Six Previews on Broadway: Costume Changes! (Continuously updated as I find better photos. :D)
All My Six Posts!
The Historical and Modern Inspirations in the Costumes of Six the Musical: Wives 1-3
The Historical and Modern Inspirations in the Costumes of Six the Musical: Wives 4-6
The Alternate Costumes of Six the Musical (Continuously updated!)
The Historical Inspirations and Costumes of the Ladies in Waiting of Six
The Tudor Fashion Elements of the Costumes in Six (with Painting References)
The Shoes of Six the Musical (Continuously updated!)
How the Six Alternates Change Their Styling for Each Queen
Quick and Short Six the Musical Costume Update (AUSTRALIA)
Six started its previews on Broadway last night! I’ve scrolled through as many photos and megasix* videos as I could find to check out the costumes and see if there are any alterations. And there are some pretty significant changes to Cleves’ costumes that I am DYING to talk about.
(*Megasix is the post-finale finale of the show that combines all of the queens’ songs in a really brilliant dance mix. The cast traditionally encourages audience members to take out their cameras and phones and record the megasix; they’ve also played around with cameras by taking them from people in the front row and holding them up and such. These megasix videos are one of the big reasons Six has gotten so popular.)
Two quick disclaimers:
1. Apparently, some of the cast members are part of the actors union, which bans filming or photography of any performances, so there is an announcement before the show that bans all that, INCLUDING during the Megasix.* The cast does not give the usual “pull out your cameras” announcement in the Megasix because of this, but many audience members from last night’s show said that a TON of people were recording and the ushers weren’t making any moves to stop them, so there may be an unofficial policy of tolerance toward Megasix videos.
2. I’ve pulled the screencaps in this post off of various Instagram profiles, but anything I’m saying about costumes here was also confirmed with higher-quality bootleg photos that I’m not allowed to share here. I’ll keep looking for better quality photos of the costumes I can add, but don’t want to wait until I have access to those to post about these. :
Screencaps are thanks to the Instagram profiles of costume designer @sladegabriella; actresses @sampauly; @brittmack8; @andrea.cesyl; @_laurendrew1 and the instagram profiles of fans: @tschusko; @makandcheessse; @coreyapil; @basically_broadway; @Zoennis; @Derek_Sneady; @karynb05; @Hammy_ham_bway [if anyone doesn’t want a screencap of their Instagram on here, please let me know at rachaeldickzen@gmail.com and I’ll take it down ASAP).
Here’s the Broadway stage door for reference of what the costumes looked like before the show opened. Cleves’s and Howard’s costumes in the stage show definitely do not look the same as they do here. The others look very similar, but there are some details changed in each look.
Costume Changes:
It looks like the changes I already chronicled in the Cleves costume and Howard costume for the Australia cast were also made for the Broadway cast, but there are lots of other changes as well.
(remember, some of these details I’m writing about are taken from photos the owner doesn’t want shared, so you may not be able to see them in the screencaps I’ve included. Sorry! Doing the best I can here. )
The Broadway costumes! Photo thanks to @Tschusko on Instagram.
Aragon: It looks like the inverted chevrons on Aragon’s top have been changed to black and gold checks. These checks also show up in her skirt, where it replaces the gold stripe section, which also sports a new peplum layer (peplum- “a short flared, gathered, or pleated strip of fabric attached at the waist of a woman's jacket, dress, or blouse to create a hanging frill or flounce.”). The sleeves are different, with bigger puffs at top and black fishnet over gold bottoms that look an awful lot like Seymour’s sleeves.
UPDATED 02/24/2020: I’ve read that this is the same update that occurred for the UK Tour Aragon Costume! And looking at Lauren Drew’s new Catherine of Aragon costume, that does seem to be the case! You can see the details a lot better in this photo from her instagram.
Photo thanks to @Makandcheessse on Instagram
Lauren Drew wearing the updated Aragon costume on the UK Tour. Photo thanks to her instagram at @_laurendrew1.
