This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Tori Bullard: We would like to acknowledge the Thurrawal people of the Eora Nation and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay respect to the traditional custodians of this land on which we work, live, and record, and strive to continue in the tradition of Australia's first storytellers. We acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.

[0:22] Tori Bullard: You're listening to Stage Door Podcast, the podcast celebrating theatre and creativity, from onstage mishaps to career-defining moments, hosted by thespians myself, Tori, and co-host Eliza. Fortnightly, we will bring you industry professional guests, deep dives, and more.

[0:41] Tori Bullard: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Stage Door Podcast. Today, we are joined by two of Australia's queens from the pop sensation, Six. Podcast alumni Chelsea Dawson, who plays Catherine Howard, and Kimberley Hodgson, who plays Catherine of Aragon. Please welcome Chelsea and Kim to the mic.

[1:00] Chelsea Dawson: Hello.

[1:01] Kimberley Hodgson: Hello.

[1:02] Tori Bullard: Thank you guys so much for coming here today, and especially like on a Thursday, before a show, you're here with us, so we so appreciate it.

[1:08] Chelsea Dawson: Oh, thank you for having us.

[1:09] Tori Bullard: I guess we'll kind of jump straight into it. So obviously, this is for both of you. Tell us a bit about yourselves and who you are.

[1:16] Chelsea Dawson: Okay, my name is Chelsea Dawson. My pronouns are she, her. I am, yeah, currently in Six the musical. I made my professional debut in 2020 doing Shrek the musical. I studied at the Queensland Conservatory and Griffith University, and yeah, I've done some productions here and there. I did the tour in 2022 to 2023 of Six, playing Catherine Howard, and then I've done Mamma Mia, and was in a brand new musical, Zombie the musical, earlier this year, and Back in the Pink, which was really fun.

[2:04] Kimberley Hodgson: Hello, I am Kimberley Hodgson, with Kim. My pronouns are she, her. I also went to the Conservatory of Music, but I graduated many years ago. I graduated in 2013, and I have since been seen in such shows, including many. Let's list, let's list. No, not all of them. My first, I guess, touring show was Rolling Thunder Vietnam. It was in 2014. Yeah, I was in the original cast of that, and I, yeah, I workshopped that role. I kind of, like, yeah, not, yeah. So that was my first kind of, like, touring show, and then I went on to do a number of other shows, including Aladdin, and Frozen, and Mary Poppins. I was in the original cast of Fangirls. I played Rola Marana. I recently was in Miss Saigon, as Gigi, and Anita in West Side Story, on Handoff on the Harbour. Oh my gosh, my series. And now, Catherine of Aragon in Saigon!

[3:22] Tori Bullard: I love that! Oh my god, that's amazing. That is seriously such a resume. Honestly, anyone that has done any kind of theatre, I'm just always just, like, impressed. I'm like, I don't care what you've done. Like, theatre royalty. Like, theatre royalty. Both of you, both of you.

[3:39] Chelsea Dawson: It's just so funny, because it's like, you, I never even think that all of these amazing things that I've done actually happened until you do something like this, and you're like, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah. It's just like, it's too much, it's too much. Because, I mean, it's such a grind, this industry, and you're constantly trying to, like, keep going.

[4:04] Kimberley Hodgson: Absolutely. It's very much that. For the rest of our lives, we will continue the grind. We love the grind.

[4:12] Tori Bullard: And I mean, coming back to now, both of you are in Six, which is why we're here today, which is so exciting. And Chelsea, this is your second season stepping on stage as Catherine Howard. How do you think you and this role have grown since you last played Howard? And have you noticed any major changes?

[4:28] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, look, when I first started Howie, I was a baby. Like, you know, I did get to do Shrek the Musical beforehand, but I was still such, like, a, I didn't know how to be a leading lady, like, and that responsibility. And also being cast in 2020, and then not really getting to, like, touch her or work with the creatives until, like, the end of 2021. It was definitely this interesting mind game that I had to work through for that, like, 14 months of, like, finding my value and my worth as a performer. There were so many, like, mind games that I felt like I had to play last time. But stepping back in, being two years older than I was last time, having more sense of my identity, I feel like, and what I can bring to this industry, I get to have more fun this time.

And also, I just love Howard, like, her story is so important to share. And I feel so honoured to be able to do that every night. And yeah, now she's a bit more goofy. I also sit into her confidence a bit more. I was so scared about what it, you know, meant to be, like, sexually confident on stage, because I just see myself as such a dork. And so to have to embrace that last time, I was very much kind of always looking outside of myself, being like, what do I look like? How are people perceiving me? But now it's, like, kind of fun to flirt with the audience and be like, who am I going to pick on tonight? I've grown a lot, and it feels really nice to come back and revisit and, like, hug her again, you know?

[6:16] Eliza Gunther: Because you were in it still at the Opera House, weren't you?

[6:18] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, yeah, yep.

[6:19] Eliza Gunther: Yes. So seeing it then, and then seeing it at the Theatre Royal on opening night, I feel like I noticed such a difference in you and the way you played it, and just everyone in general, how malleable these roles are, obviously still keeping them authentic to the fact that they are literally historical characters. There did feel like this, like, just ease and confidence to it, and it's a role that you don't realise how heavy of a song and a role it is, and how heavy all of the Queen's actual, like, the actuality of it all is. And you do that with such grace and with ease, but you still have fun with it, which is just, it's so wonderful to watch.

[7:04] Chelsea Dawson: Thank you so much, that's so kind. Yeah, I just think also the best part about Six is that, like, you know, we get to kind of live with these, you know, who we are, who these Queens were, and what we kind of imagine their lives to be. Plus, with this, like, pop star element, we get to create this beautiful hybrid, like, it's not, I was thinking about this earlier today, being like, it's not like we're stepping into, you would know, Mary Poppins, being like there's such an etiquette and a fine art to what people are expecting to see. Whereas in this show, like, you could see this production 10 times around the world in different cities, and you'll get a different interpretation every time, which is exciting.

[7:50] Eliza Gunther: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And I mean, Kim, you're obviously joining the cast for the first time, as many of your other Queens are in this time round. What was your Six origin story? Like, how did you first discover the musical? And have you always seen yourself as an Aragon?

[8:00] Kimberley Hodgson: I first saw the show when it was in Australia, the very first time. 2020. 2020. And I saw it pretty early on in that iteration of the show. And I remember walking away from it being like, gosh, I reckon those girls are working pretty hard. Like, that's a pretty high energetic beast of a thing. And I just remember being like, gosh, the tracks are great. It's super catchy. I did audition for it originally, but I was doing Fangirls at the time, and I couldn't finish the audition process because I was in the middle of rehearsing for Fangirls. So I did audition for Aragon originally, and Cleaves.

[8:50] Eliza Gunther: Oh, interesting.

[8:51] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah. But then when I was, I had like, literally two hours, I think, to learn both audition songs. And at this point, I didn't know the musical very well. I didn't know, because it was relatively new. Like, there was only three productions in the world at that point. So there was the West End, Chicago, and Australia. Like, it was bare bones new. Really, like, I wouldn't say that I picked it up and listened, you know, to it on the spot. So I went in pretty, you know, well, I don't know what you want me to do, but I'll just cold read. So I did a little bit of a cold read of No Way and Get Down. No Way, successful. Get Down, not successful. Also, because naturally, I'm a kind of a soprano-ish, like, mezzo-soprano.

So after doing No Way, and I was belting, like, the original riff in it, and then I had to do Get Down. And that was, uh, there was nothing because I'm so, anyway, not so successful. Then I saw the show, and I thought, oh, that's a hard show. Lots of energy, but some bangers. Like, kind of like from afar.

[10:19] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, from afar. I'm like, you, you are doing a thing, and it's so good. The next time it came around to audition, which was this version for me, I was arming and arming, if I should or not. So I'm now 32, and I thought, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do what those girls do. And then I thought, oh, well, you know, I may as well just give it a go. And I went in, assuming, I'm like, oh, they'll probably maybe want to see me for Aragon again, because vocally, I naturally kind of sit in that world, and maybe other people. So I ended up, uh, reading for Aragon, for Pa, and a little bit of Bobo.

