18 Things I Learned from Six Alternate Vicki Manser's Workshop and Q&A!

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head” “Heart of Stone” “Haus of Holbein” “Get Down”
The Tudor Crown Inspiration in Six’s Logo; The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations; Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes; Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!; The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical; How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

This morning, I participated in a virtual dance workshop and Q&A with former Six alternate and former Katherine Howard actress Vicki Manser! The workshop was hosted by the brilliant Theatre Fan Parties and is the second workshop of six I’ve signed up for. I got up at 4:30 AM EST. It was rough. I really don’t know how I’m awake right now but honestly I’m going to take a nap right after I post this.

At the beginning of the class, Vicki stated that like with Hamilton and many other shows, Six performers are only allowed to teach certain parts of the dances. She taught us the second chorus and second verse of “Don’t Lose Your Head.” The workshop was only about 25 people so you got to like, talk to Vicki a bit in the chat and get specific clarifications on dance steps such. When I joked that my cats weren’t cooperating with the “switch places” part in Don’t Lose Your Head, she even asked to see my cat!

For the workshop, Vicki brilliantly turned the lights in her apartment purple, the Six theme color! She noted that the first move in “Don’t Lose Your Head,” with the penguin hands, head and shoulder leans, and heel/toe movements, took her weeks to learn, and encouraged participants to just do it with the head and shoulder movements if it was easier. She was super encouraging throughout.

Disclaimer as always on these notes: I typed as quickly as I can, and tried to maintain all Vicki’s exact words, but I can’t promise that these are perfect quotations unless there are actual quotations around them. They’re more like a paraphrase capturing all the original intention of her words.

1. Is the choreography the same in all the Six productions throughout the world?

Yes! They did some adaptations to the choreo on Broadway, but then they went back and taught it to everyone, so every version should be exactly the same.

2. Favorite queen?

I’ve got a soft spot for Boleyn.

3. What queen do you relate to the most?

I relate to Boleyn the most, 100 percent.

4. What’s going to be the first show you see after lockdown is done?

Dear Evan Hansen! She previously had plans to see Courtney [Stapleton, another Six alternate, who previously did “Bat Out of Hell” with Vicki] in it as Zoe and definitely needs to see her in it.

5. How much of the history behind the musical was taught during the rehearsal process?

We were sent documentaries and videos and things to watch before we started the rehearsal process, so we understood where Toby and Lucy got all their ideas and inspiration for the show. While Courtney [Stapleton] and I were in Bat Out of Hell, we sat and watched them in our room backstage.

6. How much time do you have to learn a dance routine for Six?

You’ll have maybe a couple of hours [of dance rehearsal] in the morning, then a couple hours of singing, then boom – done, then you’re on to cleaning. [Cleaning refers to making the movements of the dance more accurate and precise]

7. What’s the toughest queen for you to play physically and emotionally?

Physically? The hardest by far in my opinion….you know what, they’re all hard.
Aragon, when you don’t play her all the time, is hard. The stamina that you need for that track is INSANE. It’s really difficult. It’s also got quite a lot of choreo as well.
But saying that – when I started as Cleves, I listened back to my dress rehearsal run and I’m like, ‘I sound awful.’
Also, Howard is very difficult to get your breathing right as well. You have to schedule your breathing and swallowing points. If you don’t swallow, your mouth fills up with saliva and you can’t breathe.

Emotionally, I think Howard is the most challenging to get right, because she goes on such a journey and literally tells her whole life in the one song. And it’s such an important message to get across. You need to get the audience to laugh with you and be on your side [at the beginning] and then you switch to, ‘how dare you laugh at me, what I went through was heart breaking.’ When the audience feels guilty, you know you’ve done your job. I used to love it when I didn’t get a round of applause at the end, because people feel so uncomfortable, and you FEEL that uncomfortableness and I’m like, ‘YASSSS.’

8. If you auditioned for Six again, what would you sing?

She mentioned that she sang ‘Run to you’ by Whitney Houston at her initial audition. ‘Maybe I’d do dream girls – something Effie.’

9. What thoughts do you have on the alternates having their own separate costumes? Did you have any input on the costume color or style?

I didn’t have any input on the color or style, but I LOVED the fact that the alternates had their own costumes. Everyone is unique and has their own version of the character. I think they chose the blue for me because they thought it would suit me and like, match my eyes [at this point she moved near the camera and opened her eyes very wide]. Gabby [costume designer Gabby Slade] thinks about what suits you as a person.

They wanted to put me in shorts because I go on as Cleves and that’s easy to dance in. They put Courtney [Stapleton] in pants because she goes on as Parr.

And now everyone has their different bits to go on as different queens. If I went back as an alternate now maybe I’d have like six different costumes.

I have a whole post full of photos of different alternate costumes over here, by the way!

10. What inspired you to do musical theatre?

I danced from the time I was a little girl. When I was 3 or 4, I started ballet. I was obsessed, that’s all I wanted to do. I broke my leg twice, and the second time around, I Just gotten out of plaster. I wasn’t able to dance and it was our annual dance show. She said well, you can’t dance, so maybe you can sing something. I was like 8 or 9. I sang a song and she gave me a little acting part as well, and that’s when I was like, oh it’s not just dancing I like. I love it all, give me it all. Let me do it all please. I joined a youth theatre troupe when I was like 10 and started doing it then.

11. What did she think about booking Six?

When I got the audition for Six, I hadn’t heard of it ever. There was nothing on youtube yet, maybe a bit from when they were in Edinburgh and when they were on tour [the 2018 tour]. As I got through the audition process, I realized how amazing it was.

“When I found out I got Six, I ordered 80 pounds of Chinese for three people to celebrate.”

12. Where did the absolute classic line [which vicki often said at performances] come from?  

I used to be terrible about ad-libbing in the show. I got told off for it all the time and told to stick to the script, but in the moment I’d go crazy. The part where they huddle at the end was never supposed to be funny, but I kept saying funny things and now everyone does it and tries to get the funniest line. I’m the bad influence definitely. As Boleyn one day, I just said “Absolute classic” into the phone while doing a silly face and it stuck.

13. What’s the most last minute show you’ve played?

I never went on midshow at Six, but I did them all the time at Bat Out of Hell.

The quickest for Six was I found out at the quarter, maybe about 15 minutes before hand. I think it was Cleves maybe?

[host Taylor Farrow Said that sounded terrifying to him, and Vicki responded] Sometimes it’s better, it gives you no time to think about it and no time to panic.

14. How do you stay motivated while in lockdown?

You have to stay ready. I have to be mentally ready and physically ready for future auditions and keep my vocals fit. I’ve just been thinking – I don’t know when it’s coming back, so I’ve got to be ready at all times.

Various Auditioning and “Making it” advice:

15. What happens if I don’t get into drama school?

If you don’t get in, don’t stress, it’s not the end of the world. A majority of people in the industry didn’t get in the first time. A lot of people did gap years and just worked to train and expand their abilities and auditioned the next year. Don’t stop training just because you didn’t get into what you wanted this year! Also, not everyone has finished auditioning yet, so if you didn’t get into what you wanted straightaway, then apply for a last minute place somewhere else. That’s exactly what I did. When I was 18,  I had my heart set on going to Artsed, as I could stay home while going there and I didn’t feel ready to leave home yet. I auditioned for maybe 6 schools and got into three of them, but not Artsed. I was gutted, absolutely gutted. That’s when I auditioned for Erdang [which also would allow her to stay at home while going there], in May or June time, and I got in. That’s where I ended up going.

[host Tayler popped in here to also note that because of COVID19, a lot of drama schools have heavily extended their audition period]

16. How to get into drama school and pursue a musical theater career if you’re not the strongest dancer:

Don’t give up just because you’re not a strong dancer, that’s not the end. If that’s not your strongest thing, work on it, train, attend Instagram live classes. Don’t stop working! Also – it doesn’t necessarily matter if you’re the best dancer or not – they’re looking for a diamond in the rough.

17. Dealing with setbacks:

You get so many nos and so many knockbacks. You think you can be perfect for a job and get cut within 20 second. (cough, Frozen, cough). I give myself a day where I say – okay, that didn’t go my way, I’ll have a cry, say I’m really annoyed, and give myself the day to mope around and feel sorry for myself. Then I gotta get back on it the next day. You’ve gotta be your biggest supporter and find that confidence from somewhere.

