Chicago Theater Blog review

Here's another!

and I quote:
"Six Dead Queens is an entertaining intersection of academia and vaudeville. At times uproariously funny, at times remarkably sad, the piece successfully explores how competitiveness can make women their own worst enemies, how comfort can make them their own saviors and how men can be pigs."

http://chicagotheaterblog.com/2010/04/20/6-dead-queens-and-an-inflatable-henry/

From the Chicago Reader

So, not yet purchased your tickets to "Six Dead Queens"? Shame shame! Off to the block with you! Here's what the Chicago Reader had to say:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Event?oid=1394609

Over-inflated Codpiece

My friends Don and Eric recently returned from a fabulous trip to London, where they visited the Tower of London and snapped this photo of King Henry VIII's armor.

Check out that huge peck! Could you imagine that coming toward you in battle?

Would you: 

a) Run in fear?

b) Run in shame of your own pathetic and unimpressive manhood?
c) Worry about getting your eye poked out?
d) Vow to get one of your own, the next time you were at the blacksmith's?

e) Simply fall over, dying of laughter? 

And wouldn't this make it slightly difficult to ride horse? I can only imagine the sorts of unnatural chaffing that would go on. No pain, no gain, eh?  Poor, poor, King Henry! HAHAHA!

Playing Catharine Parr, the last queen who was married to him while he was...ehem!..."unable", I find his overinflated cod-piece unbearably funny!

You are what you eat!

For those of you who will see our production (and you should!), Catharine Parr makes a reference to a certain Gillian McKeith.  I'm guessing not everyone has heard of her, but I can see why our dear Parpy would be such a fan!


"You Are What You Eat" BBC America

Gillian's personal website

Gillian is a hard-nosed, disciplined and diligent mother figure, bent on getting people to ditch their bad eating habits.  Her website has a quote that I think would particularly strike a note with Queene Parr.  "Gillian's latest technique means living under HER roof, following HER rules, with no escape."

After all, Parr was thrown into a family of 1 mad, cantankerous, obese, puss-y legged King Henry, 3 step children who all needed a good education and a mother, and don't even get me started on the state of the union! Who better than Queene Parr to get things in order, take care of the whiney and ill King, and get the noses of those future kings and queens into books?  Bring on the ultimate mother figure!


Never improper, sometimes glamourous, and always in charge and thinking of the big picture, Gillian McKeith is probably the only other human being (besides our dear Parr) who could have brought order and a sense of family life back to the Tudor court. 

Love always,
Denita
(Queene Parr)

Preview #2

What a thrill to have an audience! The preview last night went well - all the queens were ready to deliver their story. Tonight's preivew will continue to help the cast "tighten up" and deliver those punchlines with "one heckuva punch"!

Dead Queens get their say tonight!

We preview tonight to a sold out house and we are thrilled!  We can't wait to get this show in front of people.

Many of you will be familiar with the phrase "Break a Leg", right? It is arguably, historically, and superstiously the best way to tell a performer to "Go get 'em, Tiger!", or "Knock 'em dead!" or whatever it is you want to communicate to your performer without ACTUALLY saying "Good luck", which is oddly considered to be bad luck.

Those who see our show will hear a few references to Charles and Camilla ("Vanilla").  It appears that our dear "Vanilla" has actually broken her leg in honor of our previews!  Prince Charles' Wife, Camilla, Breaks Leg

Poor dear!  The Six Dead Queens wish you a speedy recovery, and hope that you read up on the old custom and simply just wish us broken legs next time.

By the way, Happy 5th Anniversary (today) to the happy couple!

We have a sort of cabaret/burlesque vibe running throughout our little show, so I thought I'd honor that with some dance numbers dedicated to each queen.  Enjoy!!

Katherine of Aragon
Michelle L'Amour's Tango

Anne Boelyn
Ditta von Teese montage

Jane Seymour
Lola Van Ella

Anna of Cleves
Sugar Kane

Kathryn Howard
The Little Blonde Bomb, Inga Ingenue ;)

Catherine Parr
Wrong country, but Dirty Martini has the militaristic thing going fo' sho'!