Kelly Denice Taylor has performed in “SIX: The Musical” around 1,200 times, including substituting on Broadway with a few hours’ notice.
She’ll bring her experience as one of English King Henry VIII’s wives to the Scranton Cultural Center. There will be five performances of the Tony Award-winning musical Nov. 21–23. Tickets currently begin at $66.
The wives, often reduced to the rhyme “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” are reimagined as a pop girl group.
“Beyoncé is the overall queen-spiration for the entire show,” Taylor said. “We actually, in rehearsals, sat down and watched the Rose Bowl concert and that was how we got to know what ‘SIX: the Musical’ was supposed to be.”
“SIX: The Musical” a national tour, is coming to Scranton. (Broadway in Scranton)
Taylor plays Jane Seymour, wife No. 3, who was queen for less than two years before dying shortly after having a son.
Her Jane is influenced by Adele.
“A lot of her music and discography is backed by her relationships and some of her marriages and breakups and things like that. And Seymour is singing a very similar song. You know, she really loved Henry and is known in history for being the queen that Henry truly loved. I mean, on his deathbed he actually asked to be buried next to Jane Seymour.”
Taylor also adds touches of Whitney Houston and Brandy Norwood.
Taylor thinks the show works because it takes the women out of the history books and humanizes them.
“People are just pulled in by the stories and the emotion and also seeing people up on stage that look like them,” she said. “You know, it makes it very palatable.”
Henry never appears. The show opens with the women tired of being “just one word in a stupid rhyme.”
“So I picked up a pen and a microphone. History’s about to get overthrown,” they sing.
The show has been on Broadway since 2020. It was nominated for several Tony Awards and won for best original score and best costume design for a musical.
Taylor says tour audiences include devoted fans and subscribers to annual theater series, who might come in without any information.
“They’re totally taken aback, when we, you know, break the fourth wall and we’re trying to get them to cheer,” Taylor said. Audiences get swept up in the energy, she said.
Taylor played Jane on Broadway with a few hours’ notice. It was during the pandemic, when COVID-19 sometimes knocked out multiple performers at once. She was an alternate in a touring production of “SIX” when the call came.
“It’s a feeling of accomplishment, like I saved the day,” Taylor said. “But also like wow, how did I get here? Because I was just performing with a totally different company yesterday.”
Mostly, she was grateful to be selected. Taylor went on for a few more Broadway performances. She has toured extensively with the show, usually playing Jane.
At 80 minutes, the show is on the short side for Broadway. It is performed without an intermission.
“It’s really a concert,” Taylor said. “The only thing missing is that people don’t stand up the entire show.”
Unlike many shows that come to the region, the performers are members of a union, the Actors’ Equity Association. The union represents Broadway performers and others.
It is recommended for ages 10 and up.
Performance times are Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 22, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Nov. 23, at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
The best availability is for the final show, said Broadway in Scranton spokesperson Ali Basalyga.
Tickets are available at broadwayinscranton.com, at the Scranton Cultural Center, 420 N. Washington Ave.; and by phone at 570-342-7784. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Season tickets are still available for the rest of the Broadway in Scranton season. The schedule is “The Book of Mormon,” Dec. 19-21; “Kinky Boots,” Feb. 13-15; “Chicago,” March 6-8; “Clue,” April 24-26, and “The Music Man,” June 12-14.
Individual tickets for “Book of Mormon” are on sale. Others will go on sale closer to show dates.
If you go
What: “SIX: The Musical,” a national touring production
When: Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 22, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; and Nov. 23, 1 and 6:30 p.m.
Where: Scranton Cultural Center, 420 N. Washington Ave.
Details: Tickets currently start at $66 and are available at BroadwayinScranton.com, at the Scranton Cultural Center, and by phone at 570-342-7784. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.