18. Auditioning Tips for Six:

If you have any idea about what Six is looking for, get it out of your head. They want to see what you as an individual can bring to the table that’s different. You only have to look at the difference between me and Lexi [McIntosh, who plays Anna of Cleves]. We are two totally different people. She is so cool. I am an absolute goofball. When she performs she’s got so much swag and has the audience eating out of the palm of her hand. And I was her understudy. Don’t go in pretending to be someone you’re not.

Musical Monarchs and Music Distribution During Renaissance Times

Pictured with Will Sommers- Royal MS. 2 A XVI, Henry VIII’s Psalter, British Library-London.

Apparently I answer Tudor and Shakespeare questions in way too much depth on Reddit for fun now. I’ve had trouble writing or revising fiction since the pandemic and self-isolation began, but researching and writing about history calms me down in a way nothing else does. And AskHistorians on Reddit has a wonderful supply of various questions that haven’t been answered yet.

So here ya go.

Original source of the question, which had several parts, indicated in italics below.

Christian and Muslim playing lutes in a miniature from Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X

Was composition an expected skill of a monarch?

Musical knowledge, at least, was an important part of every noble's education in late medieval and renaissance England; royal children would have been given private lessons in various instruments, singing, and musical theory from a fairly early age. All of the Tudors, in particular, were interested in music and were highly trained. There are numerous records of Henry VII and his wife Elizabeth of York purchasing musical instruments both for themselves and their children. Henry VIII's children Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward were all described as excellent musicians during their lives. Mary and Edward were proficient at the lute, while Elizabeth was apparently quite good at playing the virginals.

At least two of the King Henrys were definitely musical composers, as we have some of their surviving music!

-There are two pieces in the collections of the British Library attributed to "Roy Henry"; scholars now seem to think this author was actually Henry V.

-Henry VIII's love of music stood out even among all the music lovers of his family. He played numerous instruments - at one point, records of his property showed that he owned 78 flutes, 76 recorders, 10 trombones, 14 trumpets, and 5 bagpipes! We also know that he played the organ, other keyboard instruments, viols, and lutes.

p 161 of the Old Hall Manuscript, ~1410-1420

The Henry VIII Songbook from ~1518.

"Twenty songs and thirteen instrumental pieces" attributed to "The Kynge H. viij" were compiled in the 1518 Henry VIII Songbook, which also included 76 pieces from other court musicians. Although some of the songs by Henry were arrangements of previously existing pieces, many of them are originals. 

However, despite popular belief, Henry VIII did NOT write Greensleeves, which was partly based off of a romanesca, an Italian style of musical composition that did not reach England until after Henry VIII's death. 

His daughter Elizabeth I was also a composer, although only one of her songs has survived to this day. This paper explores Henry and Elizabeth's compositions and musical education more in depth. 

Detail of the Ghent Altarpiece, Chapel Cathedral of Saint Bavo, Ghent, Belgium, Hubert and Jan Von Eyck

What's more, how did the song become popular? Did the King simply compose it, order every musician to have a copy of the manuscript and play it a certain amount of times a week? How did compositions from the royal court reach the masses?

- Although Henry had at least 60 musicians on his staff when he died, he couldn't possibly have ordered every musician in the country to play it, and the fact that not of all his songs were big hits seems to support this. Based on the information I've already shared about the Henry VIII songbook, it seems likely that "Pastime with Good Company" was distributed around the country in written form. There are records indicating that it was actually popular in Scotland and even long after his death.

Finally, say I am at the median of medieval class society - your average joe - what would have been my likely interaction with this song, if any? Was music mostly an indulgence of the elites at that time?

Everything I've read and referenced throughout this answer so far indicates that music was popular at every level of society, although the level of musical education and the specific form of the music, of course, varied. While "Pastimes" may have been performed in Henry VIII's court by 60 musicians and a choir in four part harmony, it was also likely performed in villages and at fairs by solo minstrels accompanied only by a single instrument or small groups.

In addition, under Henry VIII, with further development of the printing press, more and more printers began to publish music, often in the form of single sheet broadsides that could be sold very cheaply.

 (SIDENOTE: jstor is now offering free accounts that allow you to read up to 100 articles a month, due to COVID-19 shutting down all the libraries. This makes me SO HAPPY)

These single sheets continued in popularity through to Elizabethan times, and even make an appearance in Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale," Act 4, Scene 4 - in which the con artist/minstrel Autolycus touts various ridiculous sounding ballads for sale at a local festival.

And even apart from the printing press, people regularly wrote down any songs they liked and passed them around, much as you might have written down song lyrics to songs you heard on the radio so you and your friends could sing them together later back in the 80s or earlier. :)

FINAL NOTE: The best thing I learned while researching this whole answer was that Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey had rival in-house choirs and had a competition to see who had the best one. When Cardinal Wolsey’s choir won, he wisely “gave” one of his best singers to the king for his choir.

Hope y’all enjoyed that!

15 Things I Learned from Six UK Tour Alternate/Dance Captain Harriet Watson's Workshop and Q&A

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head”
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!
(^This post includes links to workshop/q&a roundups from Lauren Byrne, Grace Mouat, Natalie Pilkington, Sam Pauly, Cherelle Jay, Vicki Manser, Collette Guitart, Jen Caldwell, and Harriet Watson)
Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical
The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes
The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen

Last Saturday, I participated in a virtual dance workshop and Q&A with Six UK & Ireland Tour alternate and dance captain Harriet Watson! The event was hosted by Theatre Fan Parties and I really enjoyed it! Honestly, when I signed up, I kind of thought that there would be like 100 participants, but there were only around 20 and it made for a really lovely, intimate setting. Harriet was super sweet and lovely and encouraging, and I had a great time!

I liked it so much that immediately afterward, I went and signed up for a class in a few weeks with Colette Guitart, the dance captain and one of the Six alternates in the West End production (of course, I later realized that this particular workshop will happen at 5 am my time…ouch, but worth it!).

I frankly have zero dance training except for the few moves I learned in color guard in high school and some ballroom dance classes in college and shortly after. I definitely haven’t taken any dance classes since…2012 at latest. I’m not a very coordinated person, okay? But Harriet was a wonderful teacher and I managed to follow along pretty well despite all that.

Harriet posing nicely when Tyler (the owner of Theatre Fan Parties) asked her to. My face is awkwardly in the upper right because Zoom.

Harriet adorably hiding her face when someone asked her a question she wasn’t sure she was allowed to answer.

After a quick, efficient warmup, Harriet taught us the dance part to Get Down that starts at “I’m the queen of the castle, get down you dirty rascal” and goes through the next phrase through to “cause I’m the queen of the castle.” The individual moves weren’t too hard, but they were VERY FAST with the music, and I’m pretty sure I just flopped around like a fish. Harriet was constantly checking the chat for any questions about individual moves and interacted with everyone, complimenting people when they were killing moves and generally just being a wonderful person.

I did a lot better with the “Six” dance which she ended with, which was much easier. I actually still remember all the moves (Get down was gone…pretty much immediately from my mind, let’s just be honest). Harriet ended up taking a video of all of us doing the dance together and posted it to her Instagram stories, which was really cool! She also commented on my Instagram later about it, which was lovely.

Demonstrating a dance move

Demonstrating a dance move from “Six.”

After the dance workshop portion was over, Harriet answered questions from the attendees! She started out with a general explanation of how she got involved the show. I took a ton of notes, but I’m sure they aren’t perfect quotes (I was typing quickly but my cats decided that RIGHT THEN was the perfect time to start exploring the magical space behind my computer monitors and distracted me), so just expect that these are paraphrased quotes.

1. How she got in the show: She was initially up for Boleyn and Aragon – Maddie beat her out (presumably Maddison Bulleyment, who’s Anne Boleyn for the UK Tour cast).

Answering all the questions

She went to the open call for the show (handled by Pearson casting, who she described as “lovely and incredible”) and said there were probably 3,000 people there. The first day of auditions was just dance – choreography allllll dayyyy. When they got to the singing part of auditions, she sang jessie j’s mama knows best, then a song by adele, and beyonce’s halo.

After that she had a group audition, where a group would go in and each person would sing 5 songs in a row with all the other auditionees just watching. She saw Jenn (presumably Jennifer Caldwell, another of the UK Tour alternates) audition at that time.

She had a few more auditions after that, where they swapped around a ton of girls to see who worked well together. Apparently when she was offered the job, someone called and asked “what queen do you want to be.” (she later clarified that she didn’t actually get to choose which queens she was first cover for).

2. Favorite queen to play: Boleyn – she’s not my first cover but I love her because I get to be naughty on stage. [Harriet’s first covers are Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr]

 3. Training: She trained at a college in Nottingham called MADD. She specifically noted that she didn’t get an agent from her agent showcasing in college and graduated with no idea where she fit into musical theater.

