INTERVIEW: Olivia Donalson is having a blast in ‘Six’
Photo: Oliva Donalson, center, stars in Six: The Musical with, from left, Gabriela Carrillo, Jasmine Forsberg, Didi Romero, Storm Lever and Khaila Wilcoxon. Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by BBB with permission.
Six: The Musical continues its royal reign at the Lena Horne Theatre on Broadway. Olivia Donalson has had quite the journey with the show, having appeared as the character of Anna of Cleves on the national tour before being asked to join the Broadway company. What’s doubly amazing is that the entire cast from that national tour landed in New York, so her fellow costars on stage have been with her throughout this entire “her-story” lesson on the six Tudor Queens who were once married to Henry VIII.
“We got cast for the national tour, which started I guess in 2022, and so did the tour for about a year and a half,” Donalson said in a recent phone interview. “And then they brought all six of us from the tour to the Broadway company this December. … I didn’t realize that was kind of unprecedented, but, yeah, they brought all six of us to Broadway. It made the experience so much more special.”
Donalson, who has also appeared on Broadway in the company of Aladdin, said the first national tour was a blast. She enjoyed playing to a variety of audience members in a host of different venues, some of them the largest theaters in the United States. Still, she admitted that there’s nothing quite like the magic of Broadway. In fact, she said each time the spotlight is turned at the Lena Horne Theatre, she receives chills. It doesn’t hurt that the audience members at Six are wonderfully dedicated to the musical, and screaming can often be heard as if a pop singer were about to take the stage.
“It was fun because the show is more of a pop concert, so I really had to slip more into the pop music bag instead of the musical theatre genre,” she said. “And so my audition tape was an Adele song and ‘We Found Love’ from Rihanna, so I think my main preparation was … trying to find that more mainstream vibe for this role, which has been so fun.”
Those audition songs make sense because Donalson feels the experience of performing in Six is different than other musicals in Midtown Manhattan. Here’s how she put it: “When we are singing our solo, we’re front and center, but then for the rest of it, we’re kind of doing backups for the other queens, which makes me feel like we’re part of a girl group. I really do feel like we are a girl group touring the country, and this is our Broadway stop.”
That pop feel extends to the style of each song. Donalson can sense some Beyoncé influences, some Adele vibes and maybe even Avril Lavigne. “I like that no matter what genre you like to listen to, you’ll find something that you love from the show,” she said. “A lot of people always tell me that my song, which is a little more hip hop, is their gym song.”
That song is “Get Down,” and it comes during the second half of the 90-minute show. Donalson loves that moment during the musical, and she often has audience members singing along.
“There are fans that are dressing in our costumes every single show, and we have fans that have seen the show 30, 40, 50, 60 times,” she said. “And there’s such a beautiful message of uplifting each other and supporting women and just feeling your power, and to see that that’s the kind of the messaging that these young folks are getting, it’s just really, really nice. There’s this one fan who I feel like she comes back every month, and she’s sitting front row with the hugest smile in her costume from the show. It warms my heart for real.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Six: The Musical, featuring Olivia Donalson, continues at the Lena Horne Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
