For this queen of ‘Six’ the musical, Broadway tour in Charlotte doubles as homecoming

Amina Faye, one of Henry VIII’s queens in “Six” the musical, will soon be a homecoming queen of sorts in Charlotte.

The Union County native stars as Jane Seymour in the touring company of the pop-style musical about the king’s six wives, in a story told from the queens’ perspective. It’s the first national Broadway tour for the 25-year-old Faye.

“Six” is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center this week through July 2 before hitting Charlotte from July 4-16 at Belk Theater.

That’s the very stage that helped launch Faye’s career. As a high school student, she won a Blumeys award for her role in a different musical. And as her Tudor queen takes the stage in Belk Theater, Faye will feel right at home.

The world of musical theater

Growing up in Union County east of Charlotte, Faye was a first-generation American. Her parents emigrated from Senegal, West Africa, before she was born.

Most kids who get into performing arts are raised on showtunes and movie musicals. Faye wasn’t. Instead of classic soundtracks like “Wicked,” “The Sound of Music” or “The Lion King,” Her music exposure began with her parents’ love of African and French songs, along with a lot of R&B.

She grew up singing, but the first time she performed in a musical wasn’t until ninth grade at Monroe’s Central Academy of Technology & Arts with “Young Frankenstein.”

“To this day, I still think it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on stage,” Faye said.

Faye’s love for the theater started with that show. However, musical theater is a quintessentially American art form, one initially foreign to her and her parents. There’s not even a word for Broadway in Wolof, her parents’ native language, according to Faye.

“It was a big challenge for us to see if there was going to be an avenue for me to be able to not only pursue my passion, but have a livelihood come from it,” Faye said. It was a challenge they overcame together.

High school accolades lead to stardom

Faye is a 2016 graduate of CATA’s musical theater program.

She competed in the Blumey Awards — which celebrates excellence in high school musical theater in the Charlotte area — two years in a row, taking home Best Actress for her senior-year role of Sarah in “Ragtime.” The Blumeys are held at Blumenthal Performing Arts’ Belk Theater.

This competition led Faye to the Jimmy Awards — the national high school musical theater awards — in New York City later that year, and Faye won Best Actress yet again. She was the first person from the Blumeys to do so.

And it’s a big deal to win the Jimmy’s. Recent notable winners are fellow Charlottean Renée Rapp (known for her pre-Covid stint as Regina George in “Mean Girls” on Broadway. She’ll reprise the role in the upcoming movie) and Andrew Barth Feldman. He’s known for playing the title role in “Dear Evan Hansen” in 2019 and co-starring with Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence in the new movie “No Hard Feelings”.

The validation from the Blumeys gave Faye the confidence to pursue the career. Since graduating from Penn State with an MFA in musical theater in 2020, Faye has worked on several off-Broadway productions.

And now, she is taking on the role of Jane Seymour in “Six.”

Full circle moment, in memory of a beloved mentor

For Faye, there was one person that made the Blumeys about more than the awards.

Debbie Watwood was Faye’s music teacher at CATA. Faye credits Watwood for developing her passion for theater and singing.

“She took me under her wing. She was the first person to show me ‘Les Mis’ and ‘Miss Saigon,’ ” Faye said. “It was through her love of music that I loved it as well.”

In 2015, Faye was cast in her first lead role as the Baker’s Wife in “Into the Woods,” despite initially pining for the role of the Witch. The Witch’s belting was more within Faye’s comfort zone, but it was Watwood who encouraged her to go through with Baker’s Wife.

Faye recalls Watwood’s words: “We got this. You got this. Because you can do it. I’m going to hold your hand every step of the way.”

Two weeks after that conversation, Watwood passed away. “The first thing I thought was, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ ” Faye said. “As a 16-year-old, she was the first person I had ever lost.”

When Faye didn’t win a Blumey that year, she became determined to return to Belk Theater in memory of her beloved mentor.

“After finally winning for ‘Ragtime’ that following year, I felt like I had done it for her,” Faye said. “That’s why the Blumeys means so much to me.”

A part of ‘her-story’

The Tony award-winning musical tells the story of the the wives of Henry VIII from the their perspective. The six Tudor queens channel pop icons in a concert-like show.

The fate of the six wives is summarized by the show’s catchphrase: “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.”

Faye portrays the third wife of Henry VIII — and supposedly his favorite — Jane Seymour. She died of postnatal complications following the birth of her only son, future British King Edward VI.

Her character’s solo song is “Heart of Stone,” an emotional ballad that stands out in an otherwise high energy, pop musical.

Instead of the hidden pit orchestra characteristic of most Broadway musicals, the accompaniment of “Six” comes from a live band that stays on stage with the cast for the entire 70-minute run time — with no intermission.

The all-female cast consists solely of the six principal characters, but Faye considers themselves an ensemble first.

“We are each other’s cheerleaders,” Faye said. “We are each other’s backup vocalists and backup dancers. We really are each other’s everything when we’re on stage.”

However, there is a seventh member of the cast that plays an integral role in each show’s performance: the audience.

Breaking the fourth wall — actors speaking directly to the crowd — is usually a theater taboo. But in “Six,” the actresses engage with the crowd throughout their entire concert show.

And that’s what’s special to Faye about returning to Belk Theater: it’s full circle. She’ll be connecting with her hometown, her family and likely another young performer in the audience who hopes to one day be in her shoes.

Finding her voice in ‘Six’ the musical

The story of “Six” is a retelling of history. Every show, the wives of Henry VIII take back control of the male-written historic narrative.

For Faye, the power in claiming her stake and sharing her voice holds significance beyond her character’s lines.

“The show has really challenged me — Amina, not my character Jane — to take up space and not be apologetic about it,” Faye said. “That’s not something that comes naturally to me. I’m a person of color. I’m a woman. I’m a daughter of immigrants. All of those groups are people who have been historically marginalized.”

But it is the wisdom passed down from her former music teacher — that fear is a feeling, not a fact — coupled with the powerfully written female characters in “Six” that Faye came to trust herself with taking on the role of Jane Seymour.

And starting July 4, for two weeks only, she will be back in the very theater where it all began.

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