Ep #5 - From Monarchs to Mayflower: SIX & Michael Ockwell

This time, we chat with two of the touring queens from SIX the Musical! They chat about all things ‘Herstory’ and their return to Mayflower Theatre in October 2026. Mayflower’s Chief Executive Michael Ockwell talks about what is coming to our venues, and why theatre is so important in the region. Will your favourite show be coming to Mayflower?

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:05

Welcome to Mayflower Spotlights podcast. In this episode, we hear all about the exciting things coming up at Mayflower from CEO Michael Ockwell.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

But I think you know, you look at it, we've got it in 27, we've got um Back to the Future coming. You know, who would have thought that that film would end up being a musical on Snowfield?

SPEAKER_05 0:27

And we go all regal with two queens from six. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

But it's from their perspective, not his. So instead of history, it's its story. Iconic.

SPEAKER_05 0:42

So, Michael, let's start with what's Mayflower's role within the community? Because it's much more than just putting on shows, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I think it's really important that the community have a connection with the theatre. If you think about our building, it's 2,270 seats, it's so much bigger than the just the direct 250,000 people that live in Southampton. So you need to engage with the community. So our job, I think, is actually to make the people feel that they've got an opportunity to just escape from the challenges that we've got in life right now. And but also it's not just what we put on stage, although that's important, that impact. It's the work that we can do in the communities that we serve as well. So our participation work, our engagement work is really important. And I think fundamentally what Mayflower means to this city is it it's put us on the map. You know, we are one of the largest regional theatres in the country, so there are shows coming here that wouldn't come to possibly other cities around our region. So we have a sense of civic pride in the fact that you know Miss Saigon wants to come to Southampton. Yeah. Les Miserables is gonna come to Southampton, you know, those big shows. So I think for me it's about what we put on stage, but it's also then how we can bring the audiences into not just the theatre, but of course the studios as well, because of the different scale that we have. But also, I want people to feel inspired by the connection they have with us, and I genuinely think people do feel that connection because we allow people to kind of sit in a dark room for two and a half hours and to forget about everything else that's going on out in that world. And it's let's be honest, it's a pretty tough world right now. So that's what I think we do. I think we offer we offer escapism.

SPEAKER_05 2:28

So you mention impact, participation, engagement, but what does that mean? You know, um uh what kind of impact do you have on the community? How do you engage the audience?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

I'll give you the statistic. In 2012, yeah, there were 365 people that took part in the participation work. So that is a workshop, um, a QA session, QR show session after a show. Yeah. So that's work that you're doing that isn't show related.

SPEAKER_05 2:56

And that's 315.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

365 people in 2012.

SPEAKER_05 2:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

This year that we're in now, that will be about 35,000 people that will engage with us in a different activity, and that is the impact that we have. So, what we've done is we've gone out into the Kubernetes and gone, right? How can we make the experience that you see in the theatre, how can we make give you a deeper connection to it? And the biggest one, of course, is by getting young people to appear on our stages.

SPEAKER_04 3:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

So we have 150 young people that do our summer youth project, we have 60 people that do our Christmas youth project. So giving those young people direct access to appear on the very same stages that the people they come and sit and watch. So the impact I think is massive. If you have an aspect, and to be really clear, this isn't just about young people that want to go and have a career in theatre.

SPEAKER_05 3:40

Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

The impact I think we have is that theatre, that connectivity that you can have as a young person, can inspire you and it can give you so many um life-affirming moments, but also it's about how you develop teamwork, it's about how you develop your own self-worth as well. And at this moment in time with schools where you know you don't get drama taught in schools any longer, we've kind of filled that void, I think. That's that's where we've given people opportunity to come away and engage in the cre in their creative soul because STEM is great, but actually, it doesn't fuel the creative output of young people, I don't think. So I think that's the impact that we do, and the engagement to say is that on a fundamental level, which isn't isn't just going to see a show, it's about actually how you feel closer to that creative process. Yeah, and we've had a a a birth over the last kind of what 15 years in reality shows, isn't it? So you kind of see the young there is an aspiration to be something more than you know what what do people want to do? They want to go be a singer, they want to be an artist, they want to perform.