[11:03] Eliza Gunther: Yeah. I would love to see your Bobo.

[11:10] Kimberley Hodgson: Oh, she's chaotic. Yeah. And so, um, again, very, it was, I was,

[11:17] Kimberley Hodgson: Starting rehearsals for West Side. So again, I was doing all this material in a short amount of time. So I kind of just like did the best that I could. I was very lucky that a lot of the panel had seen me do many other things before. So I had that kind of under my belt this time, which was helpful. And yeah, and then I got a call when they said, you're actually doing Six. And this is my agent. I said, oh, really? I said, what one? And he said, Catherine of Aragon. I said, oh, good. She's hard. That's a hard one. Oh, good. Good. That's going to be very challenging. And here we are. I'm loving it. It's good now. I was a bit stressed at the start, but it's such a great role. She's just amazing.

She's so fun to play. And I have to say having the new Queens join and during rehearsals when they would be like, God, this is hard. I was like, thank the Lord. It wasn't just me. I was like, God, it was so affirming to be like, oh yeah, no, this is a hard show. What we're doing is tricky. Love it. Have the best time. But it's hard. Yeah. The stamina needed to get through that show. When you watch, you're like, okay, these girls are working. Yeah. The brain power, the stamina, physical power. I mean, it is just like 80 something minutes of just production number back to back to back to back to back to back to back to back. It's unlike anything else. Lots of fun. Lots of fun. Living your best pop star lives. Jump on the train and just keep going.

[12:51] Chelsea Dawson: Literally though, like we, I was, I'm still shocked that this is the job I booked from studying musical theater because none of it I learned at musical theater. Like I didn't learn how to hold a handheld mic or to work with in ears or like, I don't know, to be a pop star. I didn't learn that. It's so funny because like, so growing up, I didn't really do musical theater. I was like kid pop singer. Mom taught me at home, never did lessons, no training, no, no training at home. And I, all I would do is literally just sing Christina songs, Mariah songs. And then you go to uni and everything changes. And then they're like, cut that, cut that, change all of that about you. Actually, we want you to be employable.

So we're going to make you into this. And then all of these years later, you have to reaccess this. Like for me, I was like, wait, wait, I used to do this as like my way of doing this. And it's just so funny from going from like a classic musical, like Poppins and, you know, and, and West Side. Oh yeah. West Side. Yeah. I guess a little bit, but like, I mean, Saigon's pretty like, it's just such a, and all the, like the Disney shows, they're all very pretty sounding, easy mix. Like this is just very, very not that. So it is fun. It's just fun. It's just interesting though, that you, you spend all this time trying to like, like shape your craft into a particular thing. And then the industry just requires you to sometimes completely abandon it all and just do, you know, a pop concert.

[14:41] Kimberley Hodgson: And kind of on the, uh, the train of auditions, how do you each kind of prepare for auditions? Do you have any tips or tricks or routines you stick to, or do you just kind of like go in and vibe it off the room?

[14:56] Chelsea Dawson: Oh, look, there's definitely that like umming and ahhing stage. You go, will I, will I not? I should be looking at the material. Am I gonna, when's it gonna happen? Then the 24 hours kicks in before, and then you go, oh, let's commit. No, no. Um, no, I'm pretty laxed with auditions. Like I've got definitely my like go-to songs, which I have just found over like a couple of years that they just like resonate with me. And usually no matter kind of what the audition is, I'll try and utilize those, or I'll change them in a sneaky way where it suits the style a bit better. But just like, you know, at the end of the day, I want the audition panel to see who I am and hopefully then they can give me the material so then I can show what I can do as an actor. Just trying to settle those nerves is usually the big challenge.

[16:00] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, I um, I try to, when I've figured out if I'm suitable for anything, I'll try and listen to the soundtrack, and I'll try and get a gauge of where I would sit maybe in the show, and then have a look at the brief and see, all right, who are they actually casting for? And then I choose something that I kind of already have. I'm pretty terrible at like learning new stuff, so I will constantly just go back to the same thing that I know works for me. But it also then like resonates with you.

