Three Rivers Music Theatre are giving a voice to the voiceless in the first show of their 2024-25 season.

In their latest production, Six: Teen Edition, the cast of … you guessed it … six are all teenage females that portray the six wives of Henry VIII.

“Musical theater is so often written for so many men, but guess who communities often don’t have? A lot of talented men in musical theater,” Three Rivers Music Theatre Executive Director Andy Plank said. “We’re always looking for material that features female-identifying artists. So, that excited me — that we could focus on young, female-identifying artists and give them a platform.”

Described as “From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the six wives of Henry VIII take the mic to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st-century girl power!” there will be eight showings of the production with opening night Friday, July 19, at the company’s studios off Wells Street at 416 W. Fourth St.

Jumping at opportunity

Shining a spotlight on young female artists, such a youth production might become a summer staple of Three Rivers Music Theatre.

The theater company already hosts a Summer Musical Theatre Intensive, which will be July 29-Aug. 3 this year with guest clinicians Kayla Davion, Bill Jenkins, and Jodi Cotton-Street, who will also be directing Six: Teen Edition.

“This is a first,” Cotton-Street said of the company’s all-teen case. “(Planck) found that this show, which is iconic — everyone loves it — was available, and he was like, ‘We have to do it.’ ”

Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, Six is relatively new, having premiered in 2017. However, popularity for the Tony-winning musical is clear. And when a teen edition was made available for schools and theater companies with performers 19 and younger, Planck did not waste time.

“Jumped on it, literally, the second I saw it was available,” Planck said.

“I didn’t think the rights for it would be available for a while because it’s playing on Broadway. Licensing companies have decided to release some of these titles sporadically to give kids access to material that challenges them, that’s educationally beneficial. So it’s only licensed as a teen version. You couldn’t do it with adults.”

Learning the facts

Despite the absence of adults in the show, the talent on stage will be undeniable.

“I think people will forget that these are teenagers when they see the show,” Cotton-Street said. “They’re working beyond their years.”

Among those on stage will be 18-year-old Jordyn Reed, who recently graduated from Carroll High School and will be pursuing a musical theater degree at Western Michigan University this fall.

Reed, who starred in Three Rivers Music Theatre’s Miscast and Holiday Concert Fundraiser, will play Jane Seymour, who was Henry VIII’s third wife following a divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the beheading of Anne Boleyn.

“Jane Seymour, weirdly enough, was one of the characters that I kind of did not connect to,” Reed said. “Having the opportunity to play her and get to know her, and get to know her background and see things from her perspective, it’s brought a new love for me to have for her.”

Cotton-Street actually assigned her young actors with learning a little bit about their characters. While Reed was learning up on Jane Seymour, Catherine Russell did the same for Catherine of Aragon, Tegan Dostal researched Anne Boleyn, Gabrielle Denham researched Anna of Cleves, Katie Blessinger researched Katherine Howard, and Aujenae Starks researched Catherine Parr. Along the main cast, Sydney Hyatt, Jazmin Jimenez, Leah Lusk, and Abby Romulus are understudies and ensemble.

Getting in step

On top of learning historical aspects of the show, the teens have also been rehearsing pop numbers and dance steps.

Each queen will have her own personality that is showcased through the type of music she performs.

“All six highlight a pop icon in different ways,” Reed said. “So, Anne Boleyn, who Tegan Dostal portrays, she is more of your Avril Lavigne — your poppy girl. Then you have Katherine Howard, who is played by Katie Blessinger, and she has more of an Ariana Grande or a Britney Spears kind of vibe.”

For Reed, Jane Seymour’s character is more of an Adele- or Sia-type performer.

On top of the vocals, Reed has been excited about incorporating dance into the show, with Fort Wayne Dance Collective Artistic Director Mandie Kolkman handling choreography.

“Usually with a show, there’s first act, intermission, second act, and there’s a lot of time when you’re not on stage and you can breathe a little bit,” Reed said. “That’s not the case with this show. There is no intermission. You’re on stage the entire time. It’s a new challenge that I was really looking forward to when I got cast.”

Reed’s, and the rest of the cast’s, talent is why they got cast. And it’s that young, diverse talent that has Planck excited.

“I knew we had so much talent in our community,” he said. “We have our pre-freshman musical theater training program, and we have all these kids with explosive talent that often don’t get a chance to have shows that really expose the wideness of the skill sets.”

Now they have that show. 

Only time will tell if the youth production becomes an annual Three Rivers Music Theatre show.