SPEAKER_05 4:43

Or they they they want to harness that creativity, yeah. They want to they see people up there. It's like you say, um, I remember going to see pantomime when I was little and thinking, I want to do that. And actually, this is giving people the opportunity, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah, and we we have this thing we use now called most significant impact. So we we look at those events that we that take place in the theatre and and and in the studios and and how have we impacted um people and we we get feedback from it. We had one uh just amazing feedback from a young participant, actually a parent of a participant of Christmas Carol. So the studio show that we did at Christmas did phenomenally well. So the Christmas Carol is the best-selling show we've ever had in the five years at the studios, and that's a young people's community piece that has the biggest that shows you the impact that we have. But anyway, this parent fed back saying, Do you know what? It was so wonderful to see my teenagers smiling, and you kind of go, Yeah, because this is the life that you know this. I I am so grateful that I'm not a teenager in this day and age because the challenges that young people have now. So giving that escapism to actually have put a smile on that young person's face to feel make them feel valued, yes, feel part of a team, those are the most that's that's the most significant impact, and that's the engagement that we do.

SPEAKER_05 5:58

And I suppose it's it's them thinking, okay, uh I'm uh this is what I'm worth. Yeah, you know, yeah. It builds the confidence, it builds the you know, the social, because it's all about that, right? It's all about put your phone down, yeah, come and do this.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And and and the thing about it is you also have a responsibility. You have a responsibility to the other 54 people on stage with you, yeah. But also the massive responsibility you have is to the audience that are coming to watch you because they're paying money to come and see you perform. So that's that you I mean, you see it for you know, pretty much Christmas Carol sold out, and you see on the curtain call those smiles, yes, you know, where those kids go, yeah, we we this is what we've done, and that's the immediate reaction reaction that you have from an audience, and it's very visceral, I think, that reaction.

SPEAKER_05 6:41

And I think that and having been to see a Christmas carol, at points I had tears in my eyes, and it's because you can see and you can feel how much confidence and how much energy they are giving to the audience, and the audience is you know giving sending that energy straight back again, yeah. So, yeah, that's where it becomes uh you know the community piece because it's all it's all encompassing, everybody's in there, everybody's getting so much from it.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Yeah, and and the and the flip side of that, of course, is you know, in the same period we have you know pantomime appearing here, and I remember uh last year when we had um Ashley Banger and Diversity coming out of the theatre and hearing this, you know, eight, nine-year-old child in front of me going, I've just seen Ashley Banger. And they didn't have to go to London, they saw it on a stage in Southampton. And that's and that would be an inspiring experience for that individual as well. So that's why I think we're so fortunate in what we do in that level of access that we can give people, and and just it's just life-affirming as well, isn't it? You feel good when you watch a show.

SPEAKER_05 7:47

And I think it's I think that Mayflower, you can tell me all more about this, but it feels like Mayflower actually has the doors open and you go out there and you you you know you talk to people, you involve people, and I think um when you have like the family days at Mayflower Studios, um, and you hold workshops as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Tell me a bit more about those. Yeah, absolutely. So we so our youth theatre now is living in the community, so we are actually physically taking that out into the community and working in schools. But to your point around bringing young people, I I believe passionately that if you get young people engaged at a very early age in theatre, yeah, they will they will stay on that journey for life. And so the family fun days, for instance, in the family uh in the studio, so absolutely that an opportunity for very young people to come in and to get engaged in workshops to see a show, but actually the show isn't the most important thing to do interactive activities, you know. We've got artful scribe base there, so you might do some poetry writing as well. And in here in the theatre, you get an opportunity to do backstage tours. So we do them um on a depending on when the shows are because of course the shows have to take the president, but you can get an opportunity to go underneath the stage, see the the orchestra pit, you can get backstage, you see a dressing room, you can go up and see the flies, you know, which is where all the sets and the cost scenery are all brought in. So you get opportunities that that's the kind of community engagement stuff. We do open days here where people get an opportunity to see the areas which they wouldn't normally see. And somebody said to me once, Oh, you're gonna break the mystique of theatre. No, it's not, it's actually making people feel more connected to what you see. Because you'll be amazed if you've been on our stage, how small it is compared to what you actually think you're gonna see. You know, the the the the the the wings we call them to the side of the stage are very small. You think at the time of the set, we brought Pride Rock on from the side of the stage and we had line gig, you know, Phantom the Opera, big chandelier swings down, Miss Saigon a helicopter arrives on the stage, and actually it's so restricted. So those opportunities to get people an opportunity to see that how the magic is created, I think is really good. And it breaks down barriers to I think I think people uh there are probably people that wouldn't come to the theatre, they just don't think it's part of their what they do socially. And actually, the more you can give them opportunities to see that you're gonna break down the mystique of what theatre and the behaviours in theatre as well, you know. Often say, well, you have to get dressed up for the theatre. No, you don't. No, you don't at all, you just have to come yourself. There are behaviours that you need to exhibit, you know, don't sing along, because that just really annoys the people that have bought tickets to see the show.

