Alizé Cruz is a rising star in the musical theater scene, and Philadelphia audiences will soon have a chance to see her in action.
Cruz takes the stage as Katherine Howard in the national tour of 'SIX: The Musical,' running in Philadelphia from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5. Her résumé already includes leading roles such as Moana in Disney’s 'When You Wish,' Raven in 'Bat Out of Hell' on the Las Vegas Strip, and even covering multiple queens as a rehearsal swing for 'SIX' on Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Alizé Cruz stars as Katherine Howard in 'SIX.'Joan Marcus[/caption]
Cruz recently sat down with Metro to discuss how she brings her own interpretation to Henry VIII’s fifth wife, the unique challenges of working as a swing, and why 'SIX' continues to captivate audiences of all ages.
How have some of your earlier roles prepared you to play Katherine Howard?
The musical theater world I knew was very classical or Disney. That was my background and what I was trained in. Then I got hired to do 'Bat Out of Hell,' this rock musical and I had to learn a whole different way of singing. It challenged me, not so much to fit into a character, but to bring my own voice into this role, which was really fun and new, and really scary.
That helped me with 'SIX' so much because I sing pop in this show. It's so high registered, super powerhouse, and I was not used to that in my musical world. 'Bat Out of Hell' really helped allow me to just bring my own sound to this character and not be afraid of that.
For people who might not know, what does a rehearsal swing do and what was that experience like for you on the cruise ship?
That was insane. I only did it for three weeks. A rehearsal swing, essentially, is a role mainly on cruise ship performances. It’s a swing of a swing, a backup of the backup. We learned three characters and I covered Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard, and Jane Seymour. It was the hardest experience of my life. I'm so impressed by the swings that we have in our show and we have some swings that cover 12 roles. It's such a unique, incredible strength that I wish I had, but that experience alone really taught me that my brain doesn’t work like that so I might as well work really hard to play one role.
I actually had a swing out in 'SIX,' which is only an 85 minute show. Something happened with my voice in the beginning and I just couldn't get to my song. My swing got ready in five minutes and was able to get on stage to take over. I literally cried because she is so amazing. ‘How do you do this?!,’ I thought!
Katherine Howard was Henry VIII’s fifth wife. What stands out about her story compared to the other wives?
Katherine was the youngest queen out of all of them and she was married to Henry for a short amount of time. She was known as the promiscuous one in real life and I like to show the side of her that's not. Since she was characterized that way, that's often how she's played. But I don’t think she’s that at all. I think she's strong, she's intelligent, and she's funny. Putting that spin on my character is really fun. Also, for all the “youngins” in the crowd, my costume is based off of Ariana Grande. I have a long pink ponytail that I just love and we all wear different colors.
Each Queen in 'SIX' draws inspiration from real-life pop stars. Which singers or styles can we hear in Katherine's music?
My song, “All You Wanna Do”, was written with an Ariana Grande or Jessie J type of attitude. We base our queens off of whoever we find fit, we call them our “queenspiration”, and somebody that I found fit who is not a singer is Paris Hilton. Her stories of her life are so parallel to Katherine Howard’s. So I like to put her inspiration and her story into mine.
Do you have a favorite song or scene in 'SIX,' whether it’s one you perform yourself or one you love watching a fellow queen deliver?
Kelly Denice Taylor plays Jane Seymour and she sings “'Heart of Stone.' I love a sappy song and songs that make me cry. I get to sit behind her the whole time and just listen. It's burned in my brain at this point, but every time it's so beautiful to me. I think my favorite part about it is I'm behind her, but I can see the audience and I can see their reactions. I've seen people sobbing, smiling and just in awe of her. I love watching people feel what she's giving them.
This is 'SIX’s second time in Philly since 2023 and it’s still going strong on Broadway. Why do you think audiences love the show so much?
'SIX’s audience is not limited. You can have kids as young as age five who are into the costumes, the colors, the lights, or 90-year-olds who have been through life and can relate to a character. It's an empowering show overall and we take you on that journey with us. In theater, we have a thing called the fourth wall.
That’s the wall between the audience and us. 'SIX' doesn’t have one. You're allowed to laugh, you're allowed to be loud. Some people might not know, in other shows, when it’s time to clap. You can do that whenever in our show and react to us how you see fit. I think that's a very special aspect of our show that always makes people want more. They want to come back and listen to the story again. So it's a fun one.
'SIX' runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 at Ensemble Arts’ Academy of Music. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ensembleartsphilly.org
