Fil-Am actress grateful for ‘amazing reception’ to ‘Six’
Filipino-American actress Yna Tresvalles concluded her “emotional homecoming” as the touring unit of the hit musical “Six” closed the two-week run of its Philippine stop Oct. 20, at The Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque.
“I got to see so much family that I haven’t seen and met because the pandemic separated me from my family,” she said at the media call, mentioning newborn nieces and nephews. “My lola (grandmother) is going to see me perform for the first time. All the girls in the show know how important it was for me to come here, not even to just perform a show, but this show in general.
“Bringing this show to the Philippines and getting to share that to my family has just been the most amazing experience of my life. I’m just starting my career, but it’s definitely something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” she added.
The 23-year-old performer made her professional debut in “Six” after completing in July her Bachelor of Arts in musical theater course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She played Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII in British playwrights Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ modern retelling of the stories of the 16th century king’s six wives.
The rest of the international tour cast were Billie Kerr (Catherine of Aragon), Liberty Stottor (Jane Seymour), Hannah Victoria (Anna of Cleves), Lizzie Emery (Katherine Howard), and Eloise Lord (Catherine Parr).
Playing Anne Boleyn
Tresvalles said Marlow and Moss took inspiration from British singer Lily Allen in creating the Anne Boleyn character. But she personally connected to the music icons she listened to growing up in the United States, such as Avril Lavigne, Alanis Morissette, and the band Paramore.
“Nowadays, it’s Olivia Rodrigo,” she said. “This is the quintessential girlhood rage of being a teenager and being so angry and bitter, and acting before you think and not being apologetic about it.”
Tresvalles said being in the musical made her seriously think about its message: “The power is still in our hands to make life what we want it to be and to take care of the women in our lives… Not just women, but family members and everyone we love, on how we encourage each other to take control of our own narratives.”
She explained, “I think there’s nothing stronger than a person who can lift another person or hold another person when they may not even hold themselves. In my experience, the strongest women in my life have been those who held the other people around them.”
With the amazing reception that the limited run got here, Tresvalles said she only feels gratitude and appreciation for Filipinos. Her message? “Never change, because that energy and the sense of humor and the volume is so everything.”