SPEAKER_05 10:16

Yeah, you know, I remember like the person on stage is probably gonna be better at singing these than you.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

100%, exactly. Right.

SPEAKER_05 10:22

I remember taking the- Well, I know that people have said that to me.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

I remember taking my dad to see Michael Ball once and he loved Michael Ball, and he was sitting about after the third time I said, Dad, stop, please, because people have not paid to hear you, they've paid to see Michael Ball. You know, so it is but that it's not a gig. Yeah, yeah, but that the that's the point, isn't it? It's the fact that that kind of emotional engagement that you have makes you feel like you want to sing along and that you're as good as Michael Ball, which clearly you're not.

SPEAKER_05 10:46

It's almost like we need we need something at the beginning of a show to say, don't worry, you've got 10 minutes, we've got a mega mix at the end, right? And you can sing your heart out at that point, but just hold on for a minute.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

So we did a campaign a couple of years back which says, Don't be the show, see the show.

SPEAKER_05 11:02

Love that.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Which is absolutely true. Behave yourself, do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 11:06

I mean, things like Rocky Horror, where there's a lot of audience participation, and you you almost need to know what you're supposed to do before you're supposed to do it.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Yeah, there are behaviours.

SPEAKER_05 11:17

You you you yeah, I mean, everybody, I'm sure every theatre hates Rocky horror for now. We've got to clear up bags of rice and newspapers and all sorts of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 11:28

The worst, the worst one was Slava's Snow Show. The new saw Slava Snow Show. At the end of Slava Snowshow, which is a kind of Russian clown, yeah, there was a snow storm, and it was kind of like and it was um paper, small paper that went into the auditorium. And when we did the refurb in 2018, we had snow stood up on the top of the areas that clearly the cleaners couldn't get to those areas because they were right above the boxes, yeah. And we were cleaning snow off, which had probably been there for about 20 years. So, yeah, it's a nightmare. But on a serious note, the one thing I find uh going on a little bit of a getting on the high horse about this. What I find incredible about people coming to theatre, and I love people coming to the theatre, but take your rubbish away with you. What is it about people leaving their stuff on the floor?

SPEAKER_05 12:08

I know, and I go mad about it as well.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

At Christmas, we have to have a special team of all of our staff have to go and do the pickup after a matter of a performance because there is a sea of rubbish across the floor, and I go, You wouldn't do it in your own house. Why are you doing it in my theatre? You know, I take it really personally.

SPEAKER_05 12:22

I know, but but don't, don't, and I've seen you out with your little lip little picker, right? So but yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, there are bins at the ends, take it with you. Um why does Mayflower matter so much right now?

SPEAKER_00 12:39

I I think it matters on a kind of uh uh on two levels. I think it matters on the kind of civic pride that I've talked about around the fact that you've got this building in this city that means so much to people and that kind of emotional attachment. You've got to remember that in the 80s, what was the goa was saved from closure by 140,000 people signed a petition to save it from closing. Okay. So, my goodness me, that building mattered. Yeah, and I think there are so many um experiences of people having. I talk to people nowadays, um, and there are still a few people that remember it as the Empire, which it was originally, but a lot of people remember it as the GOMont because it was their first gig they ever went to. Yeah, you know, and it's that the memories. So Mayflower matters because of the memories that it can elicit in you, and that's what I keep talking about with young people now. Making you know, make wonderful Mayflower memories is what we talk about quite a lot. Magical Mayflower memories, you know, those moments where you saw a show or you were in a show. So I think on that level, and the second thing is that I and I mean this uh really clearly, I think I've talked about it before, we are living in a really challenging time. So what matters for us, I think, or what we can do is that escapism that I talk about, you know, that that not having to worry about all the other things that are going on in your life and actually having that kind of shared collective experience. And the amazing thing about theatre is that you will never see the same performance again. You know, it's such unique, it's not like a film, you go and see a film, you watch that film, it's a cult on celluloid. In theatre, each time each audience comes, they see a slightly different performance. Yes, and I think that's that's magical.

