Six the Musical Live!‘s cast, comprised of original West End and UK Tour queens, is opening up about what it was like stepping back into their Tudor queen costumes to shoot the show’s cinematic release, describing a mix of muscle memory and culture shock after returning to the format after their contracts wrapped. The cast exclusively spoke with BLKCinema.com ahead of the U.S. and Canadian release.
What was it like reuniting to film Six the Musical Live!?
Alexia McIntosh, who originated the role of Anna of Cleves, said the reunion hit differently depending on how recently each cast member had performed the show, since she, Natalie Paris and Jarnéia Richard-Noel had only just wrapped their contracts before filming began.
“Some of us, me, Natalie, and JJ, we had finished our contracts November ’21, and then the movie was filmed April ’22. So we were a bit more familiar because we just literally finished. So to see Maya and Millie and Amy come back into their costumes with the hairstyles, we were just screaming when they came out in the whole thing,” she said. “And even with seeing Gabby and Justin and being reunited with just the tech team and behind the scenes, it was just like you’re remembering 2018 and the journey up to this point and you’re like, ‘Wow.’”
McIntosh also detailed how different the filming schedule was compared to a typical stage run of the show. “Normally it’s 75 minutes, jump on the train, round of applause, cannon. But with the movie, it was 6:00 AM call, then it’s, we’re starting with Heart of Stone at 6:00 AM. But we love it. We do it. Do you know what I mean?” she said. “And then seats were taken out, we had an actual set, we had the robocam. So that was a different… Doing MegaSIX, stopping halfway, to then be like, ‘We’re doing it again,’ recoup and still have that same energy for the next take and that continuity was just crazy. But it was a wild experience.”
She added that the cast had performed a run of concerts at Henry VIII’s former residence the week before filming, framing it as a fitting lead-in to the shoot, explaining, “And we had done Hampton Court Palace the week previous, which was four concerts in Henry VIII’s house. And we was like, ‘Up middle finger, Henry, we are here. We are claiming these stories. We are giving these queens a voice.’ So that was a great kind of introduction for us all to come back together and then do this incredible professional shot.”
How did the cast keep the characters consistent years later?
Jarnéia Richard-Noel, who plays Catherine of Aragon, said returning to the roles years after originating them in 2018 didn’t disrupt the connection the cast had built with the characters or with each other.
“Able to keep it the same. We built these characters from 2018, and I think it was so amazing that even while filming, we still had that connection that we had from the beginning to then still have it four years later and have it all then,” she said.
Richard-Noel also pointed to the absence of a live audience during part of the shoot as one of the biggest adjustments, despite the finished product still carrying that same energy. She said, “I think what also was different about it is obviously we didn’t have the audience in the filming stage at first, and then we had the pro shot. So we still had the same kind of live audience feeling, reaction, and all of that energy from the audiences still being there. So I think it was amazing having the pro shot, but then also the difference of no one being there and you’re like, ‘This is strange.’ But I think you focus so much more on them telling the story.”
Six the Musical Live! was captured at London’s Vaudeville Theatre and also stars Millie O’Connell as Anne Boleyn, Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard and Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr. The film is directed for stage by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage and for film by Liz Clare.
When does ‘Six the Musical Live!’ release in theaters?
Six the Musical Live! is in theaters nationwide starting Aug. 14.
Featured image photo credit: Focus Features
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