#Grace Melville

[sixaltfan]

Calling all Six fans, which alt queens 2nd/3rd covers roles would you assign them as a lead. Here are your queen, choose Six queens and one of their 2nd/3rd covers and make a little Dreamcast reblog this and show me what dream cast with alts 2nd/3rd covers you would assign as a lead.

Natalie: 2nd: Cleves/Howard 3rd: Aragon/Boleyn

Leesa: 2nd: Aragon/Seymour 3rd: Cleves/Parr

Grace: 2nd:Boleyn/Parr

Izi: 2nd: Seymour/Cleves 3rd: Parr

Ellie: 2nd:Boleyn/Parr 3rd:Howard

Tamara: 2nd: Aragon/Howard

Danielle: 2nd: Aragon/Seymour 3rd: Cleves/Parr

Monique: 2nd:Boleyn/Parr 3rd: Seymour/Howard

Leah: 2nd: Cleves/Howard 3rd: Aragon/Boleyn

[six-costume-refs]

Why did Grace Melville have the extra hair at the bottom for her Parr hairstyle, when Leesa didn't? It can't be her natural hair, Grace's hair wasn't *that* long.

It was Grace's Howard wig! They've done the same thing for a number of other swalts:

Rachel Rawlinson, Harriet Caplan-Dean, Grace Melville (rachelrawlinson, harrietdeany, l.eesa) They usually try to make two or three wigs for each swalt and reuse each for a few different roles. Howard ponytails are (relatively) quick and easy, so it's been standard for a long time now that every UK swalt gets one. The back ponytail has been a common enough Parr style for a while (in various configurations) and the guaranteed Howard ponytail adds some movement and volume to it, so it's a good fit. (Note: Collette Guitart isn’t included in this post but she also had some similar styles) Leesa Tulley didn't have that because her Howard is of course hot pink, haha. She did eventually get a ponytail though:

(all l.eesa)

Left is her Parr debut, where she wore a similar hairstyle to her Cleves. Both center and right are from later shows, where they switched her over to a loose ponytail. I’m not sure if it’s her hair or her Seymour back piece; they've used full wigs/backpiece similarly for other swalts like Danielle Rose (who of course also doesn't have a neutral Howard pony) and Esme Rothero/Harriet Watson who both have full wigs restyled for every role.

[sixthemusicalextras]

Jack Marian on YouTube, 23 April 2023

Farewell, queens!

[unwrittenemmy]

Day two hundred and eighty five of posting every six queen

Grace Melville as Catherine Parr

[six-another-timeline]

Grace Melville E/C Aragon tonight!

they rlly said 2022-23 uk tour on the west end rights huh

[but-im-unbreakable]

six sure loves its a/b/c/p swings/alts huh

[janedances]

Your ask about the upcoming UKT cast change got me thinking... if Harriet CD (and any of the other alts) stayed what roles/covers would you place money on?

personally, I think Harriet would either stay on as a super swing or be promoted to some form of alt (bets on s/p) - she’s someone i think is most likely to stay

for the other alts: Nat almost definitely has to be leaving so no bets on roles for her, grace would probs be promoted to cleves and leesa stay as b/h!

[weknowthend]

now that we have confirmation that the current West End alternates have broken the standardization for 2nd & 3rd covers, I wonder if the current UK Tour will break the standardization too? Grace Melville debuted Parr (her assumed 3rd cover) in September 2022 before she debuted Howard (her assumed 2nd cover). Maybe she's also 2nd cover Boleyn/Parr?

[glidingsilvery]

Grâce à Dieu premiere

(Ciné Mourguet)

[willstafford]

Straight Shooting

COWBOIS The Swan, Royal Shakespeare Company, Friday 3rd November 2023 This exuberant new piece by Charlie Josephine (who co-directs with Sean Holmes) is a Wild West yarn about a backwater town where the menfolk have all buggered off because of the Gold Rush and haven’t been heard from since, leaving the women and children to fend for themselves.  The women adapt to survive, performing…

[six-costume-refs]

Why do you think it’s now standard for the teal alt to get pants? It works well for Parr but for the other three typical teal covers (Seymour, Boleyn, Howard) I feel like the shorts would suit better. Seymour is sort of a stretch but teal has actually never played Seymour with pants - it’s either been a skirt (Liz, Bryony, Shannen) or shorts (Jen, CJ, Vicki)

I think it was ultimately a redesign for Paisley Billings as a result of the changing cover/costume system.