[16:25] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, absolutely. And then I have to think about something else. At least it's already there, I know it, I don't have to think about it. And then once I've figured that out, and then I also do the same thing of whatever I've got, I'll try and shift it stylistically so that it fits within the realm of whatever that world is that I'm auditioning for. And I guess just singing in as much of the maybe material that I might potentially get asked to do, a lot of the time like that might not actually happen. So I try not to spend too much time obsessing over that, but I try and prepare myself to a degree so I'm not caught off guard.

[17:00] Kimberley Hodgson: And then when it gets to the day, I'll just try and wake up at least three hours before, and then drink lots of water and do my warm-ups and get my body warm. And I think as I've gotten older, I have come to realize that auditioning for things isn't so much about proving to myself whether I'm good enough or not. I've spent a little bit of time in my early career trying to prove to people that I'm good. And now I think I've gotten to the point where I'm like, I went in for this and I didn't have really the best audition that I've ever really done, to be honest. I went in and I thought I did an average sing. Maybe that's me being harsh on myself, but being realistic, I didn't sing the best that I could have.

But in the end, I guess what I've learned over the years is that when I go in, I'm just going to do the best that I can. I've done the work that I feel like I should have done, and I've put in enough work without feeling like I abandon everything else in my life so that I'm just available for this one thing that might not even happen. You know what I mean? It's like I've tried to find a good balance with mindset of, you know, if they want me, they want me. I'm just going to do the best I can. I'll go in. I think that definitely helps, you know, with my nerves and things like that. It's hard when it's a show that I really want. That's hard. But in the end, I'm not a bit of a realist. I don't really, I try to, you know, set the expectations a little bit low so I don't get disappointed. But I think that's a really important thing about the not having to prove anything.

[18:47] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah. You know, I just think you just get this moment to share and to play, and it's like just, and you have to constantly remind yourself because when you sing a bung note and you're like, oh, that's how they're going to remember me for the rest of time. Thank you so much. Love this. But, you know, it was like, no, no, no. We all understand this is a really heightened environment. I want to show you my best self. You want the best of me. Let's just like have a go. Let's have a play.

[19:23] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, we try. I mean, I try as hard as I can to stick to that, you know. But there are days where I get more nervous than others. And, you know, just a lot of breathing techniques, a lot of vagus nerve exercises to try and just like settle the nervous system. Lots of tricks and things that I guess we all learn along the way that we try and do.

[19:41] Chelsea Dawson: No, I love that, especially like about like also using songs that you're really good at. I think sometimes you think, oh, that panel's heard that song before. But you can, you can just do what you're good at, because that's really what you then do at the end of the day. And it's just the first round, usually.

[19:57] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah. And like, I'll never forget, I think it was maybe for Groundhog Day, my like go-to song. Oh, should I say my go-to song? I love One Day by 35mm. Oh, yes. And great song. Yeah. It's just like such a fun acting play. And they get to see like all the colours of me. And I kind of get to have a little fun squirrels. And then it was like, oh, great. Actually, what happened? It was like in the morning. And then they were like, cool. So can you come back in four hours? And we would like to see you do these other three characters. And I was like, oh, it's because, which I was like, but also, it's because you got to see me play. And you want to see what I could do with these other characters. And how exciting, you know?

[20:48] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah. But also don't get me to work. Four hours. Like I've got four hours to do three week job. I'll do that. No worries.

[20:52] Kimberley Hodgson: Anyway. I know so many people that struggle with, I know I struggle with it. I go into an audition room or I submit something. And then I go, oh, well, they're going to hate me. And I'm never going to book a job for the rest of my life. I'm done. I should just quit. I should just leave now. I'm done. It's fine. And then it's like, you know, an hour later. And I'm like, that was a little bit dramatic.

[21:15] Chelsea Dawson: Literally. And I think what my favourite thing about audition days is always to plan a treat. Like that's just it now is so symbiotic with like, I did an audition, no matter how it went, there is something either exciting, exciting, I'm going to eat or exciting. I'm going to see, you know?

[21:35] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, I think that's it's so important because also it's like it's you doing a hard thing. You're literally putting your entire self in front of people that you generally don't know to, in a sense, in the nicest way possible to judge you if you're right for this role, for this show, you're putting a lot of yourself on the line.

[21:51] Chelsea Dawson: Oh, and it's much more terrifying than performing on stage. Like, you can see everyone so clearly. Like, I know I try and do this thing with my sight where everything gets blurry. Like I try, you know, where you can't see what they're doing, or them, or looking at them and then their heads are just down the whole time when they're passing notes. Like, I don't want to know. And when I'm on stage doing Catherine Howard, I can't see, oh look, we can actually see people's expressions in this show particularly. You know what I mean? It's just, it's a, your body goes through fight or flight.

[22:33] Eliza Gunther: Yes. I guess kind of on the vein of the, you know, preparing and kind of what you do in general and for these roles, all of the Queens, both you add so much depth and personality to these already existing roles each and every time that you perform.

[23:03] Eliza Gunther: How do you strike the balance between adding your own flair to these roles, which I assume is quite encouraged, while still keeping to the deeper truth of these real historic women and the events that they've been through?

[23:24] Kimberley Hodgson: This is me as an actor. I, fiction, nonfiction, whomever this person is that I'm, you know, kind of embodying, I always find whatever part of myself resonates most with that person and that spirit. In this particular show, I think is very clever because in some ways those kind of bigger emotions and bigger personality traits will always shine through, I think, because the writing is great. But depending on who says it, it just completely changes the role.

[23:56] Kimberley Hodgson: Aragon, she's a pretty powerful, incredible woman. Everything that she went through, I think, makes her fierce powerhouse woman that I try to embody when I do the role. The amalgamation of all of that, I think, is what makes playing these particular roles pretty special because you can do that. And I think also with this show, you know, when I look in Aragon's eyes, I also know I'm looking in Kimmy's eyes and whether a line's been said correct or not, like we can have a little chuckle or we have such a connection within this company as well. It's really beautiful to share those intimate moments on stage.

[24:42] Kimberley Hodgson: Also, another thing to add to this show is that the world still happens outside of this theatre and that also changes how the show's performed, you know, day to day. We had a performance on the US election day and that was a very different show that night. You know, the words had a very different meaning. Every day there's something new that always gets brought up, whether it's from the outside or the inside. It just speaks truer and truer every day where this show needs to exist. And also, I think for Howie, to talk about the historical queen, like we know very little about her. She was such a warning in the textbooks rather than a person. She was treated as, if you do this and this, well, you get your head chopped off, instead of being like, huh, who is this young girl who was mistreated by powerful men? I guess I feel like it's just a privilege even that I get seven minutes to just like share that story, you know?

[25:37] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah. And whatever that means of my day or who I am, most important part is to make sure that that's being said because the stuff that was happening 500 years ago is still happening today. It's just wild to think that these women went through what they did and we get to just give them a moment in time to tell people their actual experience. All like what it would have been like, you know, in a modern context, in like almost a disguise. It's like everyone's like, oh, it's a pop concert. And I'm like, surprise! Here's a lesson. Yeah, here's a lesson. You need to learn about us and this is what you need to know.

[26:54] Eliza Gunther: It is surreal because these are real people and it's surreal that you guys are literally like get to shed light on their stories as well. I mean, these are very vocally and physically heavy roles, as we discussed before. How do you each kind of keep on top of your vocal health whilst on contract? And do you have any tips for vocal health as well?

[27:16] Chelsea Dawson: I think vocal health is a very personal thing and I think there's no one way to have like routine. I think that is dependent on the person. I mean, I'm a gadget gal. I will try every gadget under the sun. And I, and I, this is no joke.

[27:37] Kimberley Hodgson: Did you go get your gadget bag?

[27:38] Chelsea Dawson: It's too far. Because I can distract for a bit.

[27:41] Chelsea Dawson: No, it's all right. I'll explain it. So I've got this, this oral vibrating tool called a Z-Vibe, which essentially I'm not going to go into it because I don't know the science all too well. But what I do know is that it helps with my resonance. And I've had like, I've had my tonsils out. I've had a lot of dental work in my face. I've had like in shows and life and sport, I've had like trauma to the sides of my head and my neck, like being kicked in the head from dancing. Do you know what I mean? Like I've had stuff that's happened to me. And all of these things, this is real.

[28:22] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, I know. I believe you.

[28:23] Chelsea Dawson: All of these things are like stored trauma in your body. And essentially they, your nervous system and your nerves will kind of turn off the more trauma you get to those areas, the more they'll switch off. So that kind of is a way to like protect you. So I have used this tool to, yeah, to on my teeth, where your nerves like come from, around my soft palate, where all down the right side of my soft palate is quite lazy because I've had, I've still got a lot of scarring from where I have my tonsils taken out. So when I lift my soft palate, it doesn't quite activate as much. I've had, I use like all of these tools to kind of like re-engage my muscles and like my, to realign my like anatomy, my singing anatomy so that it just helps me sing. I find that really helpful.

[29:13] Chelsea Dawson: Now that might be a little bit too hoopy spooky science, but that is one thing that has honestly saved me getting my resonance, my mouth resonance, my nasal resonance in balance and in a check because the amount of like belting and the amount of like high pressured singing that we do in the show, if you don't have everything else helping you and you're just loading up, you will like, yeah, you won't, you won't be able to sustain that. So I find that a really helpful tool for me and staying hydrated and staying physically like fit.

[29:54] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, I would say mine is that I have to remind myself that I need to go and do things that are going to fuel me outside of the show. Just using my voice in a very natural capacity usually warms it up great before a show. And then also singing material that is like so far from the show outside of the show. But my day to day, I usually rely very much on the warmup time that we have all together. And if I've done the day well and hydrated well, it all kind of just falls into place. But that could also be the luxury of singing this track for however long I've done it for now, you know.

[30:35] Kimberley Hodgson: Vocal health, it is very important in this show though. We are yelling constantly. We're not yelling, we're safely projecting, but it's high energy. It requires a lot and it's constant. We don't get time to, we don't have scenes between where we can go have a little reset. Like we are spending the whole time.

[30:55] Chelsea Dawson: But I will say this is my saving grace. Bio team, if you find yourself stuck on stage for 80 minutes or longer and you don't get time to like drink water to like hydrate, this. And I've had a speech path tell me she was like, wait, you use that every show? And I was like, yes. And she was like, I give that to geriatrics.

[31:18] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, essentially it's for, this is used for people who aren't able to produce saliva. So I don't know what the condition is. I think it's dry mouth. But like, this is my saving grace.

[31:32] Eliza Gunther: They're such good tips. Wow. I have never heard of them before. And we've asked a few people and they are actually like really different. So this is Six's second, I guess technically in a sense, in a way third, if you consider lockdown run in Australia. Why do you think it has had and continues to have such an impact on audiences that just keeps them coming back time and time again, while also continually bringing in new audiences?

[32:00] Kimberley Hodgson: Like simple work, like motherhood, sisterhood, female empowerment, diversity, representation, community. These lessons that we are saying and the experiences we are talking about are still happening time and time again.

[32:24] Kimberley Hodgson: And it's like, yes, we're talking about King Henry the eighth, but like put another male there. And it's probably the same bloody issues not to be all like feminist crazy, but you know, that's this is why this show still happens. It still exists. But then it's also a bop. Like you walk out of the show feeling so amazing. You know, you've had your heart ripped out. You've had a good old laugh that your cheeks hurt. And then you get to have a little boogie at the end. And in all that time, you're like, oh, my gosh, that was 80 minutes. Like, my life has been changed.

[33:00] Kimberley Hodgson: I mean, it's it's like it's one of those shows that like, it's such a good show. And that's not even being biased. Like, I don't know if it's because when we're up on stage and we're like chatting to the audiences and things like that, that maybe they feel maybe more connected because we're bringing them in. We're telling them a story where, you know, we it's the convention of the show brings everyone in. It's entertaining. It is so catchy. Like people will be playing, blasting the soundtrack over and over again. You will get sick of it. And I don't know, there's just something special about the show. I think there's so many elements that resonate with so many different people. Yeah. You know, you connect to each queen in a different way.

[33:50] Eliza Gunther: This is, in my mind, a completely different version to the version that I saw two or three years ago. And sometimes you get a swing or an alternate, and it's going to be an entirely different show. You almost get a different story every single time. And I think that even if you're new to seeing it, or you've seen it a hundred times, you always get to experience something new when you come and see it.

