Debut of the Month: Dylan Mulvaney is Making Her Broadway Debut in SIX

Social media star, author, and performer Dylan Mulvaney is gearing up to make her Broadway debut as Anne Boleyn in Six!

BroadwayWorld spoke with Mulvaney about realizing a lifelong dream, finding personal parallels with Anne Boleyn, and what she hopes audiences take away from seeing her claim her place on the Broadway stage. See photography from BraodwayWorld's Jennifer Broski, and read the full interview here! 

You’re stepping into an amazing role in an amazing show— what was your first reaction when you found out you’d be making your Broadway debut in Six?

The initial reaction was like, ‘Holy shit,' my three year-old, five year-old, 10 year-old, 15 year-old, 20 year-old self all kind of had a moment of realizing that my longest dream was going to come true. And so, before I even processed what the show was and what the role was, I think hearing ‘Broadway’ and that I’d gotten the show, was kind of the most amazing feeling in the world. Knowing that I’ve worked my whole life to get here and finally making it.

And then the show itself is such a celebration of femininity, and of every form of womanhood. So it felt like the perfect stars aligning of exactly where I’m supposed to be, and the exact show that I was supposed to debut with.

Making your Broadway debut is such a huge milestone for any performer. What does this moment represent for you personally and artistically?

I think that me making my debut feels like true possibility. It directly conflicted with some of the doubts in my mind of being a trans performer in this very commercial industry, and being afraid that there wasn’t a place for me. And I hope that other trans performers can see that it is possible for us, and we are supposed to be here, we deserve to be on Broadway. And I hope that a lot more trans performers get this opportunity in the future.

Anne Boleyn in this show, what a role, so fun and unapologetic. What do you connect with most in her, and how are you making the role your own?

I love a problematic woman. I also love a misunderstood one, and I think we are both slightly ahead of our time in some ways [laughs]. I think, even today, when you ask someone about Anne Boleyn, a lot of the times they associate her with a very negative narrative, similar to maybe if you would ask somebody about me, depending on who, and where you are in the world.

I think what’s been a real joy is getting to learn a bit more of the history around her, and the realities of what she was fighting for. She wanted her opinion to be known, she felt like she deserved a place in the world, in politics. And feeling like she had real ownership over her voice. And a lot of people didn’t love that. So, I think the parallel between us kind of epic, and I hope the people that come to the show that know my personal story over the last few years will see how much I connect to the words.

What have rehearsals been like? Has anything surprised you about the process so far?

I mean, honey, it’s a full-time gig and a half! I think what is really inspiring about Broadway is the work ethic, and the fact that we’re dancing and singing eight, nine hours a day Six days a week. It just shows that the people that have made it here really have the bandwidth and the athleticism to be able to do such a big feat. And I know, for me, I’m trying to figure out how to conserve energy and not push too much.

But I’ve really learned from the other girls in the show, especially because four of them have done it prior on Broadway, so it’s been nice to learn from them, and have them as really great guides through this.

What are you most looking forward to the first time you get out on that stage?

Oh my god, I’m so excited for my parents to get to see me do this, because they were driving me to dance class when I was three years old. I’m so excited for my Best Friend Lily to be in the audience. We did High School Musical together when we were ten! There’s going to be so many loved ones. I also think that it’s just going to be a really crazy explosion, it almost feels like a wedding day, you can imagine it in your mind but I don’t think you can fully understand what’s happening until it’s there. I also have a bad feeling that I might black out for some of it! Because it probably will feel like a lot happening at the same time. But I really hope that I just live in every second of it, and I get to enjoy my loved ones afterwards too.

So many people look to you as someone who leads with joy. As you take the Broadway stage, what do you hope audiences feel when they see you making your debut?

I hope that they realize that people can be multifaceted, and I think that we often put folks in boxes of what they can do, or what they’re supposed to do. I think a lot of people have put me in this sort of internet personality box, so I’m really excited to hopefully have them take a piece of me out of that one and put it back into theatre.

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