Similar to what you pointed out with Seymour, teal didn’t always have a super clear default. It did originate with shorts, with Vicki Caldwell, Jennifer Caldwell, and Cherelle Jay all wearing shorts as either their primary or one of their primary variations. But then Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert had shorts but they weren’t a primary variation, and Bryony Duncan, Elizabeth Walker, and Shannen Alyce Quan all never had shorts OR a particularly generic variation in general. (Also, quick note that Jen did wear her H skirt for Seymour).

Compare that to pink alt, orange alt, and redesigned black, which all always had a consistent primary variation even when some had different variations on top of the main:

(L-R: Vicki Manser with shorts, 2019 West End; Nicole Kyoung-Mi with pants as effectively her primary variation, 2019 pre-Bway US Tour; Bryony Duncan with Howard skirt as effectively her primary variation, 2019 NCL/2021 UK universal swing. Cassy Lee A variation, 2019 UK Tour; Hana Stewart, 2019-21 West End; Zara MacIntosh, 2019-21 West End)

So by the time they got to 2021 West End cast change and the changed alt system, orange/pink both had obvious designs to use, but teal didn’t have anything standardized. That’s probably how we got to the spot of there even being something new.

But as far as why they decided to go for pants rather than shorts or a skirt:

(L-R: Danielle Rose and Paisley Billings, 2021 West End; Elizabeth Walker, 2019 NCL; Grace Melville and Leesa Tulley, 2022 UK Tour; Monique Ashe-Palmer, 2022 West End)

A. Danielle and Paisley got switched in their alt costume assignments, with Paisley originally being intended to have orange. This was after at least initial fittings. It may have been even farther into the process. It’s possible that Paisley got pants purely because she had already been fit and patterned (or with construction even started) for pants with orange alt. That may be supported by the style of her pants, which were the front lacing style that orange typically has. This differed from both all previous teal pants and the next variation as worn by Grace Melville, all of which had side lacing, although with Monique Ashe-Palmer they have switched back to front lacing. So…it’s possible that it was a logistical thing with her having just already been fitted for that style of pants. It’s also just more straightforward and easier to consistently fit for future actors.

B. Still might have just felt like pants were the best fit for Paisley and/or her covers. Shorts were mainly just given as a convenience thing to the alts who were also Cleves covers so they’d only need to change the top, which Paisley obviously didn’t need since she wore principal for Cleves. A skirt would have been most in line with the typical design for B/S/H as 3/4 of her 2nd/3rd covers, but they may have felt like it just wasn’t a good fit for any number of reasons (maybe too many skirts between principals and it being the primary variation for Esme/Rachel/Roxanne). The pants with peplum is undeniably a Parr variation, but Parr was one of her second covers and orange alt for Seymour/Parr has always used pants with peplum as well. The peplum shape also really helps to visually distinguish it. Might have just felt like it was ultimately still different and generic enough to work.

——————————————

First photoset; all photos directly from each actors’ Instagrams

Second photoset: posted by @/claudiakariuki, @/elizabethswalker, @/gracemelville_, @/leahvassell

[sixthemusicalextras]

@/paigeleigh_photograpy on Instagram, 25 April 2023

Okay this is the last one I swear lol

[unwrittenemmy]

Day one hundred and seventy-two of posting every six queen

DAY ONE SEVENTY-TWO - GRACE MELVILLE - CATHERINE OF ARAGON

[six-another-timeline]

grace aragon monique boleyn nat cleves leesa howard harriet parr Oh uk tour 4.0 fans we are being blessed

[but-im-unbreakable]

2023 Update!

Sorting the UK alts into the US 3 cover system, this time with the Aus Tour swings included! The original post is here.

West End 2021-22

Esme Rothero: Boleyn/Seymour/Howard/Parr (universal alternate)

Rachel Rawlinson: Boleyn/Seymour/Cleves

Paisley Billings: Aragon/Cleves/Parr

Danielle Rose: Aragon/Boleyn/Howard

Roxanne Couch: Seymour/Howard/Parr

UK Tour 2022-23

Harriet Caplan-Dean: Aragon/Howard/Parr

Grace Melville: Aragon/Boleyn/Cleves

Leesa Tulley: Boleyn/Seymour/Howard

Natalie Pilkington: Seymour/Cleves/Parr

West End 2022-23

Rachel Rawlinson: Aragon/Seymour/Cleves/Howard (universal alternate)

Harriet Watson: Boleyn/Seymour/Cleves/Parr (universal alternate)

Esme Rothero: Seymour/Cleves/Howard

Monique Ashe-Palmer: Aragon/Boleyn/Cleves

Danielle Rose: Boleyn/Howard/Parr

Leah Vassell: Aragon/Seymour/Parr

Aus/NZ Tour

Karis Oka: Boleyn/Cleves/Parr

Shannen Alyce Quan: Boleyn/Seymour/Howard

Chiara Assetta: Aragon/Cleves/Howard

Madeline Fansler: Aragon/Seymour/Parr

[magnoliasandarson]

ugly

Late Spring in Blüdhaven had always been special to Dick. Melville Park wasn't anything grand, not like the Manor's expansive grounds had been, but there were lights strung through the trees that made it look like a scene from a fairytale. On slow patrols, he would perch on the Band Shell and watch the night flyers flitter through the sparkling branches. It was beautiful.

There was no such beauty now.

He sat on the Band Shell, gloved hands dripping blood onto the cold stone, staring out at the trees. They didn't look magical anymore; it just looked like lights in trees. Dick was a fool for ever wasting time on the trees, for ever believing. He took all the magic with him.

There was a dull ache in Dick's chest that drowned out the pain from his bruised knuckles. He pushed up and grappled back over to the Red Line. He ignored the pang of something as he hopped on top of the train, the phantom of laughter chasing after him even as the world was blissfully ripped from his ears by the wind. There was no comm in his ear tonight- there hadn't been in weeks. He was all alone.

Nightwing tore through the business district like a phantom, not a word spoken as he moved from alley to alley. It was a quiet night, most nights had been quiet recently, but Dick Nightwing needed a fight. His escrima sticks stayed holstered at his sides, bloody gloves growing more gory with each encounter. He needed to hurt.

Late Spring in Blüdhaven had once been beautiful. Dick had been proud to drag his friends from tiny park to tinier park, to go to movies on the grass, to visit the frankly frigid shitty beach. He had loved late spring, had loved seeing Robins appear in late April, had loved seeing the fledglings in May. He was a bird boy, after all. He had loved it all. He couldn't find it in himself to love any of it, now.

Nightwing found himself at St. Eustace. He didn't attend services and would probably burst into flames if he ever stepped inside, but he wasn't there for the church itself. He crossed the opulent roof in utter silence, tracing a familiar path to a familiar sight, his favorite the gargoyle. There was nothing special about the gargoyle anymore. It had been special once, but there was nothing making it special anymore. Some nights, Dick wanted to destroy the snarling stone. He resisted the urge, and lowered himself to the ledge, perching next to the monster. You know what they say about birds of a feather.

Dick wiped his gloves on the stone, silent as he watched the darkness absorb. His hand absently patted the space between himself and the granite behemoth, remembering a different flash of red that had graced the spot. He looked out to his city. He couldn't stand any of it anymore.

This had once been a beautiful sight.

He had once been ecstatic to show the gargoyle off, "it can't beat the ones in Gotham, but it's a good substitute!"

He had once laughed the entire night, trading jokes with his little shadow, his little wing.

There was no light here, even as the sun rose, there was no light left for Nightwing. When he retreated to his trashed apartment, carelessly stepping on shattered picture frames in his boots, he couldn't find it in himself to turn on the lights. He couldn't look at his home, couldn't look at the wreckage of the memories.

There was no beauty left in the world.

And Dick couldn't stand to look at the ugly truth.