming: