“Six” transforms the wives of Henry VIII into pop icons
By Lee J. Green
A Tony Award-Winning Broadway phenomenon lights up the stage in its Alabama debut this month.
“Six The Musical” comes to Huntsville’s Von Braun Center Feb. 4 to 9 and the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Feb. 11 to 16. The show features King Henry VIII’s six wives who have gone from “Tudor queens to pop icons.”
Jewish writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss came up with the original concept of the show when they were students at Cambridge University in 2017. It was first presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival later that year and began its regular run in London the following year, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2019.
Its March 2020 Broadway debut was delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic. “Six” would go on to win 23 awards in the 2021-22 Broadway season, including the Tony for Best Original Score and Best Musical.
The Broadway production’s assistant musical director, Anna Senger, is a product of Julliard and a Jerusalem native. Six’s run is also continuing on Broadway in the Lena Horne Theatre.
Gaby Albo plays Ann Boleyn in the traveling Broadway production. The actress from Mexico City is returning to Birmingham two years after starring as Gloria Estefan in the musical “On Your Feet.”
“It’s so exciting to be a part of a show that has become such a global phenomenon and it’s such an anthem for female empowerment,” said Albo. “And I love playing Ann. She is strong but funny, which was nice to do after playing several dramatic roles.”
Albo had been doing a production of “Evita” outside of New York City when she found out about the auditions for the Broadway production of “Six.” She didn’t get cast but got noticed by the U.S. traveling production and joined the tour last November.
“It’s a very diverse cast and I’m so fortunate to be amongst such talented, inspiring women,” said Albo. “This is just such a dream.”
Albo said she didn’t get into acting until her early teen years, after a friend’s father opened up a musical theatre summer camp. She would go on to take some vocal lessons and perform in some musical productions in her native Mexico.
She came to the United States to go to college at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Albo starred in a traveling production of “West Side Story” and worked as an entertainer for a cruise line before returning to Mexico.
It was there she was cast in the “On Your Feet” Spanish-language-version of the musical and then the traveling Broadway show in 2021-22.
The 34-year-old Albo said she is so appreciative of all the support she has gotten from her parents, who still live in Mexico City.
“They’ve come to see me in a couple of tour stops and they have just encouraged me my entire career,” she said. “I’m just so lucky to have a great support system and to do what I love a living.”