SPEAKER_05 14:15

I think it's really and there's something about watching theatre or a show or a performance with other people that means you are a collective, you are a team, you're a community, you're watching it and you're having a slightly different experience. But but I think you're right. I think certainly since 2020, we are looking for experiences. It's not about I want to see that show. Uh oh, it's alright, I can watch it on the telly. You know, you're coming for the experience. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

I remember um a show that I'd love to bring back to Mayflower eventually is um is Harry Potter, The Cursed Child, been in the West End. It's a fantastic show. I've seen it a couple of times, and I remember on a big I grew up reading, you know, Harry Potter to my daughter, so we went together as an experience, a joint experience, and I remember sitting there, and there's a moment in Harry Potter where there's a piece of information that's given to that audience about a character, and there was a collective gasp in the audience when you found out what happened, and that was a moment where I go, yes, because you got that whole audience. We're like, What? Yeah, you know, and I'm not gonna say you might ruin it. I might ruin it, I'm not gonna give you a spoiler at all. No, don't, but it was it was that collective response into it, and that's where you get moments. I remember, I mean, we talked about war horse before, but the moment when Joey appears on the stage and the audience just believe they're seeing a horse, yeah, you know, it's no longer a puppet any longer.

SPEAKER_05 15:41

You cannot walk away from seeing Warhorse on stage and not believe that that was a horse right there. You you you you soon put out of your mind that that's a puppet. Yeah, no, it it it really doesn't. And to have you know a puppet that is the size of a stallion on stage, but you know, and just making you believe that that is what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

So I think I think um theatre, why it matters is because it's escapism, yeah. It gives you that opportunity, and the thing about it as well is that you know, I'm a big football fan, um, and you know, Southampton are having a tough period of time. When you go and watch the Saints and Well, it's continuing, yeah, exactly right. And you you might go and pay to go and watch your team and they get beat, you know, and it's depressing. Yeah, you never pay for an experience in the theatre which isn't more than enlightening. It might be a depressing subject that you're watching, but you still get that kind of value for money because the the the quality of what we put on stage is phenomenal.

SPEAKER_05 16:44

Absolutely, it is. Can I ask a question? Um it feels like a lot of films and stories are being made into a musical. Why? And will it continue? And is there one that you think, well, that deserves to be made into a musical, or that one just shouldn't?

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Yes, that's a great call. I think um I think it will continue, there's no question at all.

SPEAKER_05 17:13

You look at, you know They're just flying, aren't they? Musicals are just like this real buzz thing, and and it's only been probably the last ten years, right? Or do you think it was Mamma Mia that started it?

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Well, I think um, yes, possibly that was taking a kind of soundtrack and actually not doing a jukebox musical. It actually gave a narrative storyline using the music, which is slightly different. You know, Buddy Holly's story's been there for years, yeah, yeah. But it was telling his life story, wasn't it? You know, it's like we just had Here and Now, the steps musical, you know, and that was not um about steps, it was you know, it was a narrative of a basic. Is it not when they worked in the supermarket? Well, yeah, maybe people thought they did if for a while.

SPEAKER_05 17:50

I think I saw H on the checkout.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

You're right. But I think you know, you look at it, we've got it in 27, we've got um Back to the Future coming. You know, who would have thought that that film would end up being a musical on stage? But but it did, you know, and I think look, we they they they made it they made a musical about the you know French Student Revolution, you know, labels are on. Who would have guessed? Miss Saigon, you know, is about the Vietnam War. So I think nothing is off, you know, off up for grabs, you know, you could take anything. So yeah, I think over 55% of the programme at the main theatre here is musicals. It's our kind of bread and butter. Yes, it's the economic driver for this building. So long may it continue.

SPEAKER_05 18:31

And and the economic driver is there because there is an appetite for it. Of course it is. And you know, there are like you say, you know, if you've got the steps musical and then you've got Les Miz, and then you've got Phantom of the Opera, actually, there's such an array there, isn't there?

SPEAKER_00 18:49

And you look at you know Moulin Rouge, which we've got coming in up, you know, September, it's done phenomenal business already. You know, we're sitting here and it's sold only 50% of its tickets already, so which is the demand is absolutely there. And there's some great you know, Devil Wears Prada, you know, in the film in the West End. I'd love to bring Devil Wears Prada to Southampton. It'd be fantastic.

SPEAKER_05 19:07

So you've been to see it in the West End. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And is there somebody that the youth can then call and say, hello, can we have it, please?

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Funny enough, I'm having lunch with them in two weeks' time. So absolutely yes. What's this?

SPEAKER_05 19:21

Is there are there any other shows that you think, oh, I'd love to get them here?