Drinking the tea

6 years after that, she did a LOT of workshops in London – she’d go for a week or a day. Her main training was from workshops – she got her basics from college but she didn’t know what songs to sing, what she was doing – workshops were the best things for her. That’s where she got her agent and really learned her stuff.

4. Her Personal Pop Inspirations for each Queen:

Seymour – Madonna

Parr – Alicia keys

Howard – Britney

Aragon – beyonce

She also mentioned Ariana grande and asked who was that – howard???

5. How important is being a good dancer in musical theater? It depends what type of theater you’re going into. If you want to do 42nd street or fame – you have to be a good dancer. You’ve got to sell it –

6. Beginner dance class suggestions: BALLET is the first dance class you really need to do – it’s boring but you need the conditioning

7. Hardest choreography in the show: “for me, all you want to do” It’s not the hardest – but it’s a slog – you have to stay centered and balanced and it’s SO long

She confirmed that she’s been signed up as an alternate again for the next tour!

8. Do you have to train differently to be a swing?    Yes, for tech rehearsals before the show, she has to run the show from top to bottom on her own with the directors. She has a swing bible – that jenn [caldwell] made her – she listens to her harmonies and goes through her swing bible the whole time.

She highly suggested that if you want to be a swing or an alternate – start practicing NOW – start watching people’s tracks – you want to think about how to do the show as that person. I had never done it before – I never got trained in it in school – I cried so many days – jenn Caldwell saved me. Try to pick out harmonies for all the different performers. I didn’t get harmony training ever, and it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

9. Favorite tour venue: I loved Glasgow!

She conferred with Gemma, who she referred to as “head of sound” and was in the room with her, to remember exactly which location she was thinking of. She ended up asking the crowd where she went on for Boleyn and a chorus of “Salfords!” came through on the chat.

Where I was on for Boleyn – Salford! That sing a long was the most incredible experience of my life – everyone was sobbing and crying.

10. Do you get to choose your first covers? She said no. She said at first that she was cast as first cover for cleves and then cassie took it away. (said with much affection!) 

11. Does she stay on the same harmonies or does she switch around with each queen? They switch everyone around – Boleyn’s on the top harmony lines at first. Howard starts low and then she hits top Gs. Alternates have to know all the harmony lines – it’s definitely the hardest bit about the show.

“Can we get a petition for alternates to have one harmony line? That would make my life very easy.”

Answering even more questions.

12. Rehearsal process: Jenn and I got called in a little early and got to train with the town alternates – Colette [Guitart] and such. Rehearsals were very long - she said it’s sounds so cliché, but when you really do something you really love, I could do something from 6 in the morning to 12 at night. You just did number by number day by day. We’d tap in or tap out – for the alternates – and when I felt ready, I would tap in for lauren or whatever –

She doesn’t know if she’s allowed to say anything about tours for next year. When corona is over – doesn’t know what she can say so she just covered her mouth with her shirt.

13. Dance Captain: She did not specifically audition for dance captain but was offered it in the contract she was given as the alternate. Carrie [Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, the choreographer for Six] is in every audition to watch. They also look at your ability to converse and be kind to people.

Jobs of dance captain – she goes in an hour and a half earlier – warms up all the girls up for half an hour – does notes with them – she does a show watch twice a week to just keep the show as it was when it left rehearsals.

When we went to blue peter – went along to make sure they’re all in the correct position. Photo shoots where they’re all posing – making sure they’re all in the right position –

If they have any concerns, they can take them to me and I can get them to the director – it’s my favorite job – be the advocate for the girls really

14. How they found out about the remainder of the UK tour getting postponed due to COVID-19: Basically they were traveling to brighton and they got the call that the theater was closed – and just had to turn around.  And that was that.

She said that she wasn’t doing stage door for like 2 weeks before they closed because she was scared of getting sick

15. Dressing rooms?: She always shares her dressing room with the other alternates, Jenn Caldwell and Cassie Lee.

Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I)

Related Blog Posts:

• Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I) - Snow White, Alice in Wonderland (cartoon and live), Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective

• Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part II): Cinderella, Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and The Sword in the Stone!

• Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns, Oh My! - an overview of types, definitions, and purposes

• The Classic Disney Influences in the Costumes of "The Descendants”

I’m going through all the crowns and tiaras shown in Disney animated films, analyzing their historical inspirations, and comparing them to actual crowns and tiaras worn by royals around the world! I’m not definitively saying that these original crowns/tiaras WERE inspirations for those in the films, but am just looking for similarities. There are so many though, that I’m just going to try to talk about 5 or so in each post.

Today, I’m going to look at crowns and tiaras in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the various Alice in Wonderland films, the various Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent films, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective.

(L to R): Evil Queen , “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” - 1937; Uta von Ballenstedt statue - ~1044; She Who Must be Obeyed, “She” - 1935; and Princess Kriemhild, “Die Nibelungen” - 1924.

Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937) - Only one character in the first full-length Disney animated film wears a crown: The Evil Queen. She sports a spiky gold “open” crown, with only a single pearl at the top. Keep an eye out for this style of crown, because we’ll see variations on it many more times in other Disney movies.

The queen’s look was mostly inspired by a statue of Uta von Ballenstedt at the Naumburg Cathedral in Naumburg, Germany. Uta was supposedly the most beautiful woman in medieval Germany. Many elements of the queen’s costume, including her headcovering, high cape, facial expression, and large pendant necklace are drawn from this. The character known as She Who Must Be Obeyed in the 1935 film “She” also is a likely inspiration for Snow White’s queen. Her crown, however, though gold like Uta’s and tall like the character in “She,” looks to be more inspired by Princess Kriemhild in the 1924 silent film “Die Nibelungen.”

I only found one actual royal crown with large spikes on it- the Danish king Christian IV’s coronation crown, made in ~1595 (below left, on the top). It does look pretty similar to the Eastern crown (also known as the Antique crown) in heraldry, except for the taller central front spike and the pearl at the top (below left, on the bottom).

It does have some similarities to the Diamond Festoon Necklace Tiara as well! (below center)

The Evil Queen’s tiara is much simpler than any of these real crowns and appears to be just solid gold, with only a single pearl on the top. Although the crown was probably designed this way to make the animation easier, historically, relatively simple gem-less metal tiaras became popular in the mid-1700s and through to the Victorian age. These cut steel tiaras were a less expensive way for women to obtain sparkly jewelry when they couldn’t afford diamonds or other precious gems. These were still time-consuming and beautiful though, as they were specifically cut and carved to shimmer as a diamond would. You can see an example below right.

Dutch Diamond Festoon Necklace Tiara - 1889

Swedish Cut Steel Bandeau - ~early 1800s
(Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Wireimage)

Notes:

• Quick Reminder:

  • Crown – A full circle headpiece with an emblematic function associated with sovereignty and nobility.

  • Tiara – An open semi-circular headpiece that usually does not encircle the head, but perches on the top. Worn by royal and noble women at white tie events, formal state occasions, and weddings.

• Open crowns, without bands overhead, are the oldest crowns and leave the wearer’s head open to the sky. The vast majority of crowns in Disney animated films appear to be open. However, historically, closed crowns became the dominant design in sovereignty headgear in the middle ages and are the dominant type today.

• Although the Evil Queen wears her crown throughout the movie (except when she’s disguised as an old woman), in real life, crowns would only be worn on special occasions, such as at coronations or upon other state occasions.

L to R: Queen of Hearts, “Alice in Wonderland” film - 1951; The Queen of Hearts, “Alice in Wonderland” book - 1865 (John Tenniel); Red Queen, “Alice in Wonderland” film - 2010; The Red Queen, “Through the Looking Glass” book -1871 (John Tenniel); and Elizabeth I - 1585 (portrait by Nicholas Hilliard).

L to R: The White Queen, “Alice in Wonderland” film - 2010; The White Queen, “Alice Through the Looking Glass” film - 2016; The White Queen, “Through the Looking Glass” book - 1871 (John Tenniel); and Elizabeth I, coronation portrait - 1559 (unknown artist).

Swedish Ducal Coronet

The Queen of Hearts/Red Queen; The White Queen - All of the Queens in the Alice in Wonderland (both animated and live action) movies wear spiky crowns that are relatively small and sit on top of their head instead of encircling them. This reminds me a bit of a Swedish ducal coronet (right).

