INTERVIEW: Krystal Hernandez arrives at Broadway’s ‘Six,’ after a stopover in Canada
Photo: Six features Krystal Hernandez (Anna of Cleves), center. She performs in the musical with, from left, Taylor Marie Daniel (Catherine Parr), Kelsie Watts (Jane Seymour), Kay Sibal (Katherine Howard), Gianna Yanelli (Anne Boleyn) and Najah Hetsberger (Catherine of Aragon). Photo courtesy of Joan Marcus / Provided by BBB with permission.
Krystal Hernandez is currently making her Broadway debut in the celebrated show Six: The Musical, now playing an open run at the Lena Horne Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. The accomplished actor has actually been with the Six team for a year and a half, thanks to a stint she did in Canada with the show. This musical about the six wives of Henry VIII, who reclaim their spotlight in the history books, has been the gift that keeps on giving to Hernandez.
“The way I got in with Six in general was through an open call that the Broadway team was having and going to multiple places around the U.S. for future replacements,” Hernandez said in a recent phone interview. “I showed up to an open call, and four months later, they were like, ‘Hey, we’re casting for Canada. We’d like to see you for that.’ I said, ‘Cool.’ I went in, got it, and moved everything and my whole life to Canada, and then about six months later they called me to join Broadway.”
When Hernandez walked onto the stage at the Lena Horne Theatre for the first time — her big Broadway debut — she had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Her career had led her to this coveted spot in Manhattan, and she coupled her excitement with an overall sense of calm.
“Wow, you’re where you’re supposed to be at the time that you’re supposed to be there, and everything in your life has accumulated to where you’re at right now,” she said. “It was an awesome feeling, honestly.”
In the show, Hernandez plays the character of Anna of Cleves, one of the best roles in Six. She has the chance to sing “Get Down,” and she’s included in company numbers like “House of Holbein” and “Ex-Wives.”
“Out of all the other queens, she’s so fun, and despite what Henry thought about her and how their marriage ended in a divorce, she ended up pretty well off in comparison to everybody else,” Hernandez said. “Yes, the show is a competition, but she’s a hype woman for everybody else. She’s like, ‘Hey, I want all y’all to get what I got, too.’ In a sense, she’s already won, but then again, it’s not a competition either because she wants all the women on the stage to win with her.”
Performing Six is extra special for the actors who have brought these queens to life over the years. For Hernandez, there’s a sense of obligation to have fun but also spread a message of female empowerment, especially for the women and girls in the audience.
“There are moments in the show where we can peek through and see some of the young audience members, and they are just receiving all of the information,” she said. “And you can see how empowered they are and how much the music impacts them, so it’s really rewarding.”
Before Hernandez joined the Canadian company, she actually caught an early iteration of the musical in London in 2018. She was visiting the capital city with her now-husband, and they wanted to take in some of the shows in the West End. She had heard the songs of the show online and fell in love with them, so she was determined to catch a performance. Little did she know at the time that a few years later she would be on stage singing these Six songs herself.
“The album had come out right before my now-husband and I had planned a trip to London just as a vacation, and we’ll see some shows while we’re there,” she said. “The album came out, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be in London. I have to see this. It sounds so cool, and I have no idea what it is.'”
Hernandez added: “I still don’t get sick of it. I still go home sometimes, and I’m like humming the tunes. Even my husband, he’s like, ‘You’re not sick of it yet.’”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Six: The Musical, featuring Krystal Hernandez, continues performances at the Lena Horne Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
