A witty, pop-fuelled musical packed full of sass, class, and pizazz, 'SIX The Musical' remixes the history of the six wives of Henry VIII (Britain's notorious Tudor King) as they take to the microphone to re-tell their stories and reclaim their HERstories once, and for all.
Since its early days as a student production in a 100-seat room at Sweet Venue during the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 'SIX' has became a global phenomenon. Its studio album has achieved in excess of 500 million streams across all platforms worldwide, and over 3 billion views on TikTok.scenestr sat down with Loren Hunter ('Strictly Ballroom The Musical', 'King Kong The Musical') to talk about her role as Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour and what audiences can expect from this production.
Many of the themes explored in 'SIX The Musical' are current to this day, how has this production compared to previous works?
I think it's a really interesting concept because we haven't really moved that far ahead. What 'SIX' does well is prop a mirror up to the audience and says: 'This happened 500-plus years ago. . . why haven't we learnt, and moved on from this?'
'SIX' really stands alone as its own beast with the contemporary music vibe, whereas other musicals I've worked on are strictly that, they follow a throughline and follow a main character – which you are doing with 'SIX', but in a very different way. It's a 75-minute pop-concert like that of Beyoncé, P!nk, Britney Spears, Adele. . . there's no rest for the wicked.
What has it been like to play Jane Seymour?
To play Seymour has been a career highlight for me, the whole experience is incredibly rewarding. There's not much separating where Jane finishes and Loren starts.
The more I lean into the quirks of myself, the more Jane Seymour comes to life. For example, when I played Liza Minelli, I had this plethora of material to pull from – but with Jane, there's nothing to really help.
The other night, off stage, I made a joke and laughed at it – and the girls went: 'Oh my god, that is literally Jane.' We've been encouraged to bring ourselves into these characters.
What are some historical facts you've learnt with this role?
One of the most famous stories about Jane Seymour; there was a slight cross-over between her story and Boleyn. Being a woman in that time, you can't really refuse the King when he starts the process of choosing you as his next wife.
As we've learnt, he can be ruthless. When Boleyn was being beheaded, and there was talk about Jane swooping in, the King gifted Jane some gold sovereigns in an apology for the rumours. . . but Jane refused them, and said: 'All I have is my honour, and I'll be taking that to my grave.'
What advice would you give to emerging artists who may be wary about mounting new works, especially musicals?
Don't let fear get in the way – particularly as young artists. Having graduated from WAAPA about ten years ago, there wasn't a focus on creating your own work. I later realised I had a lot of autonomy in my creativity, and that can be really fulfilling in what can be an inconsistent journey. There's nothing stopping you, so go for it.
After its Perth season at Crown Theatre (which runs until 18 December), 'SIX The Musical' heads to Brisbane – Loren's home town – at the QPAC Playhouse, with the season commencing from 30 December.