In the book “Alice in Wonderland” (1865), the Queen of Hearts is drawn as a playing card character and sports a gable hood rather than a crown. She’s actually a totally different character from the Red Queen, who appears along with the White Queen in the book “Through the Looking-Glass” (1871), but the characters are commonly confused or melded together like in the live-action film series. The red and white queen characters in the books are clearly based off of chess pieces, which explains the continued spiky crown theme.

What’s interesting is that both characters in the live action films have some similarities to Elizabeth I at different times in her life. The Red Queen’s red hair, the shape of her updo, and her use of white makeup all over her face is clearly based off of Elizabeth I’s later looks. However, the white queen’s pallor and long flowing locks have some similarities to the young Elizabeth I’s look at her coronation. Both queens’ costumes have some Tudor elements to them, but neither crown looks like the Tudor crown (shown in Elizabeth’s coronation portrait), apart from the general “perched on top of head” appearance.

Notes:

• Coronet – Small crown generally worn by dukes and earls at coronations, and often worn by princes/princesses at formal events. These are standardized for various peers, with different designs for each rank (e.g., Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron).

L to R: King Stefan and Queen Leah, “Sleeping Beauty” - 1959; Crown of Scotland (sans cap); King Stefan, “Maleficent” - 2014; Queen Leila, “Maleficent” - 2014; Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden's pearl-and-diamond tiara - 1830.

King Stefan (1959) and Queen Leah (1959) - Both of these crowns resemble the crown of Scotland without its velvet cap, minus the top arches.

King Stefan (2014) - This crown is very similar to the Swedish Ducal Coronet I talked about previously under the Red Queen/White Queen section, only larger, fitting around his entire head instead of perching on top like with the Alice Queens.

Queen Leila (2014) The shape of her crown reminds me of the pearl-and-diamond tiara of Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden, made circa 1830.

L to R: Princess Aurora, “Sleeping Beauty” -1959; the Braganza Tiara - 1829, Queen Rania’s diamond tiara (Credit: Tim Graham Picture Library / Getty), King Hubert, “Sleeping Beauty” - 1959; and the crown of Boleslaw I the Brave (replica made in 2001-2003 after originals were lost after 1036 and 1794).

Aurora (1959) - I couldn’t find any plain gold tiaras in this shape, but I did find a few modern silver and diamond that resemble it, such as the Braganza Tiara and Queen Rania’s Diamond Tiara.

King Hubert - I haven’t seen many crowns like this that don’t have arches but DO have a cap, but I DID find this one from the Polish crown jewels, which has arches but they’re so low to the cap that you can only see them from certain angles - The Crown of Bolesław I the Brave, which was the coronation crown of the Polish monarchs.

Queen Ingrith, “Maleficent: Mistress of All Evil” - 2019

L to R: King John and Queen Ingrith, “Maleficent: Mistress of All Evil” - 2019; George IV State Diadem -1820 (Credit: Royal Collection Trust); Aurora, “Maleficent: Mistress of All Evil” - 2019; Danish Ruby Parure Tiara ; Queen Ingrith, “Maleficent: Mistress of All Evil” - 2019; and the Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara - ~1858 .

King John and Queen Ingrith’s crowns both resemble the George IV State Diadem in their shape, color, and overall sparkliness.

Aurora’s gold vine crown bears a resemblance to the Danish ruby parure tiara.

Queen Ingrith’s silver tiara looks like the Spencer Honeysuckle Tiara in height and overall shape.

Queen Ingrith’s tall, thin tiara shares a lot in common with the tall small crowns worn by the red and white queens in Alice in Wonderland (as discussed earlier).

I’ve actually never seen Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and now I really want to, if only to figure out why Queen Ingrith gets to wear three different crowns throughout it all!

L to R: Prince John, “Robin Hood” - 1973; King John of England’s tomb effigy; portrait of King John; King Richard, “Robin Hood” - 1973; Richard I’s tomb effigy; and Richard I .

Since the stories of Robin Hood include the historical figures Prince John (later King John I) and King Richard I as characters, we can actually look at portraits of them to see how similar the film’s crowns are to their historical counterparts’ crowns. Richard, of course, was known as Richard the Lion-Heart, so both he and Prince John are portrayed as lions.

The crown in Robin Hood appears to be a simplified form of the medieval crown used by King John and Richard I, as seen in their tomb effigies and portraits above. The animated and historical versions all appear to be gold, open crowns with alternating colors and sizes of gemstones, although the animated version has a much more simplified crenelation decoration than the fleur-des-lys/cross like decorations on the historical ones.

I’m fairly sure that the crown or crowns depicted (they LOOK awfully similar, don’t they?) are wearing their state crowns, the “working” crowns of monarchs that they wore regularly, rather than the coronation regalia, which was generally far older, heavier, and more valuable. Although the crown of St. Edward, the traditional coronation regalia for English kings, existed at the time of their reigns, Edward the Confessor wasn’t actually made a saint until 1161, and we don’t actually have any records that his crown was used again before Henry III’s in 1220. Both King Richard and King John reigned before than, from 1189-1199 and 1199-1216 respectively, so it seems likely that they were using different crowns. In addition, written records describing St. Edward’s crown describe it as having arches, while the crown seen in these effigies and paintings is clearly open and without arches.

The Mouse Queen, “The Great Mouse Detective” - 1986; Queen Victoria - 1882 (photographer Alexander Bassano); Queen Victoria’s small diamond crown - 1870 (Credit: Royal Collection Trust); and the Imperial State Crown - 1932 (Credit: Royal Collection Trust).

The mouse queen in “The Great Mouse Detective” is clearly an homage to Queen Victoria, as the character appears to have a similar age, shape, and dress to the real life Victoria. Her small crown worn over a veil is the biggest giveaway, as Victoria herself wore such a miniature crown over her widow’s cap following the death of her husband Prince Albert. After Albert died in 1861, the Queen withdrew from public life. Though she eventually came back into the public view in 1870, she refused to wear the imperial state crown again, partly due to its weight and partly because she could not have worn it over her widow’s cap. The miniature imperial crown was created as a substitute. Victoria continued to wear black and white “widow’s weeds” until he death in 1901.

The mouse queen’s crown does appear to have a velvet cap and at least one gemstone in the base that aren’t visible in Victoria’s crown. Though I haven’t seen a crown /exactly/ like the mouse queen’s, it does appear to borrow some inspiration from the Imperial State Crown of the UK, which has a similar velvet cap and prominent gemstone in its base.

That’s it for now! I have many many many more crowns and tiaras to talk about in the future. :) These posts are very fun but oh man, they take a long time. Thanks for reading everyone!

Did Henry VIII Ever Pull a "Cask of Amontillado" ?

(If you don’t understand the reference, go read Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”)

Apparently I answer Tudor and Shakespeare questions in way too much depth on Reddit for fun now. I’ve had trouble writing or revising fiction since the pandemic and self-isolation began, but researching and writing about history calms me down in a way nothing else does. And AskHistorians on Reddit has a wonderful supply of various questions that haven’t been answered yet.

This one was a particularly out of left field one but I had fun figuring out how to answer it!

So here ya go.

Original Question on r/AskHistorians - Is there any evidence of Henry VIII walling his enemies in buildings?

I've never heard of any English monarch pulling a "Cask of Amontillado" before, and I've been obsessively reading about English history between 1400-1620s for several years now. I dug into this a bit more to see if I could find an answer, but I could not find any sources that indicate that there have been any bodies buried in walls in England. However, as we all know, just because there isn't a source saying it DID happen, doesn't mean it definitely /didn't/ happen.

Human bodies are commonly found buried all around London and England in general, but honestly, that's true of most cities with at least a couple hundred years of history under their belts. It's just something that happens when a place has a very long history dating back before modern regulations on where bodies can be buried. If a house was unknowingly built on top of a burial site, the bodies may be found in the cellar You can read more about that in Smithsonian Magazine here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/dead-beneath-londons-streets-180970385/

I think it's very unlikely that Henry VIII in particular would have engaged in this practice though, for a few specific reasons:

Woodblock by Michael Wolgemut (1434 – 1519) of A Danse Macabre.

-Henry VIII was quite notoriously terrified of illness and sickness, and specifically the Sweating Sickness, likely due to his brother Arthur's death from it in 1502 ( https://www.history.com/news/the-mysterious-epidemic-that-terrified-henry-viii ). He studied medicine and tried to make his own potions to protect him against disease. (http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue42/article546.html?ts=1586114679&signature=51f561c9c7014194d1a849cdaac3de68 ) He also founded the Royal College of Physicians in 1518, made improvements to England's public health services, and ushered in legislation regulating the licensing of medical practitioners (Source: Publishing and Medicine in Early Modern England, by Elizabeth Lane Furdell).

