By Alexis Johnson-Williams
Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. Divorced, Beheaded, crowd eruption.
Six queens appear with harmonies flowing in the air. The stage is decked out in dazzling sequences, audience members are dancing in their seats, this is the excitement of Captain Shreve’s production of Six the Musical: Teen Edition. For three months, members of the Theatre Performance Team have been preparing for their most anticipated show of the year. Six highlights the six wives of King Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. In the musical each wife fights over who had the most tragic ending through powerful musical melodies.
Each night more than 100 people came, leaving wanting to listen to hear the soundtrack over again.
“Every night we had different reactions. It was pretty fun to hear people sing along to a few lyrics, especially in my song,” Teresa Franks stated.
Audience members may not understand how long the queens individually prepared for their roles. They began by studying the life of their respective queen. Every actor took a learning experience away from their character.
The crowd connected with Jane Seymour played by Kaitlin Smith.
“Jane helped me think about the perspective of a mother. My song is about a mother loving a son she never had and being resilient through it. As a teenager, I cannot relate so I had to find creative ways to connect with my character in order to portray her best,” Kaitlin Smith says.
From younger to older audience members, the crowd and cast connection was evident, since each character was relatable.
“Anna of Cleves, by far, was the most significant character to me. Her confidence and candor was so raw, it was difficult not to connect with her,” senior Uzziah Anderson commented.
The crowd reaction made the show even more special to the cast and crew. If you were not a big fan of musicals before the show, almost every single conversation afterwards was about how dazzling it was.
“Seeing audience reactions was honestly quite entertaining,” sophomore Katelyn Kerr stated. “Salem (Brossett)’s mom especially had the funniest reactions to certain parts of the show even though she had seen it multiple times.”
Six was extraordinary in a number of ways, but the most outstanding factor was Ashton Pouncy, a freshman at Shreve, being praised for her talents.
“The praise I have received from Six has been memorable. As a freshman, I thought I would slip up a lot because I was the only freshman,” Ashton said. “However, for my first TPT production everyone made me feel so comfortable. I felt that my work was seen, appreciated, and enjoyed.”
Witnessing a voice and stage presence as powerful as Ashton will be a sight to see in the next three years.
“The musical will always have a special place in my heart. I’ve been following the show since it started on Broadway and I never thought I’d ever get the chance to play one of the queens. This show will probably always be one of my favorites and I’m so sad it’s come to an end,” Franks concluded.
Six the Musical had a significant impact not only on TPT as being one of the highest grossing shows, but on the cast and crew as well. As an audience member, you never get to see behind the scenes, but those involved became like a family.
“In my three years of involvement with TPT, Six was by far my favorite show to stage manage for. I enjoyed making memories with everyone and I’m glad I got to be a part of this amazing, crazy, and wacky family,” Ellen Douglas stated.