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Well, I I'd love Harry Potter to come. You know, if Harry Potter was to tour, I think, you know, I I literally would be knocking on the door of Sonia Freeban saying, let us take it to Southampton, you know.

SPEAKER_05 19:34

And that has been running for some years now, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Ten years in the West End. And they're just about to change it into the the American model, it's actually one one whole entire piece. In London at the moment, you have to see two shows. They're changing that in London, which I think would be great. That's good news for a tour because if they do it in London on the one, you know, one version, not the two nights, then I think that will make it tourable. So, yeah. So Harry Potter, Harry Potter would be great, Devil West Pada would be great. Um, Oliver, I love that Oliver production that's in at Gilg at the moment. They opened it at Chichester. I think that's fantastic. Um, yeah, and Oliver's done several visits, but I think Oliver would be absolutely just be amazing. I saw Just for One Day, you know, which is the Live Aid musical, um, which has just finished its run. You know, that that surely is going to come on tour.

SPEAKER_05 20:21

That's the Live Aid one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 20:24

Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

And Hades Town. Hades Town is an amazing musical. Yeah, yeah. I saw it, um, I saw it um on Broadway um a couple of years back. It ran at the Olivia uh at the National Theatre. I didn't get a chance to see it then, so I had to go all the way to New York to go and see it. Um expensive.

SPEAKER_05 20:44

It's a tough life, it's a tough life.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Um, but yeah, that's a brilliant. I'd love to bring that um to to the theatre as well. So yeah, there's quite a short, and you know, it's surely there's got to be a time for another Phantom tour. You know, that's not tour for the.

SPEAKER_05 20:56

So somebody mentioned this to me fairly recently. They love Phantom and they're like, come on, it's gotta go again.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Yeah, yeah. Well, we did have it scheduled for 2020, and then of course, you know, COVID got away with it. But ladies, Hamilton, you know, Hamilton will come back round on its tour as well. So I think there it to your question around you know the musicals, you know, that's a perfect you know, we've got a musical rehearsal right at this moment in time in the theatres you can hear behind us. Musicals will always be operating.

SPEAKER_05 21:34

It's so funny to have you here. Millie and Abby from Six. Um, can you just introduce yourself as the Queens that you play, please?

SPEAKER_02 21:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

I'm Millie and I play Catherine of Aragon and Anna of Cleves. I'm Abby and I play Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

SPEAKER_05 21:53

Oh wow. I mean, look, how does it feel when you say that?

SPEAKER_02 21:56

No, it's crazy, it's crazy. I don't know how to hang it to me on this. This show for so so long, and when we both because I had the job first, and then when I found out Abby got it, we were just became best friends immediately, and we are now Sisters for Life. We are so obsessed with this job, we're so obsessed with our queens, and we're obsessed with each other. So we're just having the best time. Amazing!

SPEAKER_05 22:13

So if anybody hasn't seen Six, tell us about it, talk us through it. What is it? Who's it about? All of that.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So Six the Musical is the story of Henry VIII's Six Wives, but it's from their perspective, not his. So instead of history, it's her story. Iconic! It's a female retelling, and it's just giving their perspectives and their sides of the story, taking Henry out the picture, busting out of their own portraits and rewriting it. So it's a totally feminist retelling of the story of the six wives.

SPEAKER_05 22:41

And look, nobody really sort of knew the stories up until this came out. Like I sort of knew divorced beheaded died, divorced beheaded survived, but I didn't know the stories behind them. And how true are these stories?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

All of the facts and the things that we give in the scenes and the songs are completely true. The only time we rewrite it a little bit is at the end. At the end we give them different versions of how their lives would have gone if they'd had the choice and had the freedom to do so. But in their songs, in their monologues, it is all factually accurate of what happened in the times, and it gives you so much more backstory that you never knew about these queens.

SPEAKER_05 23:17

And it's I suppose I I've described it as um the Tudors Meets the Spice Girls. Oh, yeah. I suppose. Because it's sort of girl girl girl burland, and and it's um the songs are so poppy, aren't they? Yeah. Um and it's just a whole one act, no interval. Um, you guys are on stage, and you're never off stage, are you? It's a concert, so yeah. It is a concert.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

Only off to get you what to get back on or a quick costume. That's all you do. If the whole thing is like a pop concert with your microphones, your in-ears, it's a pure pop concert.

SPEAKER_05 23:52

Yeah, and even your musicians as well. Yeah. Like they're so important, and there they are, they're all on stage, we can see them. Why do you think it's been such a success?