At the time, the miasma theory was one of the dominant theories of disease, which basically said that bad smells cause disease ( http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/miasmatheory ); decaying corpses, rumor has it, smell pretty foul. Given his obsession with medicine and health, not just for himself, but also for his people, it seems unlikely that Henry would have approved of interring a body into the walls of any building or structure in England.

- He also was a very religious man, who heard mass 3-5 times a day and even wrote a theological argument against some of the teachings of Luther in 1521 ( https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/rulers/henry-viii.html ). There were numerous religious rites around death and dying, which require last rites, funeral rites, a vigil for the deceased, and ceremonies by the graveside. Thus, it also seems unlikely that a religious man like Henry VIII would have approved of such mistreatment of a body after death.

"How Accurate Were Shakespeare's Histories?"

Lithograph depicting a scene from Henry V.

Apparently I answer Tudor and Shakespeare questions in way too much depth on Reddit for fun now. I’ve had trouble writing or revising fiction since the pandemic and self-isolation began, but researching and writing about history calms me down in a way nothing else does. And AskHistorians on Reddit has a wonderful supply of various questions that haven’t been answered yet.

So here ya go.

Original source of the question

“How accurate were Shakespeare’s histories?”

Shakespeare's English history plays were based on a variety of historical sources, so he made /some/ attempt at having /some details/ correct, but he certainly also embellished some facts and highly simplified or deleted other facts to increase drama and simplify plot. His sources themselves were often very biased toward a version of history that supported Tudor legitimacy (although I'm unclear on whether that bias was widely known in Shakespeare's time or not). He also definitely shaded some facts and characters one way or another in order to keep the political leaders and censors of his time happy.

Important Sources for Shakespeare:

Basically every English history play - Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1587 - 2nd edition) - This was a highly dramatized version of English history that is apparently just really inaccurate in a lot of places. I really need to read it someday. [also a source for Macbeth and King Lear]

Richard III - Thomas More's History of King Richard the Thirde (1513) - More's portrayal of Richard III as deformed, to the point of causing his mother a particularly troublesome birth, is probably the most famous bit that Shakespeare took from that source. In actuality, though Richard III's skeleton showed that though he had significant scoliosis and likely had visibly uneven shoulders, he wouldn't have had a hunchback.

Simplification -

Shakespeare HIGHLY simplified a lot of the events of the Wars of the Roses in his Henry VI Parts II and III. And honestly....you can't really blame him. I made a simplified timeline of the main events of the Wars of the Roses in November and it's still incredibly complicated (and honestly, it took forever). You can see it on my blog here - https://www.rachaeldickzen.com/blog/2019/11/11/the-wars-of-the-roses-a-timeline-of-main-events

Examples:

- In Henry VI Part 3, as soon as the Earl of Warwick discovers that his protege Edward IV had secretly married Lady Grey (Elizabeth Woodville) while Warwick is off trying to organize a French alliance and marriage for Edward IV, he joins forces with Margaret of Anjou, marries his daughter Anne to her son Edward, and frees Henry VII. This all happens in the space of two acts.

IN ACTUALITY, Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, but Warwick didn't rebel against Edward IV until April 1469 (rebellion #1). He joined forces with Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence, and actually captured Edward IV, but eventually released him when it became clear that Parliament wouldn't cooperate with his plan to rule the country through Edward. He and George/Clarence rebelled AGAIN in July 1470 (rebellion #2), but this one didn’t go so well and their plan quickly falls apart. Warwick flees to France, plots with Margaret of Anjou (rebellion #3), marries his daughter to her son Edward, and goes back to England in October 1470 to put Henry VI back on the throne.

I mean. It's easy to understand why Shakespeare cut out a few rebellions there, just for the sake of time and to keep things from being super confusing.

- Richard III portrays Richard marrying Anne Neville immediately before the death of his brother Edward IV and becoming king not too long after. In actuality, Richard and Anne married in spring 1472, Edward IV didn't die until April 1483, and Richard III didn't become king until July 1483.

"Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Old Temple Gardens" after the original 1910 fresco painting by Henry Albert Payne (British, 1868-1940) based upon a scene in Shakespeare's Henry VI.

Dramatic alterations:

Various examples:

- Henry IV Part 1 - Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur) is portrayed as a young man the same age as Prince Hal, but in reality, Hotspur was actually three years older than Hal's dad Henry IV. This increases drama by placing pressure on Hal to behave more like the ambitious leader Hotspur.

- Henry V - In the play, it's stated that the English had fewer than 30 casualities while the French had 10,000! In actuality, about 112-600 of the English and about 6,000 of the French were killed.

- Henry VI Part 1 - The famed "roses" of the Wars of the Roses are a bit of a Tudor invention, which Shakespeare expanded on. Although the Yorks did use the white rose as a symbol from early on in the conflict, the Lancastrian red rose wasn't used until after Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. These two roses were combined to form the "Tudor Rose," a symbol of the unity of the two houses.

In addition, it also just isn't accurate to imagine that only one symbol was used by each noble family. Just among the York brothers alone, in addition to the white rose, Edward IV used the sun in splendor, a falcon, a black dragon, and a white lion (among several others), while Richard used a white boar and "a white falcon with a virgin's face holding a white rose." But again, portraying that in a play would make things very confusing (and Shakespeare’s histories are already confusing enough when it comes to names, since he often refers to characters by their titles, which often change!).

- Henry VI Part 2 - Richard of Gloucester (the eventual Richard III), and his brother Edward (eventual Edward IV) are both portrayed as adults at the time of the first battle of St. Albans. Historically, Richard was only 3 years old and Edward was only 13 when this battle occurred.

- In addition, a TON of the events in Richard III are inserted for dramatic effect. There is zero evidence that Richard killed his wife Anne (she probably died of tuberculosis), and he definitely didn't seduce her at the funeral for her father-in-law Henry VI. Henry VI died in May 1471 and Anne and Richard didn't marry until the spring of 1472. There's also good evidence that Richard and Anne actually really had a lovely romance; he was determined to marry her and may have rescued her from his brother Clarence's attempts to hide her away. Anne and Richard were crowned in the first joint coronation in almost 200 years. But this doesn’t suit the Tudor propaganda need to portray Richard as a villain.

George Duke of Clarence is portrayed very sympathetically in Richard III, but in reality, he was kind of a jerk who rebelled against his own brother 2-3 times and continually tried to start up trouble. The play also shows Clarence being murdered by Richard's (hilarious) henchmen, but in actuality, Clarence was put on trial for treason, and privately executed on the order of his brother Edward IV.

The disappearance of the Princes in the Tower was blamed on Richard III at the time, but there's no actual evidence connecting him (or really anyone) to their deaths.

Propaganda Elements:

Shakespeare was writing and producing plays under Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, only a few generations away from the intense violence of the Wars of the Roses, so obviously, he needed to represent Elizabeth's famous ancestors as being on the right side of history. Even after her death, Elizabeth I remained incredibly popular with the people, so Shakespeare had to be careful with portrayals of her ancestors and lineage.

Henry VIII is perhaps the best example of Tudor propaganda. This play covers Henry VIII's break from Catherine of Aragon and joining with Anne Boleyn (Elizabeth's mother) and covers the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, but strategically ends right at Elizabeth's birth and doesn't discuss, oh, Anne's downfall and beheading, or Henry's four other wives. The play is remarkably stilted and boring compared to all of Shakespeare's other plays, likely because he felt inhibited by the restrictions and expectations of the time (in fact, plenty of people have speculated that Shakespeare didn't write Henry VIII or wrote it with a co-writer because it's so different from his other plays). The play also ends with huge adulation of the baby elizabeth and what a blessing she will be upon her people; as the second daughter of the king who already had a bastard son (Henry Fitzroy) he was in the process of making legitimate, she was not expected to inherit at her birth so this is just obvious propaganda here.

Tudor propaganda elements are also obvious in Richard II, in which John of Gaunt is portrayed very differently than he is in Holinshed's Chronicles, Shakespeare’s primary sources for his histories. Holinshed didn't portray Gaunt in a terribly flattering way, but in Richard II, he's the wisest, most reasonable, and most patriotic character in the play. This is likely because Queen Elizabeth traced her lineage directly back to John of Gaunt. (Gaunt's characterization in the play is much closer to his portrayal in Froissart's Chronicles.)

