You may best know the USC Trojan Marching Band — or “the greatest marching band in the history of the universe ever” — from the iconic fight song at football games, or from being the only university band to have two platinum records or perhaps you have a friend who is one of the more than 300 student players. 

But alongside all that, the Concert Band took to the Bovard Auditorium stage Saturday afternoon alongside nine students — six queens and three chorus members — in a unique collaboration and performance of “SIX: The Musical In Concert!” 

“SIX” brings the six wives of Henry VIII to the stage as they tell their own version, the “her-story” of their lives. Going beyond the rhyme of “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” through pop music, a new page turns in the history books.

“I haven’t seen a hybrid Trojan Marching Band and performer kind of performance yet. So I’m really excited,” said Francis Faye, a junior majoring in theatre. “I hope that it opens up other opportunities for future performances like this to happen again and I think it’s gonna be really cool.”

Before the show there was a pre-concert lecture with Jacob Vogel, director of the Trojan Marching Band, and Emily Roxworthy, dean of the School of Dramatic Arts. Roxworthy shared how the show was more than it seemed on the surface and how it is also an extension of students’ learning.

“One of the things that we really try to do in SDA is to acquaint students with the trends that are happening in the American theater, especially, but world theater right now,” said Roxworthy. “So if you read anything about how Toby [Marlow] and Lucy [Moss] came up with this show … they were students at Cambridge University when they created this. Something very similar to the independent student production movement here at USC.”

The show was, as the title suggests, a concert version of the hit musical featuring eight songs, two group numbers and one solo for each of the queens. Concertgoers could enjoy many of the songs regardless of their musical knowledge due to the wide success of the show on TikTok with songs like “Don’t Lose Ur Head” and “All You Wanna Do.”

Vogel first found “SIX” after a conversation with his in-laws and his love was only enhanced when he got to see it himself. At that moment he knew the Concert Band had to do it.

“What I would love that you’re all hopefully listening and paying attention to, is really listen to the lyrics of these songs,” said Vogel, “Because you’re going to learn things about these women that you never [knew].”

All the queens were decked out in outstanding costumes created for this occasion by Ellie Hermann and Imogen Jeffords, both juniors majoring in theatrical design. Keira Osborne, a junior majoring in theatre, choreographed the concert. All these elements shined immediately once the first note of “Ex-Wives” played.

The first queen to take the stage was Catherine of Aragon, played by Keira Weiss, a sophomore majoring in dramatic arts. The character of Catherine of Aragon was inspired by the music of Beyoncé and Shakira and the song that Weiss performed, “No Way,” was a brilliant solo to kick things off. 

Following Weiss was Tina Zhang, a junior majoring in musical theatre. This vibrant — and highly trendy — “Don’t Lose Ur Head” had the audience excited and Osborne’s choreography shined through as Zhang sang Anne Boleyn’s solo. The “queenspirations” for Boleyn were Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne.

Jaina Jallow, a senior majoring in musical theatre, was up next as Jane Seymour. She presented a breathtakingly powerful performance completely consuming the audience in “Heart of Stone.” Inspired by Adele  — a Vogel favorite — and Sia, Jallow controlled the stage like the icons the queen was inspired by.

Anna of Cleves was performed by Brooke MacDougal, a recent alum of SDA. MacDougal brought a well rounded and fascinating look into the life and times of this queen known for not matching her “profile picture.” Inspired by Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, MacDougal blew minds with her unique performance and her storytelling abilities through song. 

Rachel Cervantes, a junior majoring in cognitive science and the only non-SDA major — though a musical theatre minor — to be among the queens, took the stage for her powerful performance of “All You Wanna Do.” Cervantes delivered a brilliant performance about Katherine Howard’s experiences with men, who, time and time again just wanted to use her. The performance was a “ten amongst these” other tens.

Calista Zajac, a sophomore majoring in musical theatre, was the last solo. Zajac, originally cast as an understudy, took to the stage as the independent Catherine Parr to perform “I Don’t Need Your Love.” Inspired by Alicia Keys and Emili Sandé, Zajac perfectly rounded out the solos performing her own story with a perfect transition into the title number “Six” which brought all the queens back together.

Alongside the queens were three members of “The Cover Chorus.” Originally cast as understudies, they turned into wonderful backing vocals. This chorus consisted of Avery Rehl, a freshman majoring in musical theatre; Wren Dudney, a freshman majoring in dramatic arts; and Shayna Mitchell, a freshman majoring in dramatic arts.

As the evening came to a close there was one final surprise in store when donor Lindy Schumacher was invited on stage to announce a very special birthday present for her father.

“We would go to the [football] games as a family, and my dad would say, after the game, ‘Let’s wait for the traffic to die down and go listen to the band,’” Schumacher said. “On behalf of your family and friends who joined you here today, we are going to endow the horn section of the USC marching band.”

To end the afternoon the Trojan Marching Band lit up Bovard with classics such as “Fight On” “Conquest” and “HOT TO GO!” In a spirited ending to an exciting afternoon, audience members left Bovard thrilled at the success of this fantastic collaboration.

In such a monumental and breakthrough event students, faculty, alumni and all concertgoers got a chance to really see the potential of collaboration all while hearing music that was one — or six — of a kind.