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Because six has just gone stratospheric, hasn't it? I think it's a mix between the history of six, there's so many history buffs everywhere, including myself, a little history. Love it. But then people are like, Well, I want to know more about these queens. And then obviously the huge rise in pop stars and people like Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Stone. You love a pop star, people are secretly a musical fan. You put them together, they're like, Wait, this is brilliant. Yeah, yeah. It's obviously gorgeous to look at, it's so cool, it's something no one's ever done before, and I think everyone just jumped on it and realised, wait, I want to be in this girl band as soon as possible.

SPEAKER_05 24:31

Yes, I love that. Well, what's your favourite bit then, Millie?

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Of the show. Favourite bit of the show, I would say, is X-Wives, the opening number. When we open, we have a kabuki, this big curtain, and we come through and we do divorce, but it's so powerful, so cool. The echo, you can hear it echoing around the theatre, and you're like, you guys don't know what's about to happen right now.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

That's my favourite one of yours. My favourite's probably remixed. Yes. Which is sort of towards the end of the show. Yeah, yeah. And it's where we all claim claim our story. Yes, we do. And yeah, we're all singing together. It's a really powerful moment. It's really cool. Love it.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

I and I and I think uh the hairs stand up on the back of my neck when I hear that divorce.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Divorced, beheaded died, divorced, beheaded so far.

SPEAKER_05 25:19

Um when I first came to see it, I didn't know anything about six. Um, and it absolutely blew me away. And I think towards the end during remix and then the final song, the sort of big finale, um, I had tears in my eyes. Oh, yeah. And it was just, it's just so powerful, it's so moving, it's all these stories, but all told through song. Um, and do you feel a pressure to sort of uh carry those characters off? Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

When we did our rehearsal, we got like a big history lesson in all of the queens, and we learnt so much about them all. And then when you get to play that queen, the pressure that you feel to do them justice, because history hasn't done them justice, and none of those women were done justice by history books. Our job now to give them what they deserve is so intense. Like you just know how powerful they are, how much they deserve, and how much you want to get their story across that when you're on there, you're like, wait, I need to lock in. Like, this is a big responsibility because they deserve so much more than they got given. So every single night we have that responsibility to give them what they should have had in the first place.

SPEAKER_05 26:21

Yeah. And and and what's your favourite bit of playing the characters that you do, Abby?

SPEAKER_03 26:27

Oh just both of their numbers. Okay. Yeah. And what which songs are they? Uh Don't Lose Your Head. Oh, yeah, we're just five. Which is what have a great time. Yes. Um, and All You Wanna Do, which is a long old number. Seven old minutes. Is it? Seven minutes. Seven and a half, I think. Seven and a half minutes. Long, long number, but the journey that you go on through it, like I'm just so passionate about it. I love that song. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:51

Um, and which is the biggest earworm for you? I think for me, definitely, um, it's sorry not sorry.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Oh, it just once it's in, it's in forever. Yeah, I do agree. But also a lot of us do find us walking ourselves going, no way. Yeah. No way. No way. You say no way a lot. No way, because we say it a lot, yeah. They actually be like, oh, no way, and they go, no way.

SPEAKER_05 27:15

So no way you do a lot as well. Yeah. What do you do to get into character? Do you have sort of specific prep? Like, is there a a walk, a dance, uh a song? Uh I don't know. Well, Abby specifically a little ritual.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

Oh, yes. Every time before I go on, I always have to sing the first two words that I sing to each character. So as Katherine Howard, she sings I'm done, and I will literally be strutting around the dressing room going, I'm done, I'm done. Like a hundred times. I'm done. She what's up? She what's up. If you wonder what I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm done! I'm done.

SPEAKER_04 27:52

I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

I think just that every time she's on, you'll always hear an I'm done in the distance. I mean, I mean put in dance, definitely. Um, I think for me, I have playlists for both of my queens. So like the music that I think they would listen to if they were here today. So putting that playlist on while I'm getting ready really gets me in the headspace of the queen that I'm about to play, being like, I am that character.

SPEAKER_05 28:13

So, what would they be listening to if they were around today?

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Anna of Cleves, we all know she loves a little bit of Nahimanage. She looks a bit iggy Azalea. She loves Doja Cat, she loves all of these boss women that are also fantastic rappers. I think that's a complete Cleves album to me. That's a Cleaves album. My kind of album, I don't want to.

SPEAKER_05 28:30

This is a Spotify playlist, Anna of Cleaves, exactly. Um, and if you could play any other six queen, who would you go for?

