STORY / Bri Ng Schwartz PHOTOS / Mallory Turner
Musical luminary Abigail Barlow welcomes us into her dressing room at Broadway’s Lena Horne Theatre, current home to Six, an uber-meta musical retelling of the tragic stories behind Henry’s VIII’s six wives. The six women compete in a vocal-driven competition to see who has had the most tragic experience within their marriage. Barlow plays Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of the king, whose reign of power was cut short, resulting in execution due to adulterous relationships outside of her 30-year age gap in her marriage. Her time in Six marks her Broadway debut.
Throughout the show, audiences are presented with an alternate universe in which these six women build a sisterhood through song and shared trauma. An in-depth understanding of the historical facts behind these women is not required to view. The playbill for the show is packed with dramaturgical profiles on each woman. Alongside the factual context, each woman’s profile includes “Queenspiration” for the performer you are about to see. Howard is informed by Arianna Grande, high pony, high notes and all. Brittany Spears is noted as another inspo, with sharp choreography and a bubbly presence.
LADYGUNN entered the Lena Horne through the stage door, walked across the stage and up a flight of stairs, where Abigail greeted and welcomed us into the dressing room that she shares with Kirstin Maldonado and recently shared with Dylan Mulvaney, both having played Anne Boleyn. The close quarters and tight-knit ensemble nature of the show has fostered an unmatched sense of sisterhood amongst the production. “I don’t think it exists anywhere else.” Barlow shares. “It’s just such an unheard-of thing to have a mostly all-female production and cast.” She reveals that Olivia Donalson, the show’s Anna of Cleves, has a full bar in her dressing room and a post-show ritual for the cast includes “a splash and a kiki.”
When asked what she has learned about ensemble building during this show, Barlow reveals it is like being a part of the global girl-group Katseye. “Getting to be in a girl group, it’s learning how to play off of each other.” Hesitant to call herself a triple threat, despite her impact in singing, acting, dancing, songwriting, and composition, she shares that since doing this show, her skills in tandem have been put to the test. “We’re telling real-life women’s stories and are learning how to play off of each other, weave together as a cast, and create a beautiful tapestry for this show. It’s been a dream come true”
During our time together, Abigail is in her Katherine Howard glory in her signature pink color palette. She is cozy in her New York-themed hoodie, fully glammed out in her hot pink eye makeup and rhinestone stars around her eyes. Unlike performers in other mediums, theater actors are often responsible for doing their own makeup every show, and Abigail has mastered the art. “I think I’ve always been good at makeup. I’ve always had a little visual artist inside of me, but I worked really closely with a makeup artist in Los Angeles. Her name’s Jessy Clark, and she taught me pretty much everything I know.”
Approaching its five year anniversary being on Broadway, Six is going strong with no plans of stopping. With members of this one-of-a-kind girl group rotating in and out, each iteration of the ensemble proves to bring a fresh energy to each performance. “It’s like the apex of what a Broadway show should be.” Abigail raves. “It’s action-packed. ” There’s so much dancing. The songs are bops. There’s a queen for everyone. The choreography, the Tony Award-winning costumes. All of those things combined really make for the perfect female feminine experience.”
Later that evening, Abigail introduced herself to the audience as Katherine Howard and was met with a booming applause. She has spent the last several years building up her own unique fanbase through her solo pop music, her Bridgerton musical parody, and work as a composer on Moana 2. Based on the buzzing excitement for her from the crowd, it is clear that her fans are showing up each night to witness her in her pinked-out, glamorous glory. You can catch her as one of the six wives through the Summer on Broadway. Tickets to Six are available for purchase HERE.