The actresses have seen the hit musical through all kinds of milestones, originating lead roles in the show’s two West End runs and now reprising them in Six’s final months on Broadway.
Aimie Atkinson and Natalie Paris could write the textbook on Six history.
They remember when a 100° heat wave overtook London during the musical’s first West End run, and the Arts Theatre’s lack of air conditioning meant their synthetic costumes stuck like glue to their skin. They remember being overcome with emotion at performing Six at Hampton Court Palace, the onetime home of Henry VIII and his six wives, the musical’s subjects. They remember meeting at auditions for Six’s very first workshop nearly a decade ago, when neither actress knew they’d go on to record a globally viral cast album; open not one, but two West End iterations of Six; and have their Olivier Award-nominated performances preserved in the show’s 2025 proshot.
The latest milestone in their shared Six journey is twofold. Both actresses are currently making their Broadway debuts in their original roles: Atkinson as the sly, flirtatious Katherine Howard and Paris as the grief-stricken, hardened Jane Seymour. They’re doing so as Six prepares to close a major chapter, ending a five-year Broadway run at the Lena Horne Theatre on January 3.
“It always feels like coming home,” Paris said, quoting Atkinson from a different interview. She was referring to their returns to Six, but the sentiment could evidently be applied to any of their reunions. As they spoke, Paris and Atkinson repeatedly finished each other’s sentences and descended into laughing fits. Six reimagines Henry’s wives as a contemporary girl group joining forces to recount their lives and deaths on their own terms, and it’s clear that the real-life actresses are just as inextricable from each other’s histories.
Atkinson is scheduled to perform in Six on Broadway through October 31, and Paris through December 13. Before a recent performance, they sat down with New York Theatre Guide to reflect on their favorite Six memories and the continued joy of making new ones side by side.
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Did you two plan to make your Broadway debut in Six together, or did you sign on separately?
Aimie Atkinson: It happened all together, didn’t it? I was in a workshop back home for a musical […] and I got this thing coming up on my phone, all capitals: “CALL ME NOW,” from Natalie.
I was like “What’s going on?” And then you were like, “We’re going to Broadway!”
Has anything surprised you about doing Six on Broadway? Is the show different in New York at all?
Natalie Paris: Yes and no. Obviously the accent’s different, and the show is still the show. Aimie summed it up so beautifully a few weeks ago and said, “It always feels like coming home.”
When you do the show, and you get to meet all these amazing women that are involved in the show worldwide, you always feel an instant connection and that comfort blanket. But it’s different because it’s such different audiences, and the theatre’s so different to the theatre we were so used to playing it in.
Being from the U.K., the West End was probably always your goal. But Broadway also looms so large worldwide — did you also grow up with dreams of making it here?
Atkinson: Of course. At home, it feels like it’s kind of out of reach, though, for us. It’s quite difficult to get here. You have to be lucky enough to have been in a show in London and hopefully, we get to go to Broadway.
But we are obsessed with Broadway. We know everything about it and every show that’s here, and we’re always talking about it. We’re so intertwined, the West End and the Broadway community, but I can’t believe we’re here.
Paris: I can’t believe we’re here. Little us would never believe it.
You met almost 10 years ago at auditions for Six’s very first workshop. What were each of your first impressions of each other?
Atkinson: She had a bus driver’s cap on.
Paris: They were fashionable at the time, can I just say?
Atkinson: I thought, “Who is that?” And then, obviously, when she sang, I was like, “WHOA! Oh my god! The best voice I’ve ever heard!”
Paris: I didn’t really know many people at the time; I’d never met Aimie, and I just remember thinking, “Wow, she’s so beautiful and confident.” When we went into our audition, we got given these little monologues to look at in the hallway, and Aimie was so funny…
Atkinson: She’s not told me this bit before. Keep going.
Paris: I thought, “I’ve got this totally wrong. This is meant to be funny, and I’m giving heartfelt.” Because we didn’t know anything about the show. I was right; it was heartfelt now that I know the show.
Have you kept in touch between Six productions?
Atkinson: Every single day we talk to the girls, don’t we?
Paris: The WhatsApp group is popping. We’re so lucky that we really created such an amazing bond, truly, genuinely. It’s so incredible. And we’re so lucky that we have got to do things together outside of the show. The show brought us together, and we created this amazing show together, but it also brought our friendship. I don’t think that will ever go.
Atkinson: We’ll be at a party or be somewhere in the world, and we’ll spot one of us from across the room and be like, “Oh my god!”
What’s the group chat called?
Atkinson: It’s our band name, which is SVN. There’s seven of us because it’s the whole original cast [including] Grace Mouat, who was the first alternate; she covered all the roles.
Do you remember your first experience of Six as an audience member?
Paris: At the Arts Theatre […] we were doing nine shows a week, so we always had an alternate that took the ninth show, and they said we can watch one of those shows. I was totally blown away.
When you’re in something from the beginning, you don’t know what it’s like from an audience’s perspective, but you’re getting this amazing reaction every single night. But to step out of that and see it how everyone else had been seeing it, I was like, “Oh my god, it’s the best I’ve ever seen.”
Atkinson: I was lucky enough to see Natalie and [original cast members] J.J. [Richard-Noel] and Lexi [McIntosh]’s last night in London. That was something I’ll never forget. We just cried the whole time […] and it was just so much love and so much joy.
What’s a non-Six theatre experience you’ve had that really moved you?
Atkinson: One of my first theatre experiences was The Phantom of the Opera. I can’t remember how old I was, quite young, but I remember when the chandelier did its thing, I just burst out crying. My mom was like, “Are you okay?” It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Paris: I saw The Color Purple [on Broadway] with Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson. From the moment it started, the first few notes that even came out of anyone’s mouth, it hit me in my chest and it was so emotional. It was such an amazing experience, and the audience was electric.
On the flip side, what’s a memorable interaction you’ve had with a Six fan, on Broadway or otherwise?
Paris: [During “Get Down”], Cleves offers an audience member in the front row to get up and have a dance. Normally, they get up in their seat, they have a dance, [they] sit down. One show — I couldn’t believe it […] somebody actually got on stage, this young girl.
We didn’t know what to do, but she was living her best life. She took that moment, and she was our seventh queen for the evening.
Atkinson: One that’s quite memorable, really early on, was a primary school teacher [who] ran after me after the show and was like, “I need to go back and re-teach the whole of Tudor history! I’ve been teaching it all wrong!”
Back home, when you’re learning about Tudor history, it’s all obviously “Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry, Henry,” and then a few paragraphs for the women. But they’re redoing it. They’re going to tell their stories, people; it’s happening. I’d like to think Six had a little part of that.
You’ve been there for so many major moments in Six’s history from the start. What does it mean to you, individually and together, to return as the show ends its Broadway chapter?
Atkinson: I’m so glad we’re together.
Paris: Me too.
Atkinson: It would have been so different on our own. Me and Nat, we did the workshops and the albums, and we’ve seen this whole thing. It’s amazing that we get to do this as well together.
Paris: To have been a part of this groundbreaking show in London and to now be here and and seeing it through its final stages in America is really special. We’re really grateful and lucky to be here.
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This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
Photo credit: Six on Broadway. (Photos by Joan Marcus)