SPEAKER_02 28:42

Me personally, it would be An Bolyn over here. An Boleyn, don't lose your head, it's so iconic. Like, and personally, I love a space one in my real life. Like, I will do space ones in my own time. So I want that wig. I want to put that wig on, give me those little swimky rounds, and I want to sing that cute little song. So Amberlynn for me, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

For me, probably Catherine Parr. Yeah. Because um she's just feminist. Yeah, like she's so powerful. Yeah, I love to play her. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:08

Perfect. Um, now I've got to ask you about your mum. So we were you were admiring the merch that I am wearing here. The crown that I've got on.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

But your mum's got this, hasn't she, Millie? My mum has that crown, every badge, every t-shirt, the magnet, the mug, everything you can buy at that store my mum has.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Okay. I finished the shore, and guess who I've bumped into? So here I am. Um, just demonstrating the merch. Oh, okay. I've got the crown because I am Queen Mother of Aragon. The pins are superb. Obviously, I've got Aragon and Aragon and Cleves and Cleves, and I've got the t-shirt. Stunning. Stunning, stunning, stunning much. Brilliant night tonight. Highlight was being identified as Millie Redshaw's mother in the toilet. Yeah, shout out to um the mother and daughter who identified my mum as my mum because she feels very famous now. It was a career highlight for me.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

My mum is the biggest six fan that's ever lived. And since we saw the show, she took me on my 18th birthday. We went to a Pizza Express after, and she was like, You've got to be in that show. I was like, you know what, mum? Okay. So now we're here six years later, and my mum was the first person I told, she was crying her eyes out. We cannot believe we're here. She's seen the show at least 10 times with me in it. She's here every single time, and she always has Oliver merch on. So my mum is the biggest fan, and she loves to tell everyone she's the Queen's mother. So if you've seen my mum, she's the Queen's mother.

SPEAKER_05 30:30

And then another story that you've got for us is on your lanyards, you've got the little elephant.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Have a little elephant. So when we had our opening night in Aylesbury, we all got lots of different opening night gifts, different flowers, good look things, little traditions. And one of my family members actually sent me this little travel elephant, and it's a good look charm when you go traveling that he will get you home safe at the end of the travels. So I keep him on my lanyard, and then when we finish the contract, I'll be like, good job.

SPEAKER_05 30:51

So get me fairly. So how long does the tour last for then?

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Like a year and a half. Altogether we opened um in May, and then we finish at the end of July in Germany.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

Um and and uh do you how long do you get rehearsal-wise for that?

SPEAKER_02 31:06

We were in rehearsal for six weeks? Yes. Six weeks. Um in London. So yeah, we were in rehearsal for there, and then we had a tech period, and then we opened in Aylesbury.

SPEAKER_05 31:13

Oh, amazing. So you've had rehearsal at the beginning, but then you go into the tour. Do you have to do uh sort of uh like more rehearsals as you go? Do you have to do a dress rehearsal sort of every uh new theatre that you get to?

SPEAKER_02 31:29

So we do tech at every single theatre. So on a Tuesday, which I will open in day, we have like a three-hour tech session where we wear t-shirts of the colours of our queens, and we have our little mic belt, and we have to run the light and cues throughout the show. We run a few of the numbers, we do a sound check, and we redo on a different stage. So having the curtain in there, how wide the stage is sometimes on a rake, so we have to adjust every week to a different venue, and then we have rehearsal every week. So we have a principal rehearsal and a swap rehearsal every week as well to keep on top of them.

SPEAKER_05 31:54

Um and then what so this always fascinates me. So what time do you have to be at the theatre for a show? Because sometimes you have two shows a day. Yes. Yeah, sometimes you have three shows a day. Like, that's mad. Do you even see daylight on those days?

SPEAKER_02 32:13

The schedule is quite crazy. The latest will start normally as two o'clock, sometimes four. Okay. And that's for a short, like sometimes six, eight o'clock. But we are normally in rehearsal most days or having different things we're doing in the day. Yeah, uh we're always in the building normally, especially as slots, we're normally in the dressing room having a good time. So we're normally there.

SPEAKER_05 32:31

So so you have to be here, your call time is like two hours beforehand.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

That's warm up, yeah. Warm up is two hours before. But if you're on that day, you would get here an hour before then because you need your makeup and your wig prep done by warm-up. Okay. If you're either of my queens at least.

SPEAKER_05 32:43

So that's three hours before the show. And then if you've got two shows, so you will be here three hours before, then you do the show, and then what? You've got the warm-up for the next show.

