There are many reasons a theater chooses the shows it produces each season. For North Fort Myers High School Theatre Director Janelle Laux, the choice of “SIX: Teen Edition” was all about showcasing the talent of the students who play Henry VIII’s six wives.
“I first saw 'SIX' on Broadway a couple of years ago and knew that I wanted to produce it,” said Laux. “But then the class that I have right now fit it so well that it was a no-brainer that I was definitely going to do this show with them in it.”
Laux is referring to the vocal ability of the students she’s cast as the monarch’s six queens. Their uncanny ability to harmonize with each other is on full display from the musical’s opening song, “Ex-Wives.”
“’SIX’ is about the six wives of Henry VIII,” Laux noted. “They’re all very unique and individual, and they came into Henry’s life at different times. Each of them has their own story, and so this show portrays each of their stories through song and then it kind of incorporates all of them coming together at the end and realizing that they are powerful on their own without King Henry as a backup.”
This message of female empowerment, especially when women support each other, is another reason Laux wanted to bring “SIX” to the North Fort Myers High stage.
“This show is very female-driven,” said Laux. “It’s very women-can-do-anything, and that is what it brings to the table is showcasing women and how great they are.”
Laux is confident that the show’s pop-rock concert structure will appeal to everyone who sees it – as will the fact that co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss fashioned each queen’s solo number from the musical style of pop megastars ranging from Beyonce and Britney Spears to Avril Lavigne, Ariana Grande and Alicia Keys.
Bring your dancing shoes because dancing in the aisles is sort of built into the mix - at least for “The Megasix Encore” at the end of the show’s tight, 80-minute run.
“SIX: Teen Edition” plays October 25-27 at North Fort Myers High.
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The shows on Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26, start at 7 p.m. Sunday’s show is a 2 p.m. matinee.
The musical opens with a reference to an old rhyme, “Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.”
"SIX" is a modern retelling of the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives: Catherine of Aragon (played by Jay Encalada), Anne Boleyn (Rilyn Dick), Jane Seymour (Emma Bambrey), Anna of Cleves (Grace Duncan), Katherine Howard (Mia Zottolo), and Catherine Parr (Ava Stoeberl). They have come together as a band to stage a pop concert and invite the audience to hear their stories. They cannot decide who should be the lead singer, so they initiate a competition, or singing battle, to see who suffered the most as queen. Each wife believes they had it toughest and they belittle each other’s attempts to prove their hardship. However, they become frustrated that their place in history is defined by one man. Together, they decide to pick up the pen and the microphone to re-write their own stories. They are more than a rhyme, more than a wife, and much more than one king could handle.
In 2017, Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society chose Toby Marlow to create and write a new musical. At the time, Marlow was in their final year at Cambridge. Marlow partnered in the project with fellow student, Lucy Moss. Their musical premiered that same year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
"SIX" premiered in the West End at the Arts Theatre in January of 2019, and has since embarked on a U.K. tour. It premiered in North America in May of 2019 and on Broadway in February 2020. Following a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it officially opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on October 3, 2021, and has since launched additional touring companies.
Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss won the 2022 Tony for Best Original Score and Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Music and for Outstanding Lyrics, as well as Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding New Broadway Musical, Outstanding Score and Outstanding Costume Design.
The music of several real-life pop stars inspired the characters and songs Marlow and Moss created for the musical:
- Catherine of Aragon is modeled on Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson;
- Anne Boleyn is modelled on Avril Lavigne and Lily Allen;
- Jane Seymour is modelled after Adele, Sia and Celine Dion;
- Anna of Cleves is modelled on Nicki Minaj and Rihanna;
- Katherine Howard is modelled on Britney Spears and Ariana Grande; and
- Catherine Parr is modelled on Alicia Keys and Emeli Sandé.
Jay Encalada plays Catherine of Aragon. She evinces Catherine of Aragon’s fierce determination (and her own killer pipes) in the power-pop number “No Way,” a song that is modelled after the musical stylings of Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson. Jay’s stage credits include Alice in “Alice By Heart” and Chiffon in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Rilyn Dick plays Anne Boleyn. In the role, Rilyn demonstrates a wry sense of humor and the refined ability to deliver a snarky aside or two in “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” a song modelled after the musical stylings of Avril Lavigne and Lily Allen. Rilyn’s previous credits include Anna in “Spring Awakening” at Arts Bonita Center for Performing Arts and Nemo in “Finding Nemo Jr.” at North High.
Emma Bambrey plays Jane Seymour. Her solo is the power ballad “Heart of Stone,” in which she makes the case for an alternate version of marriage, Tudor-style, a song that "SIX" co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss modelled after the musical stylings of Adele, Sia and Celine Dion. A passionate performer, Emma’s previous stage credits include Elsa in “Frozen,” Mrs. George in “Mean Girls High School Edition” for Melody Lane Performing Arts Center at Cultural Park Theatre (2023), Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde,” the ensemble in “Les Miserables School Edition – The Encore” as well as “Les Miserables” during the COVID pandemic, both for Melody Lane Performing Arts Center (2023 and 2021, respectively), and Bowery Beauty, Nun and Scab 2 in “Newsies” for The Belle Theatre (2022).
Grace Duncan plays Anna of Cleves. In her hot, jazzy number “Get Down,” Anna demonstrates that a prenup just might be a queen’s best friend. “SIX” co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss modelled this number after the musical stylings of Nicki Minaj and Rihanna. Grace has been in previous shows at NFMHS such as “Anything Goes” (ensemble), “All Shook Up” (ensemble), “Lion King Jr.” (Shenzi), and the upcoming children’s show “ELF Jr.” (Emily Hobbs).
Mia Zottolo plays Katherine Howard. Her queen delivers the most somber message in the show, a light and sexy “All You Wanna Do” that ultimately devolves into an expose about the dark side of desire. “SIX” co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss patterned this song on the musical stylings of Britney Spears and Ariana Grande. Mia has previously appeared in Red Knight Theatre Company productions at North such as “All Shook Up” (Miss Sandra, for which she received Best Supporting Actor in a Female-Identifying Role at the 2024 High School Musical Theatre Awards) and “Mise En Scene” (Camille). Other credits include Eurydice in “Hadestown Teen Edition” for Arts Bonita Center for Performing Arts (2024), Patrice in “13: The Musical” for Players Circle Studio (2024) and the Narrator in “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat.”
Ava Stoeberl plays Catherine Parr, the only wife to outlive the mercurial Tudor monarch, which she underscores in “I Don’t Need Your Love,” a song that "SIX" co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss modeled after the musical stylings of Alicia Keys and Emeli Sande. Previous stage credits include Val Clarke in Melody Lane Theatre’s production of “A Chorus Line,” Eponine in “Les Miserables” (Melody Lane Theatre), Reno in “Anything Goes,” Jane Banks in “Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical” (Broadway Palm), Annie in “Annie Jr.” (Oasis), Gingy in “Shrek Jr.,” the narrator in “Aladdin Jr.,” Wickersham Brother in “Seussical Jr.” as well as Dory and Pan.
Ava has been performing in school and community theater musicals since third grade, including at the Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta. She has been in over 45 theater productions and has choreographed three musicals. She is currently a senior at North Fort Myers High and AICE Student, president and student choreographer of the Red Knight Theatre Department and in pre-med and on track for medical school.