Boleyn: Boleyn’s costume looks almost the same, but she’s got more silver studs at the bottom and top of her skirt and defining each black grid and epaulette on her top
Photo thanks to @Tschusko on Instagram
Photo thanks to @Tschusko on Instagram
Seymour: Hey, Seymour got a peplum too! Everyone gets peplums now! Her peplum is white with black lines, visually extending her top rather than sitting on her skirt like Aragon’s or on Parr’s pants. Her top also has more diagonal black stripes on the side now, instead of the just plain vertical ones she had before.
Cleves: (I’m including the Australia cast pic in the gallery for a high quality example of the jacket and shorts changes) Cleves’ jacket is pretty much the same it’s been in other casts except for some added epaulettes and perhaps some added sleeve length and overall length, but UNDERNEATH the jacket. Damn girl. The black crop top with red trimming has been replaced with a MAGNIFENT red top (longer than her previous crop top with lots of silver studding, a mini faux black corset, lots of silver chains draping everywhere, and magnificent sleeves made up of gridded silver studded red leather strips. I wish I could share a picture of this so badly, as it doesn’t show up as much under her jacket. I’m assuming she takes her jacket off at some point in her song and THAT’S when the “holy shit that’s amazing” factor happens.
She also gets to wear some friggin amazing thigh high black boots covered in gorgeous silver studs.
Howard: (I’m including the Australia cast pic in the gallery for a high quality example of the costume change) Howard’s Broadway costume looks identical to the Australia costume but with only one X across the neckline rather than two. From my post on that: “It looks like the same black striped mesh fabric is in use all over both the West End and the Australia outfits, but the pink fabric has changed up a bit. In addition to the original sheer pink fabric used on the skirt, there's now a slightly less sheer pink fabric with black hatching on it; the skirt's panels alter between sheer and sheer with hatching and there's now a bottom border of the sheer with hatching fabric. There's also more silver beading throughout the skirt. This fabric with hatching is also incorporated into the alternating style panels on the bodice and on the bodice's top sleeves. It also looks like the hatching fabric may be used on the back of the bodice as well.”
Photo thanks to @coreyapil on Instagram
Photo from @SladeGabriella on Instagram.
Parr: Her sleeves look fuller and rounder, and now she has a blue and black peplum with silver studs. It also looks like her belt is more heavily studded.
Accessory Changes:
It looks like all the Queens are now wearing SPARKLY fish nets (except Parr, who wears pants). Previously, it looked like they just wore sheer black hose. (This doesn’t really show up in the instagram screencaps, alas).
The earrings are a big change which were previously posted on costume designer Gabriella Slade’s Instagram; it appears that some of the Queens now have large earrings with the Roman numeral version of their “order” in the wives. Earring details are basically impossible to capture in Instagram screencaps, but I can confirm the following from my higher quality bootleg source.
All Broadway Cast Accessories:
Aragon: round earrings with spikes and a roman numeral “I” in the center are Aragon’s (pictured on Gabriella Slade’s Instagram account); large gold spikes on a leather headband. Lots of gold chain necklaces.
Boleyn: Hoops that appear to be silver and black; leather cuffs with spikes around her “space buns.” “B” necklace.
Seymour: Plain, thin gold hoops; white headband with small silver spikes, single silver chain which may actually be part of her costume.
Cleves: Large gold roman numeral fours (pictured on Gabriella Slade’s Instagram account); silver spikes arranged lengthwise on her head on either side of her hairdo (which is this gorgeous braid twist bun thing I can’t properly describe).
Howard: Pink hoops; leather cuff with spikes around ponytail with pink ends; “K” necklace.
Parr: Big silver hoops and Large silver spikes positioned where a “middle part” would sit
I saw the show on February 22 and it was BRILLIANT. I got some photos but honestly, they weren’t very good quality. You’re welcome to go see them at www.instagram.com/rachaeldickzen.