SPEAKER_02 32:55

No, we have like maybe half an hour to an hour before we get ready for the second show. Okay. So you just have like enough time to have like a quick snack, change your leotard, and then you get into your costume again and you do it again.

SPEAKER_05 33:04

Amazing, amazing. Yeah, a quick run round the car park just to get some fresh air, right? How do you get a gig like being a queen in six? A lot of dreaming, a lot of manifesting, a lot of manifesting.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

I know, get your crystals out and manifest the universe because we've been manifesting it for a very long time. Yeah, um, but yeah, no, we've been just auditioning for it. So auditions a few times a year because obviously there's lots of productions of six. Um, and then yeah, there's only quite a few rounds. I think especially because we're alternates, we had to do a lot of different queens so I could decide which combo would be best. Uh-huh. Um, and then yeah, you have your dance rounds, acting rounds, singing rounds, and then you just wait, and then your agent gives you the call, and then here you are.

SPEAKER_05 33:43

And wait, and when that call comes for you, Abby, what's the reaction?

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Oh, I cried. She cried, I cried. I went to my agent called me to his office. Yeah. So I went into London, and he just started having the most normal chat with me. And I was like, what is this about? Why he just called me in for a catch-up. And then right at the end, he was like, Do you want to be in six, by the way? And I was like, oh my god. That must be crazy.

SPEAKER_05 34:06

How long have you been and trained and done all of that stuff?

SPEAKER_03 34:10

Yeah, I graduated last year or a year ago. Um yeah. So this is my first job. So I was yeah, shocked. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_05 34:20

And the people that you were training with, are they just like over the moon for you if you come to see the show?

SPEAKER_03 34:27

I've actually got I've got a few friends from drama school coming this week. Um, yeah, the support is really nice.

SPEAKER_05 34:32

Six is back at Mayflower Theatre for 2026. Yes. Um, in October, end of October. Happy Halloween. Happy Halloween. It is Happy Halloween. Do you do you ever do any sort of themed things?

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Or do uh does that happen backstage? Well, we had we were in Cardiff for Halloween this year, and we were dressed up to the nines while that show was going on. Ours Mrs. Love It, she was a queen of hearts, it was all going on backstage. Yeah, we love to dress up for Halloween.

SPEAKER_05 34:57

And this will be the sixth time that Six has been in Southampton. Oh wow, lovely. And it absolutely sells out within seconds. I don't know any other show that is that popular. How excited are you to be back in Southampton again?

SPEAKER_02 35:17

It's gonna be amazing when the show comes back in such a gorgeous theatre, such a fabulous show. We've had the best time playing here, so I cannot wait for the next Queens to take it over and have the best time next year. It's such a gorgeous theatre. And doing it on a ship, I kinda love it. Especially when I'm arrogant and I say I get shipped over from Spain. I'm like, wait, am I getting shipped over right now? Because I'm not gonna set in sail, you know what I mean? So no, we cannot wait for it to come back, it's gonna be brilliant.

SPEAKER_05 35:41

And okay, one final question for you if you could play another role, but not in six, what are you gonna be going for?

SPEAKER_02 35:50

Ooh! Oh my gosh, right. Abby, there's so many to choose from here. We love to talk about our dream roles. We sing them all the time, we talk about them all the time. I think my dream role, not for right now, because I need to evolve a little bit more, but my ultimate dream role in life is to be Alpha Brown Wicked. Keep me green and fly me in the sky, you know what I mean? So Alpha Brown Wicked is my dream, but I think I need some more time to mature before I get there. But I'm ready to be green whenever anyone wants me.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

So Alpha Broom Wicked. Um, maybe Heather Mack in Heathers. Yes, I can do that. Yeah. Yeah, you like that one? Or Hamilton. Get me Hamilton. Yeah, my dream. I love Hamilton. It's so good, isn't it?

SPEAKER_05 36:32

But it's another historical musical that's been flipped on its head. Yeah, with that modern twist. Exactly. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is. Okay, this is what you've got to think of, produced us, right? Is this go find something in history, give it the pop constant twist, and then we're totally better.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

Nothing better.

unknown 36:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:55

Six out of six for both of you. Thank you so much. You are brilliant. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 37:13

There's no way.

SPEAKER_05 37:17

This podcast is presented by me, Zoe Hansen, the podcast lady, and produced by Owen Noon, Rebecca McKillop, and Kelly Clark from Mayflower.