Shekinah Adarna "Shaka" McFarlane is an English actress, singer, dancer, teacher, writer, and songwriter. She played Anna of Cleves in the 2021-22 UK Tour of Six the Musical, beginning on 8 June 2021. She left the show on 9 March 2022, and her role was taken over by Aiesha Naomi Pease.
Shekinah played the same role in the 2019-20 UK Tour from 24 October 2019 to 16 March 2020. She was previously an alternate in the 2019 West End Production from 15 August to 12 October 2019.
Roles[]
All Roles Covered[]
| Role | Debut Performance | Final Performance | Emergency Performances |
| West End 1.0: 4 September 2019 | West End 1.0: 12 October 2019[1] | West End 1.0: 20 August 2019[2] 21 August 2019 22 August 2019 23 August 2019 24 August 2019 25 August 2019 | |
| West End (S): 5 September 2019 UK Tour 2.0 (P): 24 October 2019[3] UK Tour 3.0 (P): 8 June 2021[4] |
West End 1.0 (S): 9 October 2019 UK Tour 2.0 (P): 14 March 2020 UK Tour 3.0 (P): 9 March 2022 |
West End 1.0: 15 August 2019[5] 22 August 2019 25 August 2019 27 August 2019 28 August 2019 29 August 2019 31 August 2019 1 September 2019 |
Timeline[]
| Production | Timespan | Principal | First Covers |
| 2019 West End Production | 15 August - 12 October 2019 | Catherine of Aragon | |
| Anna of Cleves | |||
| 2019-20 UK Tour | 24 October 2019 - 16 March 2020 | Anna of Cleves | |
| 2021-22 UK Tour | 8 June 2021 - 9 March 2022 |
Stage Credits[]
| Stage Credits | |||
| Year | Production | Role | Theatre |
| 2010 | Grease | Betty Rizzo | ??? |
| 2011 | West Side Story | Consuela | Leicester's Curve Theatre |
| 2012 | Little Shop of Horrors | Chiffon | Brooksby Melton College |
| 2012 | Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens | Angela | American Musical Theatre Academy of London |
| 2013 | Sweet Charity | Daddy/Ensemble | American Musical Theatre Academy of London |
| 2013 | RENT | Ali/Female Ensemble/Understudy Joanne Jefferson | Tabard Theatre |
| 2013 | Seussical: The Musical | Sour Kangaroo | Arts Theatre |
| 2014 | The Lion King | Singer/Understudy Shenzi | UK/International Tour |
| 2016 | Hair: The Musical | Dionne/Lincoln | Hope Mill Theatre |
| 2017 | Tommy | Nora's Voice/Percussion | UK Tour |
| 2017 | Hair: The Musical | Dionne/Lincoln/Sax | Vaults Theatre |
| 2018 | Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus | Alecto | The Other Palace |
| 2019 | American Idiot | Alysha/Understudy Whatsername | UK Tour |
| 2019-22 | Six the Musical | Alternate Aragon/Cleves, Anna of Cleves | Arts Theatre, UK Tour |
| 2023 | Lizzie | Emma Borden | Hope Mill Theatre, UK Tour, Southwark Playhouse |
| 2024-Present | Hercules Das Musical | Muse Melpomene | Stage Theater Neue Flora Hamburg |
Trivia[]
- Shekinah had her West End debut in Seussical: The Musical at the Arts Theatre, which is coincidentally where she made her Six debut six years later.[6]
- Shekinah was in the same production of American Idiot as Jennifer Caldwell.
- Shekinah was in the same production of RENT as Jodie Steele.
- Shekinah was in the same production of Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus as Jodie Steele and Amy Di Bartolomeo.
- Shekinah was in the same production of Lizzie as Lauren Drew and Maiya Quansah-Breed.
- Shekinah was in the same production of The Lion King as Janiq Charles.[7]
- When Shekinah was cast in the West End production, she didn't know she was going to be alternate Aragon until Six announced that she was joining the cast.
- Shekinah was initially terrified to learn Catherine of Aragon's track.
- Shekinah was originally contracted to have second and third cover roles while performing in the West End run of Six, but due to the limited time she had to learn the roles of Catherine of Aragon and Anna of Cleves, she was unable to learn the rest of her tracks.
- Her second covers would have been Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, and her third covers would have been Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr
- Shekinah made her alternate debut as Anna of Cleves.
- If Shekinah had been able to debut any other roles during her time as alternate, she would have wanted to play Anne Boleyn.
- Shekinah filled in for Alexia McIntosh at the Six Flash Mob at the Tower of London on 31 August 2019.
- Shekinah's favourite moment in the show is the I Don't Need Your Love remix.
- Shekinah sang as Anna of Cleves in the Worldwide Six video.
- Shekinah's queenspirations for Anna of Cleves are Lizzo and Keke Palmer.
- Shekinah competed in the eleventh series of The Voice UK under the name Shaka from 10 September to 22 October 2022.[8] She sang Good Luck by Basement Jaxx for her Blind Audition and turned one chair, meaning she defaulted to Olly Murs’ team.[9] In the Callbacks, she performed Every Little Step by Bobby Brown versus two of her teammates.[10] She was eliminated in the Semi-Finals after performing Take My Breath by The Weeknd.[11]
- Shekinah was featured in the 18th episode of The Queendom Podcast - A SIX: The Musical Podcast.
- Shekinah was featured on episode 9 of Robbie's Backstage Bants'.[6]
- She was also featured in episode 6 of the Three's Not A Crowd podcast.
- Shekinah was the first cast member to wear the pink alternate costume.
Gallery[]
 |
"But I didn't look as good as I did in my pic..." To view the Shekinah McFarlane gallery, click here. |
References[]
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whGSCcTIOo0&ab_channel=Hannah
- ↑ https://twitter.com/WestEndCovers/status/1163927880893644800
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkGKZ65b5oI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ52plSCewc&ab_channel=Steph
- ↑ https://twitter.com/WestEndCovers/status/1162051721927057409
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0nEr24vBY
- ↑ https://www.abouttheartists.com/productions/84735-the-lion-king-basel-at-musical-theater-basel-march-october-11-2015
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CiNbIWSIipI/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/OC35GAfRx94
- ↑ https://youtu.be/d65jnxhSCWQ
- ↑ https://youtu.be/HXAAl_RRsy8
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| West End |
| UK & International Tour |
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| Cancelled Drive-In UK Tour Productions |
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