Anna of Cleves, also referred to as Anne of Cleves, was Queen of England from 6 January to 9 July 1540 due to her marriage to King Henry VIII. She was his fourth wife and was succeeded by Katherine Howard. She is currently being played by Dionne Ward-Anderson in the West End production of Six the Musical, and by Brittney Mack in the Broadway production. In the original cast recording, her role was played by Genesis Lynea.
Contents
Cast[]
Songs[]
- Ex-Wives
- Ex-Wives (Reprise) (live only)
- Anne Boleyn (Interlude) (live only)
- Haus of Holbein
- Haus of Holbein (Playoff) (live only)
- Get Down
- I Don't Need Your Love (Remix)
- Six
- Megasix (live only)
Debut Order[]
First Principal Performance | First Swing Performance | Final Performance | Emergency Covers | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oliver Wickham | 31 July 2017 | 14 October 2017 | ||
Genesis Lynea | 18 December 2017 | 22 January 2018 | 21 April 2019 28 July 2019 | |
Alexia McIntosh | 11 July 2018 | 14 November 2021 | ||
Grace Mouat | 14 August 2018 | 4 August 2019 | ||
Vicki Manser | 26 January 2019 | 10 October 2019 | ||
Courtney Stapleton | 2 May 2019 | 2 July 2019 | ||
Brittney Mack | 14 May 2019 | Ongoing | ||
Shekinah McFarlane | 24 October 2019 | 15 August 2019 | 9 March 2022 | 15 August 2019
22 August 2019 25 August 2019 27 August 2019 28 August 2019 29 August 2019 31 August 2019 1 September 2019 *unconfirmed |
Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert | 29 November 2019 | 25 August 2019 | Ongoing | |
Sophie Golden | 6 September 2019 | 4 March 2020 | ||
Cherelle Jay | 17 October 2019 | 11 February 2022 | ||
Collette Guitart | 19 October 2019 | 17 October 2021 | ||
Cassandra Lee | 14 November 2019 | 5 March 2022 | ||
Jessica Niles | 17 November 2019 | Ongoing | ||
Harriet Watson | 13 December 2019 | 23 February 2022 | 6 March 2022 19 March 2022 2 April 2022 | |
Jennifer Caldwell | 14 December 2019 | 3 November 2021 | 3 January 2020 4 January 2020 5 January 2020 | |
Natalie Pilkington | 31 December 2019 | Ongoing | ||
Kiana Daniele | 4 January 2020 | Ongoing | ||
Zara MacIntosh | 16 January 2020 | 4 July 2021 | ||
Liv Alexander | 18 February 2020 | 7 August 2021 | ||
Ella Burns | 27 February 2020 | 28 February 2020 | ||
Karis Oka | 29 February 2020 | Ongoing | ||
Scarlet Gabriel | 13 March 2020 | 14 March 2020 | ||
Maya Christian | 26 October 2021 | 13 January 2022 | ||
Dionne Ward-Anderson | 16 November 2021 | Ongoing | ||
Rachel Rawlinson | 20 November 2021 | Ongoing | ||
Keirsten Hodgens | 10 December 2021 | Ongoing | 29 March 2022
30 March 2022 31 March 2022 | |
Marilyn Caserta | 26 December 2021 | Ongoing | ||
Paisley Billings | 8 January 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Chiara Assetta | 27 January 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Abbi Hodgson | 7 February 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Shannen Quan | 11 February 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Danielle Rose | 10 March 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Aiesha Pease | 10 March 2022 | 15 March 2022 | ||
Kennedy Carstens | 12 March 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Esme Rothero | 17 March 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Grace Melville | 20 March 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Kelly Taylor | 1 April 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Cassie Silva | 3 April 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Olivia Donalson | 4 April 2022 | Ongoing | ||
Channing Weir | 2 May 2022 | Ongoing |
Trivia[]
- Not much is known about Anna before 1527, apart from her date of birth.
- Henry met Anna privately in disguise on New Year's Day 1540 at Rochester Abbey in Rochester, as this was a courtly-love tradition. It is possible that Anna was unaware that the man in disguise was Henry, as she "regarded him little".
- Some believe that this instance was why Henry referred to Anna as "ugly", since he was deeply offended by her failure to reciprocate the loving gesture.
- Anna was friends with Katherine Howard, and it is possible that Katherine served as Anna's maid of honour.
- After Anna's divorce from Henry, one of the residences given to her was that of the Boleyn's, Hever Castle.
- Due to the generous divorce settlements that Anna received from Henry, she is often called "the King's Beloved Sister".
- After Katherine Howard's beheading, Henry was pressured by Anna and her brother William to remarry her; however, Henry refused.
- Anna stated "Madam Parr is taking a great burden on herself" upon finding out about her marriage to Henry.
- Anna was the last of Henry's wives to die; she died nine years after Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife.
- For swings and alternates that have two first covers, the role of Anna of Cleves is most often paired with that of Catherine of Aragon.
- For swings and alternates that have three first covers, the role is most often paired with that of Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.
- Over all, out of the four alternate costumes, the black costume is most associated with the role of Cleves; four out of the seven actresses cast as the black alternate have had Cleves as one of their intended first covers.
- In the musical, Anna's 'queenspirations' were Rihanna and Nicki Minaj.
- In an Instagram story, Toby Marlow stated that if Six were to be made into a movie, he would like either Lizzo or Cardi B to play Anna.[1]
Gallery[]
![]() |
"But I didn't look as good as I did in my pic..." To view the Anna of Cleves gallery, click here. |