[34:43] Kimberley Hodgson: Oh, you can watch, like, if you came six times and you went, each time we're going to watch a different queen. Because also the backstage, like, yes, one queen's taking set a stage, but like the backstage stuff that's happening, it's so funny to watch sometimes as well. Like, you know, we're all very invested. We have our, you know, fifth story that's happening right at the back. Also, like our band is incredible, and they have their own personalities as the lady in waiting, ladies in waiting. There's just so much to watch in the show. And yet we have no sets and minimal props.

[35:21] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, like one prop.

[35:21] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah.

[35:21] Chelsea Dawson: That's literally my, hilariously, my mum is coming to see the show tonight. And she has never listened to it, has no idea what it's about. And to have people like my mum, who I love dearly, but was a demographic that I never necessarily thought would be interested in seeing this show. But I had, I had a 12-year-old sitting behind me on opening night, who was bawling, bawling her eyes out, listening to Lauren sing "Heart of Stone." And then when the moment of realisation when in "All You Want to Do," I could hear audibly the moment where she realised what was happening. And she started sobbing again. I was like, I'm right there with you, bestie. I get it. I get it. It's hard. It's a hard show, but it's so beautiful.

[36:11] Kimberley Hodgson: Yeah, my, look, I have to say a really fun thing that I like to challenge myself with is sometimes in Uber rides, I'll try to explain to the dude what the show's about. Because it's a hard show to explain. It's not like what you were just saying. So I try and challenge myself to see if I'm gonna like get a ticket sale out of them.

[36:27] Chelsea Dawson: She's working off the clock. She loves the show that much. She's watching ticket sales when she's not on the clock.

[36:36] Kimberley Hodgson: Can I say, usually, usually I'm getting out of that car and they go, hey, I'll see you at the show. And I go. One day, one day.

[36:51] Eliza Gunther: Honestly, I feel like we could keep talking to you two for absolute ever about six, about your careers. It's so brilliant just to be able to chat to you about your experience in the show and everyone go and see the show. It's just incredible. But before we go, we do have a little segment called Bedtime Stories, which is a stage mishap or something that's gone wrong. So have you guys got a stage mishap for us?

[37:16] Kimberley Hodgson: This is probably my best mishap that I've ever been a part of. One time when I was at the Sydney Lyric Theatre and I was playing the role of Mary Poppins and I was in the middle of my final flight. Now there's evidence of this, so I won't get in trouble saying this, but I was taking flight over the house. Final flight, right? You're meant to be going flying over the audience. Then I start spinning and I'm like, well, I'm not meant to be spinning. I start spinning and I'm holding my bag and my umbrella and my, because the harness that you wear is so uncomfortable. It makes you want to like spread your legs, right? So you have to like really in first position, you're like holding tight, really holding tight.

The bag, the umbrella, everything's heavy. Not so heavy, but it's like heavy enough, right? I start turning and then all of a sudden I just start swinging and I've stopped and I'm thinking, oh, I've actually, I'm stuck. I'm stuck and the orchestra is still playing and I, now I'm stuck up here. Everyone's looking at me. I'm just going to stay really still. The orchestra kind of like peters out. It's like, and my stage manager comes out on comms. It's like, uh, Kim, we'll get you down. You're right up there. And I was like, yes. Meanwhile, my mother's in the audience, freaking out. The audience are laughing. The audience are heckling. There are people that are like, oh, not so magical now, are you?

There's kids screaming out. Are you okay, Mary Poppins? Meanwhile, I'm stuck up there and I'm thinking to myself, if I don't move, no one will know. No one will see me. No, no, no. I'm still up there. I eventually get brought down. My stage manager pulls my legs in, puts me down on the ground, grabs the props off me, unclips me, and I have to just like walk off stage. And the final flight, unfortunately, happens. That's an antifly. It's like, I've flown. I know I'm not.

[39:42] Chelsea Dawson: It's just, at what point do they start like getting the audience out and just being like, all right, show's over.

