Stage

Three of Six on Stage

Courtney Mack prepares for Broadway gig

Olivia Kroner |

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! The new musical Six, a retelling of the stories of Henry VIII’s six wives, hits Broadway this spring. The cast includes Menomonie native Courtney Mack, left, as an alternate for three of the leads.
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS! The new musical Six, a retelling of the stories of Henry VIII’s six wives, hits Broadway this spring. The cast includes Menomonie native Courtney Mack as an alternate for three of the leads.

Menomonie native Courtney Mack graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in musical theater, and has since built up a prolific stage repertoire, including a star turn in Heathers: The Musical, which earned her a prestigious Jeff Award for her role as Veronica Sawyer.

“I want to take in what it is I’m doing, enjoy what I’m doing, and live in the moment.” – Courtney Mack

Now, Mack is preparing to head to Broadway with the North American cast of Six, a British-born musical written by up-and-comers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Six reimagines the ill-fated queens of Henry VIII as pop princesses who are competing for the slot of lead singer in their girl band, and for the chance to take back their stories. Mack got her start in Six portraying Katherine Howard (Wife #5), replacing main cast member Samantha Pauly while she was pursuing an engagement in London.

With Pauly’s return, Mack’s role has shifted slightly, and she is now one of three alternates for the show, alongside Mallory Maedke and Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert. 

With the last stage of Six’s North American tour being in St. Paul, Mack says that it’s been really cool to present the show so close to home as the final engagement before Broadway.

“I’ve never really done professional theater in this area before, so it’s really cool because my friends and family can come see the show,” Mack said. “Before (in Chicago), not a lot of family members were able to come down and see the shows I’d been in.”

Courtney Mack
Courtney Mack

Mack is currently occupied with “lots of rehearsals” before Six hits Broadway in February (the official opening is slated for March 12). As an alternate, Mack is set to cover three of the six queens; she’ll be responsible for playing Katherine Howard as she had before, but is also taking on the roles of Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour (Wives #2 and #3). She rehearses with the other alternates, but says it can be tricky to remember where she’s supposed to stand or who she’s supposed to be behind because there are more roles in the show than there are alternates at rehearsals.

“We have the set taped on the ground, which is nice, but challenging because we don’t have the other people to go off,” she said. Looking forward, Mack is hoping that she’ll be able to enter this next fast-paced chapter of her career by slowing down some.

“I want to take in what it is I’m doing, enjoy what I’m doing, and live in the moment,” Mack said. She’s also excited to spend some time in New York and work with the production team of the show, since she didn’t get a chance to do that before she stepped into the show as a replacement. As for what might lie beyond Six, Mack says that she wants to be able to keep doing what she loves, whether that opens up more opportunities in theater, or creates new ones in film or TV. Jokingly, she added, “Just continuing to have a job,” is high on her list of priorities.