Playbill: If there's one sentiment to end Women's History Month with, it's the celebratory feeling of looking at the strong female characters of the stage—and the women who play them. For the current stars of Broadway’s Six: The Musical, their characters are not only heard, but are actually based on figures of history. Of course, what strength is and what it looks like is different for each one.
4 comments:
I was able to see SIX in Pittsburgh last Sunday, and watching the way these women presented themselves was very empowering to me. They all seem very comfortable when they were singing and confident in themselves, Which was really cool to watch. growing up as a dancer I was always surrounded by so much female energy and it was really cool to be around that as it helped me both grow confidence in myself and also want to instill confidence in the dances around me and the younger women coming up. it's really cool to have a community of women who want to watch each other grow and flourish as performers, and I hope that I'll be able to continue doing that as a designer. already at CMU I've seen that the female Community is very supportive of each other and it's been awesome to find a group of female friends I'm able to use as a support system.
Any show that requires actors to stay on stage the entire time is a feat in terms of energy and positivity, and I love that SIX is able to prove that it is completely attainable with the right group, and especially the right group of badass women. Overall, I feel that SIX sometimes struggles with walking the line of toxic feminity, where sometimes it feels like the characters are written to think that women are better than men. However, I think the way the show is cast as a racially and ethnically diverse group of women and nonbinary people each time, there is this element of broad perspective that supersedes these potentially toxic ideals and becomes empowering. It is especially nice to see a show that is so popular have a cast with no men, as it is common to see an all-man cast at this scale but rare to see an all-female one. I'm glad that younger theatre lovers are going to have the opportunity to see and look up to these badasses.
I really enjoy what SIX is trying to get at. Despite the fact that a man held power over them, despite that it came down to a violent end for some of these women, despite what had happened to them all of their lives– they were all still worthy of love, respect, and to not be forgotten. I think this story is really important for any young woman who feels like they are being pushed down and left behind. Someone sees you, someone knows your worth, and someone understands. The stories of these six queens shed light on the horrible, horrible things that they had to put up with at the hands of their husbands. A fate that is still true for so many people today. SIX is a lovely reminder that you can find community everywhere, even in the people who came before or after you. It is nice to know that someone gets it.
I’ve been hearing so much about ‘SIX’ for so long and I finally got to watch it last Sunday when the North American Tour came to Pittsburgh. I had a wonderful time and the audience was very hyped. Even though I didn’t really like the lyrics or the plot, I fully enjoyed the powerful message behind the show. It was also interesting to read on the program how the characters were created with the inspirations of modern female artists, such as Beyoncé and Rihanna. It is heart-warming to see how close-knit the cast is and to see their friendships bloom from working on this show together. Their support for each other is as precious as their diligence as performers. On a side note, I really liked the costumes for this show. I think it suited the show and its characters very well. It was a shame that I was sitting too far to see the details!
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