[39:47] Kimberley Hodgson: Well, that actually happens right before the bows. So normally in that case, and it's very, very rare, like this doesn't really happen. It's very, very rare that this happens, if it happens at all. And I wasn't actually over the audience just yet, because if I was over the audience, they'd have to evacuate. So I was actually, luckily enough, we stopped early so we didn't have to evacuate. They just pulled me down. I was very safe. I was well and truly, you know, in like, so safe. My God, my mum, she was having a panic attack.

[40:29] Eliza Gunther: Oh, yeah, it was. I can imagine it too, because I was just thinking, I saw that not that long, like, I saw it in the last run and I was like, where did you go? Like, how about for you, Chelsea?

[40:43] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, top that, Chelsea. I wish I could address, this is not good. Look, no, I've done a lot of little silly things on stage. I forgot my mic. Did I say this to you guys last time, though? I can't remember.

[40:55] Kimberley Hodgson: You did, yes.

[40:56] Chelsea Dawson: Hey, no, okay, then I'll use it again, sorry. Okay, so it was really cold backstage and it's in our like, first outfit. So my, I was like a housekeeper, but I had my little, oh, actually, no, I don't have it. I had my little dressing gown on and it's cute. It's from Peter Alexander. Anyway, it was cold and whatever. We have to do our scene change. And so I'm with Denise and I'm like, yep, let's move this table. And so I go out on stage and I'm like, place a table, walk up the stairs. And I looked down at my arm and I'm like, oh, I'm still wearing my dressing gown. I was like, oh, no. Okay, so then I just like run up the stairs and usually I meant to close the doors on like the button, but I didn't. I just like escaped.

Anyway, I'm at the top of the tavern backstage and I'm looking at Denise going, I don't know what to do. Anyway, so she's like, give it to me, give it to me. I chuck her my dressing gown anyway, and she runs and hides it backstage. And every time stage management came to me, I would always be like, yes. And they were like, are you okay? And I was like, yeah, I'm fine. Are you fine? I was like, I did nothing. I'm actually great. But it kind of had like a little bit of like a Greek pattern to it. And also, if you've seen the show, you know, it's like, we've just woken up, it's the morning. So I think it had a close, but it is so annoying. Oh my God. It's fine. It's fine. Honestly, not a single person would have noticed.

And you know what? They won't know until this comes out. Yep. Then they can be like, I got to see that once in a lifetime performance where Chelsea Dawson wore her dressing gown on stage. We will remember that they did rehire me for this again. So I must be doing okay.

[42:47] Kimberley Hodgson: You are good at your job. Absolutely. Oh my gosh. Oh, that is so good, guys. You are both exceedingly fantastic at what you do. But thank you so, so much again, both of you for taking the time to come on and to chat with us today. But before we go, this is an opportunity to plug the show. Plug yourself. Where can we find you online? Where are you touring to? Where can we get tickets? Give us all the information.

[43:14] Kimberley Hodgson: All right, Six The Musical. We are here in Sydney until the 28th of December. So come see us at the Theatre Royal. You can either buy tickets on Six, the website, Six The Musical Australia, or on the Theatre Royal website. After that, we'll be going to Brisbane, or as I like to say, Bris Vegas. Then we'll be heading to Auckland in New Zealand, and then Newcastle. So yeah, that's Six The Musical. And we're both on the cheeky Instagram.

[43:44] Chelsea Dawson: Yeah, I'm on Instagram, at kr underscore Hodgson, and that's H-O-D-G-S-O-N. Now, I don't post a lot of content, but because there's not many costumes in this show that I can play with, I do have a running thing where I'm on shows, and I like to wear lots of other people's props and costumes. So you will find some good highlight content there with me doing some skits in my shells.io.

[44:28] Eliza Gunther: Oh my god, you two are amazing. Thank you so much again, both, so much for taking the time to come on and have such candid, wonderful chats with us today. We really, really appreciate it. And thank you so much again, listeners, for taking the time to listen to this episode and being here with us. Once again, the best way to support us is to like, subscribe, leave a rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. But thank you both so much again. The thumbs up, we have the tick of approval. Thank you both so much again for being here. And until next time, listeners, stay happy, healthy and safe, and we will see you then. Bye!