Richard II is also an interesting play to look at, as it portrays the rebellion against and downfall of a king, who was believed to be divinely anointed by god as the country's leader. That's not the type of idea you want to put in your subjects' heads (The deposition scene in the play is missing from most printed editions of the play until the fourth quarto, well into the reign of James I). But the play is written to make it very clear that Elizabeth's own ancestors disagreed with the rebellion. It's an interesting tightrope to walk- as the next few history plays basically emphasize how awesome Henry IV and Henry V are, and just sort of strategically ignore that the only reason they were in power was because of Henry Bolingbroke's rebellion against the rightful king.

Richard III is portrayed as an outright villain in Shakespeare's histories for propaganda reasons as well. Queen Elizabeth's grandfather Henry VII killed Richard on the battlefield at Bosworth and took his crown by right of conquest. Since this was again, a divinely anointed sovereign, Tudor writers really wanted to portray Richard III as just the WORST of the worst to justify the Tudors' actions in overthrowing him. The Tudors' claim to the English throne was not terribly strong, so this propaganda against Richard III was also necessary to increase their own legitimacy.

The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head” “Heart of Stone” “Haus of Holbein” “Get Down”
The Tudor Crown Inspiration in Six’s Logo; The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations; Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes; Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!; The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical; How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

The current incarnation of Six the musical is actually the fifth or sixth version! I’m not certain how much the show has changed since its original premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, but co-creator Lucy Moss described the Edinburgh version as having “the most unbelievably bad, clunky segues, and the exposition” in a recent New York Times interview, so I imagine there have been some significant updates since then. :)

One thing I CAN look at is how the costumes have changed over time. There are basically three distinct phases of costume development for Six. First, you’ve got the costumes from the casts Edinburgh and Cambridge, which appear to be made of existing ready-made clothing pieces. Next, you’ve got the costumes for the 2017 Arts Theatre cast off the West End in London, whose clothes appear to be a bit more costumey and made to the specific show. Finally, you’ve got the Gabriella Slade costume designs, which, for the most part, have only been tweaked a bit since they were originally made (the Cleves costume is the only costume that looks COMPLETELY different in its current form than it did in the original costume based off of Slade’s designs).

I’ve gone through a TON of old photos and information about the old casts and compiled them into the slideshows below. I hope y’all enjoy this. :)

Note: Obviously I don’t own any of these photos. I scoured the Six the Musical Wikipedia extensively to find these and unfortunately, they don’t generally share photo credits. I did the best I could to include photographers, but if I made any mistakes or missed any, please let me know and I will happily update them.

Front from left to right: Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn, and Catherine Parr. Back from left to right: Anna of Cleves, Catherine of Aragon, and Katherine Howard. Edinburgh Festival Fringe, August 2017. Toby Marlow

Left to right: Catherine of Aragon, Anna of Cleves, Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Jane Seymour. Edinburgh Festival Fringe, August 2017. Toby Marlow

Edinburgh Festival Fringe - August 2017 performance of Six the Musical (performed by the Cambridge University Musical Theater Society)
& Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society - October 2017

The same cast of mostly students (and co-creator Toby Marlow’s sister) performed at both the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and at the run at Cambridge University a few months later. It APPEARS from careful examination of photos that these costumes were all essentially the same EXCEPT for Katherine Howard’s costume. So based on lots of reading, I believe the photos of the cast above this text are from Edinburgh, and the photos of the cast BELOW this text are from Cambridge. If anyone knows differently, please correct me. :) I’m working with a certain dearth of information here.

It also appears that some of the cast took publicity photos in different clothes at some sort of historical building at some point; I’ve included those in the slideshows as well.

These costumes are really very unlike the current professional production costumes, although you can see a FEW elements that ended up in the final West End production. The Anne Boleyn dress silhouette and color has stayed the same. The original ruff neck of the Katherine Howard dress at Edinburgh resembles the ruffs now used in “Haus of Holbein.” Jane Seymour is dressed in the most conservative and monochromatic costume, and her hairstyle appears to be the same. Anna of Cleves also appears to be wearing a much sexier outfit underneath her costume, which is also an element used in the current show.

Jane Seymour’s glittery black boots, interestingly enough, are almost exactly like the current shoes seen in Six.

Catherine of Aragon - Megan Gilbert
Anne Boleyn - Ashleigh Weir
Jane Seymour- Holly Musgrave
Anna of Cleves - Tilda Wickham
Katherine Howard- Annabel Marlow
Catherine Parr- Shimali de Silva

The cast and crew of “Six” at Cambridge University in October 2017. Johannes Hjorth

From left to right: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour (top), Katherine Howard (bottom), and Anna of Cleves. Cambridge University in October 2017. Johannes Hjorth

Front from left to right: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn. Back from left to right: Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr. Cambridge University in October 2017. Johannes Hjorth

Left to right: Anne Boleyn, lighting designer Rebecca Fry, Katherine Howard. Johannes Hjorth

Catherine of Aragon - Megan Gilbert (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

Anne Boleyn - Ashleigh Weir (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

Jane Seymour - Holly Musgrave (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

Anna of Cleves - Tilda Wickham (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

When Wickham is sitting in one of the full cast and crew pics, you can see that they’re wearing some sort of sexy looking get-up under the main gray covered up suit thing. I SUSPECT that there probably was a “strip a bit to show how sexy i am” section in the original show just as there is in the current version.

(*Note, Tilda Wickham uses they/them pronouns, so don’t misgender them if you take info from this page and share it elsewhere).

Katherine Howard - Annabel Marlow (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

This is the only costume that appeared to significantly change between the Edinburgh and Cambridge performances.

Catherine Parr - Shimali de Silva (Edinburgh Fringe and Cambridge University Casts)

Front from left to right: Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard. Back from left to right: Catherine Parr, Anna of Cleves, Catherine of Aragon, and Jane Seymour.

Recording cast! From left to right: Jane Seymour (Natalie Seymour), Catherine of Aragon (Renee Lamb), Catherine Parr (Izuka Hoyle), Anna of Cleves (Genesis Lynea), and Katherine Howard (Aimee Atkinson)

2017 Arts Theatre Production (Off-West End) - December 2017 (6 performances)
and Cast Recording –released September 2018

L to R: Anne Boleyn, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Jane Seymour, Catherine of Aragon, and Catherine Parr.

The first professional, non-student performances of Six went up in December 2017, only a few months after it premiered in Edinburgh (which is kind of an insane jump!). As described in the New York Times article, professional musical theater people began to attend the Edinburgh run and asked the co-creators Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow about securing rights for the show. A family friend of Toby Marlow’s, composer George Stiles, encouraged West End producer Kenny Wax to come see the show in Cambridge. Wax ended up securing the rights for the show with Stiles and partnered with producers Wendy and Andy Barnes (who had seen the show in Edinburgh), and produced a short run of the show in London off-the West End at the Arts Theatre.

The Arts Theatre cast also recorded the musical score and released it in September 2018. The Six album went viral, streaming millions of times on various musical platforms, and became a huge hit on the social media app TikTok.

The Arts Theatre costumes have a lot of Tudor fashion elements that weren’t present in the original student cast costumes. You can start to see some of the hairstyles and lacing elements that would become part of the final Gabriella Slade designed costumes.

It looks like they also took publicity photos at the Tower of London and against the backdrop of the Tower Bridge; I’ve included those in all the slideshows as well.

Catherine of Aragon - Renee Lamb
Anne Boleyn - Christina Modestou
Jane Seymour- Natalie Paris
Anna of Cleves- Genesis Lynea
Katherine Howard- Aimee Atkinson
Catherine Parr- Izuka Hoyle

L to R: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. (Credit: Josh Bird)

L to R: Renee Lamb, Christina Modestou, Natalie Paris, Random Beefeater, Genesis Lynea, Aimee Atkinson, Izuka Hoyle

Catherine of Aragon - Renee Lamb (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

The last pic in this gallery shows Renee when she came back as an emergency stand in for Aragon during the West End run!

Anne Boleyn - Christina Modestou (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

Jane Seymour- Natalie Paris (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

Anna of Cleves- Genesis Lynea (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

The last pic in this gallery shows Genesis when she came back as an emergency stand in for Cleves during the West End run!

Katherine Howard- Aimee Atkinson (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

Catherine Parr- Izuka Hoyle (2017 Arts Theatre and Cast Recording Casts)

L to R: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. The original UK Tour costumes, designed by Gabriella Slade. (Credit: Archant)

2018 UK tour – July – December 2018
and Original West End Production – January 2019 opening for initial 16-week run. Initial run has been extended until January 2021.

L to R: Catherine of Aragon, Katherine Howard, Anna of Cleves, Jane Seymour, Catherine Parr and Anne Boleyn. The original UK Tour costumes, designed by Gabriella Slade. (Credit: Archant)

The show gained its awesome current costumes designed by Gabriella Slade sometime during the 2018 UK tour. During her recent Instagram takeover, Slade said that Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow asked her to come in and do the costumes about two years ago. She looked at Tudor portraits, paintings, and architecture, and looked at modern fashion designers for inspiration. Each costume took a few weeks to make, with at least three fittings per costume.

An in-between step in the costume evolution. You can see that Aragon’s wig and hair accessories have decreased in size, and Jane Seymour’s hair accessory has changed, but Anna of Cleves is still in her black costume, and Anne Boleyn still has green hair accessories instead of black studs. (Credit: Idil Sukan)

As you can see in the slideshows below, once the actual Gabby Slade costumes were made, most of the costumes were only tweaked. Catherine of Aragon’s wig and crown decreased in size, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour’s hair accessories changed up a bit, etc. Catherine Parr’s costume design has changed up a bit as well; various elements moved around and the sleeves are totally different now.

However, the Anna of Cleves costume has changed a LOT, as it started out as a black and silver costume with a vest and changed to a red and black costume with a jacket.

Catherine of Aragon - Jarneia Richard-Noel
Anne Boleyn - Millie O’Connell
Jane Seymour - Natalie Paris
Anna of Cleves - Alexia McIntosh
Katherine Howard- Aimee Atkinson
Catherine Parr- Maiya Quansah-Breed
Understudy - Grace Mouat

The first photo in each of the slideshows below is the original costume by Gabriella Slade, and the second photo is the current costume for that character. The last picture in each slideshow is the original historical painting.

The West End costumes. L to R: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Eleanor Howarth

The Broadway costumes of Six. L to R: Catherine Parr, Anna of Cleves, Catherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard. Bryan Derballa for The New York Times.

Catherine of Aragon - Jarneia Richard-Noel (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

Anne Boleyn - Millie O’Connell (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

Jane Seymour - Natalie Paris (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

Anna of Cleves - Alexia McIntosh (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

Katherine Howard- Aimee Atkinson (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

Catherine Parr- Maiya Quansah-Breed (2018 UK Tour and Original West End Casts)

I’m Playing a Lot More Piano These Days

Okay so I recorded this song (Ghosttown by Madonna, which seems REALLY on point with all the isolation and empty streets) like five times and something always went wrong. So here’s the final version, complete with cameos by Martok and John, me cracking up, and the end getting cut off by an alarm on my phone. 😂 enjoy!

Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns, Oh My!

Other Posts about Crowns and Tiaras:

Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I) - Snow White, Alice in Wonderland (cartoon and live), Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective
Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part II): Cinderella, Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and The Sword in the Stone!
The Medals, Sashes, and Tiaras of The Crown; Tiaras/Crowns Overviews: Season 1 ; Season 2

So I’ve been hosting virtual lecture parties lately, since we’re all self-isolating and cooped up. At the most recent one, I presented on Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns - talking about the different types and specific examples of each type. I had a lot of fun pulling together this slideshow and included as many pictures from around the world as I could.

The Diadem of Ravenclaw from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Princess Eugenie of the UK wearing the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara (1919)
(Credit: WPA Pool / Getty)

The Crown of Saint Wenceslas (Bohemia, 1347)

So I’ve been hosting virtual lecture parties lately, since we’re all self-isolating and cooped up. At the most recent one, I presented on Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns - talking about the different types and specific examples of each type. I had a lot of fun pulling together this slideshow and included as many pictures from around the world as I could. My specific examples though, are all English/UK in origin, as that’s my passion and it’s frankly just a lot easier to find information on these than many of the other crowns and tiaras out there.

I will be putting all the information into blog post format at some point, but that’s going to take me a while because - lots of formatting and image upload! For today, I’m just loading up the slideshow so y’all can look through it at your leisure. Enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to ask; I love talking about this sort of stuff!

Diadem of Princess
Sit-Hathor Yunet
(19th century BC, Egypt) (Credit: Hans Ollermann)

Greco-Roman bust (100 BC-100 AD)

17th Dynasty diadem (1580-1550 BC, Egypt)

Diodotus of Bactria on a coin, (first century AD, around modern Afghanistan)

Diadems:

• Diadem – refers to any circular piece worn on the head to symbolize status and power.

• Name originates from the Greek diadein  - “to bind around”

• Early diadems were just ribbons or laurel wreaths.

• Crowns, tiaras, coronets, and other royal headpieces all fall under the diadem umbrella.

• Very few crowns are known by this title today. I could only find one modern one.

Replica, Imperial Crown of Russia (1762-1917)

Pahlavi Crown (1926, Iran)

Holy Roman Empire (11th century – 1806)

Crown of Japanese
Emperor Kōmei (1846-1867)

Crown from Kathmandu Valley (13th century, Nepal) (Credit: Sepia Times / Getty)

Imperial Crown of Brazil (1841)

Silla (5th-7th centuries, modern day Korea)

The Iron Crown of Lombardy (4th-5th century, modern day Italy)

Crowns:

• Crown – A full circle headpiece with an emblematic function associated with sovereignty and nobility.

• Open crowns, without bands overhead, are the oldest crowns, but closed crowns became the most popular ones in the middle ages and are the dominant type today.

Baronial Coronet (modern, UK)

Ducal Coronet (modern, Sweden)

Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV and Richard III) (1454, England)

Charles, Prince of Wales (1969, UK)
(Credit: Royal Collection Trust)

Coronets:

Coronet – Small crown generally worn by dukes and earls at coronations, and often worn by princes/princesses at formal events.

• These are standardized for various peers, with different designs for each rank (e.g., Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron).

• Very often seen in heraldry on coats of arms and shields

• I really couldn’t find evidence of actual coronets outside of Europe, so it may just be a weird Europe only thing. It looks like they’re more often used in heraldry, like on coats of arms, then in real life – I struggled to find any pictures of them.

• Charles’s coronet for his investment in 1969 was controversially modern and abstract. A new one had to be made after his great-uncle, the former Edward VIII, took his into exile after he abdicated the throne. The designer used electroplating to make the crown, which hadn’t been used before, and was unsatisfied with how the orb kept coming out until a technician suggested electroplating a ping pong ball. It worked.

Duchess of Angoulême (1820, France)

The Gandikj Diraja Tiara for the Raja Permaisuri Agong (1957, Malaysia)

A Pearl and Emerald tiara (420–589, China)

Empress Farah (1958, Iran)

Queen Rania’s Boucheron Emerald Leaves Tiara (2003, Jordan)

Cameo Tiara of Empress Josephine (1804, France)

Queen Margrethe II’s Aigrette (~19th century, Denmark)
(Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)

Tiaras:

• Tiara – An open semi-circular headpiece that usually does not encircle the head, but perches on the top.

• Worn by royal and noble women at white tie events, formal state occasions, and weddings.

• Traditionally, the wearer must be a bride or already married.

• Some tiaras are versatile and have elements that can be switched out or worn differently, such as brooches and different types of brooches.

• Really haven’t found many dating to before 1800 except this one from china in the top right corner

• They’re not worn before 6 pm except for weddings.

• Though tiaras used to be brightly colored, modern tiaras tend to be neutral colored.

• Parure – a jewelry set which usually includes tiara, necklace, brooch, sometimes a bracelet.

Queen Letizia floral tiara (1879, Spain)

Princess Mary’s Midnight Tiara (2009, Denmark)
(Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)

Princess Lalla Salma’s Tiara (2002, Morocco)

Part of the Nine Provinces Tiara (1926, Belgium)

The Ruby Olive Wreath Tiara (~1870s-1880s, Greece) (Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)

Princess Hisako’s tiara (modern, Japan)

Princess Tsuguko’s tiara (modern, Japan)

Queen Sirikit’s traditional tiara (1960, Thailand)

Dutch Aquamarine Parure Tiara (1927, The Netherlands)

Kinsky Honeysuckle Tiara (1870, Liechtenstein)

Citrine and Pearl Tiara (~1980s, Luxembourg)

A couple of specific examples! These are all English/UK in origin because that’s the history I know most about and frankly, it’s way easier to find details and information on these then most of the others.

Credit: Royal Collection Trust

George IV State Diadem:

• Made 1820 to be worn by George IV during his coronation procession.

• Traditionally worn by Queen Consorts at coronations and the state openings of Parliament, but Queens Regnant Victoria and Elizabeth II have worn it as well.

• Gold and silver frame, with strings of pearls, 1333 diamonds (over 320 carats), including a 4-carat yellow diamond, positioned on alternating crosses pattée and florals. The four florals represent roses, thistles and shamrocks, the flowers of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

• Crosses Pattee – type of Christian cross that appears very early in medieval art – extremely common in crowns in Christian countries

• Open Crown, in which the the head is open to the sky.

• Commonly appears on stamps and currency.

Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth II (both young and old), all wearing the diadem.

St. Edward’s Crown:

• First hereditary coronation regalia in Europe. The monks at Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward the Confessor asked them to look after his regalia for the coronations of all future English kings (although they probably just took it from his grave when he was reinterred there).

• A 1660 replica of Edward the Confessor’s crown, which was sold during the English Civil War. The medieval Crown dated to 1043. It was used in Richard II’s abdication in 1399, and was used to crown Anne Boleyn in 1533 (unprecedented for a consort).

• St. Edward’s Crown is 11.8 inches tall and 4.9 pounds. It’s made of gold, embellished with 444 stones, including amethysts, garnets, peridots, rubies, sapphires, topazes, tourmalines, and zircons.

•It has a closed Crown with high arches and a velvet cap trimmed in ermine

• From 1689-1911, monarchs chose to be crowned with a lighter, bespoke coronation crown personalized to each sovereign, while st. edward’s crown rested on the high altar.

• It’s currently used on royal arms of the UK, royal badges of England, the badges of the police forces of England and wales, the coastguard, british army, royal marines, royal airforce, and royal mail.

• This is a closed crown have bands around the temples and one or two bands over the head. Crowns with two bands or more usually for sovereigns; the prince of wales’ coronet only has one band. High arches in crowns are a symbol of sovereignty demonstrating that the king of England owed obedience to no one but God.

• The bottom is trimmed in ermine, which is very commonly seen in crowns, coronation cloaks, and peerage caps. Ermine comes from the winter coat of the stoat, which is a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail.

Imperial State Crown:

•Worn by the English monarch during the coronation when leaving Westminster Abbey and at the annual state opening of Parliament.

• A mere 2.3 pounds, compared to the 4.9 pound St. Edward’s Crown.

• It contains 2,901 precious stones, including the Black prince’s ruby and the Cullinan II on the front, St. Edward’s sapphire at the top, and the Stuart sapphire on the back.

• St. Edward’s sapphire on the top cross is the oldest gemstone in the royal collection. Thought to have come from the coronation ring of Edward the Confessor from 1042.

• Black Prince’s ruby – 170 carats =  one of the oldest parts of the crown jewels, given to the black Prince in 1367. Henry V wore a gem-encrusted helmet that included this ruby. Mayyyy have been worn by Richard III on his helmet at the Battle of Bosworth, in which he died.

• Stuart Sapphire on the back (lower left picture) – 104 carat - Probably belonged to Charles II and was definitely among the jewels that James VII took with him when he fled to France after the glorious revolution in December 1688.

• Fun fact: the arches are detachable, so the crown can also be worn as an open crown/circlet.

Credit: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty

Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara:

• The tiara’s diamonds came from an 1893 necklace and the tiara was made in 1919.

• Diamond fringe tiaras were incredibly popular after they became fashionable at the imperial court of the Romanovs. There are numerous fringe tiaras like this in the royal collection and many of them can also be worn as necklaces.

• Worn by both the Queen and Crown Princess Anne at their weddings.

Credit: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty

Vladimir Tiara:

• Originally owned by Duchess Marie, a German princess who married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich in 1874.

• When the Grand Duchess fled from Russia in 1917, her jewels, including this tiara, remained in a hidden safe in Vladimir Palace. Later, her son and his friend disguised themselves as workmen, sneaked into the palace, and smuggled out the contents of her safe. This tiara was later sold by her daughter to Queen Mary of the UK, along with numerous other Russian imperial jewels.

• It can be worn with hanging emerald or pearl drops or it can be worn “widowed,” that is, without any drops.

Queen Mary, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge

Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara:

• This tiara is commonly referred to as the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, but in fact, it was only based off of that tiara. Queen Mary had this tiara created as a copy of the Cambridge tiara, which was owned by her cousin, using elements harvested from several other tiaras in her existing collection.

• In 1981, when Prince Charles married Diana Spencer, Queen Elizabeth presented her with several pieces of family jewelry, including this tiara, as lifetime loans. Diana wore this tiara very often and it became highly associated with her. In more recent times, the tiara has been sported most often by Diana’s daughter-in-law, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Credit: Getty

Credit: Royal Collection / PA

Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau (left):

• The Diamond Bandeau was made for Queen Mary in 1932 and specifically was made to feature the detachable brooch in the center. This brooch was given to Queen Mary in 1893.

• Meghan Markle wore the tiara for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. It was the first time the tiara had been worn in public in over 50 years.

• There are actually several tiaras in the royal family’s possession that haven’t been seen in public for 50-100 years!

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (right):

• The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of the Queen’s most commonly worn tiaras.

• This was given to Queen Mary for her wedding in 1893 by a committee of women, which is where it gets its name. She presented it as a gift to then-Princess Elizabeth on her wedding day; the Queen still refers to it as “Granny’s Tiara.”

Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade's Instagram Takeover

All My Six Posts!
Over-Analyzing All the Historical References in Six- “Ex Wives,” “No Way,” “Don’t Lose Your Head” “Heart of Stone” “Haus of Holbein” “Get Down”
The Tudor Crown Inspiration in Six’s Logo; The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
Six the Musical Wives 1-3: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations; Six the Musical Wives 4-6: Historical and Modern Costume Inspirations
The Ladies in Waiting of Six: Historical Inspirations and Costumes; Details from Six Costumer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram Takeover
The Early Costumes of Six the Musical: From Edinburgh to Cambridge to London
Updated Six the Musical Costumes for Broadway!; The Shoes of Six the Musical
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical; How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Virtual Dance Workshops and Q&As with Different Six Cast Members!

Originally posted April 2, 2020; updated May 18, 2020

Slade also took over the @SixBroadway account on May 17 and answered numerous questions! She also shared a lot of lovely pictures.

April 2, 2020
Six Costume designer Gabriella Slade has taken over the @SixtheMusical Instagram for the day! I’m taking notes on everything she’s saying and throwing out a couple questions myself.

• How she got involved in the production: About two years ago, Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow asked her to come in and do the costumes.

• Tudor elements confirmed in the costumes: split pane sleeves, doublet references, corsetry, square necklines, a four part skirt, lots of latticework in the lacing.

• Inspirations: For inspirations, she looked to Tudor portraits, paintings, and architecture. She also looked at modern fashion designers like Alexander McQueen.

• Costume Making Process: The costumes take a few weeks to make. They do at least three fittings per costume and sometimes more, as the costumes are very complicated. The costumes are VERY heavy. The wardrobe supervisors for each show handle any alterations and mending. The most commonly needed fix is stud related, as they apparently fall off VERY often, even with the BEST glue in the world.

• The queen’s costume that takes the longest to make: Catherine of Aragon’s! Most complicated costume in the show.

• The queen’s costume that was the hardest for her to design: Jane Seymour costume was the hardest for her to design, as that character has a very different vibe from the rest of the queens. She said she needed a different visual language.

• She’s not allowed to have favorite alternate costumes, however, she really enjoyed making the most recent pink costume currently worn by Zara in the WE production. There aren’t any purple costumes because it’s the brand color for six.

• The boots are designed by Slade and are made by Laduca Shoes, specialists in dancewear.

• Broadway Costume Changes: additional stud work, more latticework, just to enhance the initial designs from a few years.

• Whenever a new cast comes in, she goes to see the show, so she’s seen it “loads of times.” Old costumes of cast members that have left the show are kept by the production and looked after on an archive rail.

• Favorite detail about each costume: The many tudor and historical details in the costumes is so very important, even in contemporary fabrics.

• She LOVES it when people cosplay the costumes. Whenever people do really brilliant ones that look like actual stage costumes, her team shares pictures of them all around. She also really loves the fan art of the costumes she sees online.

Suggestions for cosplays:

• The costumes are super heavy so Slade suggests that cosplayers use “big chunky zips” on their creations.

• Parr’s top has a zipper and a hook and eye closure.

• Howard’s zip is on the center of the back of the bodice - the new broadway skirt has a side front opening instead of a center back one, as that helps the longevity of the skirt.

Miscellaneous:

• Advice for students going into doing textiles for GCSE - need to keep up on new techniques and terminology.

• Slade drinks tea all the time and she is a HUGE herbal tea fan.