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The transphobes are at it again, this time up in arms about Dylan Mulvaney’s casting in SIX: The Musical (Broadway, not the West End, to my great dismay). But let me make one thing abundantly clear: the theatre community does not stand behind this backlash. Because any true thespian knows the theatre is, and always has been, a place for everyone — free of rigid rules about identity, gender or who is “allowed” to tell a story.
The outrage kicked off when Broadway’s SIX announced its new lineup of queens, which includes TikTok stars Dylan Mulvaney and Abigail Barlow (yes, that Abigail Barlow of the unofficial Bridgerton musical that was allegedly sued by Netflix). Mulvaney will take on Anne Boleyn, while Barlow steps into the role of Katherine Howard.
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For anyone living under a theatre-sized rock, SIX reimagines the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives, reclaiming their power and allowing them to tell their own stories, on their own terms. Featuring a Tony-winning score and book by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the show is a gloriously feminist remix of history, with each queen inspired by modern pop icons like Beyoncé and Lily Allen. In short: it’s iconic. I’ve seen it three times already, and I’d happily go again.
If you hadn’t already guessed, I’m a little obsessed with musical theatre. Before I stopped drinking, my party trick was reciting the entirety of Hamilton while intoxicated — yes, playing every role. Half the reason I moved to London was to be closer to the theatre; the other half was so I could write articles like this one.
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I love theatre. I’m passionate about theatre. I’ll happily debate the merits of TikTok stars or untrained screen actors stepping onto our most sacred stages. But what I will not debate is whether a trans woman can be cast in a role. That is not up for discussion in these hallowed halls.
Because theatre, at its core, is about transformation, imagination, and empathy — and anyone who truly loves it knows there’s no room in the stalls for bigotry.
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Dylan as Anne Boleyn
Both Mulvaney and the official SIX accounts shared the exciting news.
“YAY BROADWAY,” Mulvaney wrote on Instagram on January 16, confirming the casting. “So happy my bway debut is playing a fellow polarising woman in this perfect musical next month.”
“I hope you will all come watch me live my dream,” she added. “I am SO HAPPY I CAN’T STOP SMILING.”
Mulvaney is no stranger to the stage. The transgender rights advocate previously appeared in the national tour of The Book of Mormon and starred in her 2025 one-woman Off-Broadway show, The Least Problematic Woman in the World. Which is to say: this casting didn’t come out of nowhere — and no, I do not mind in the slightest, because Mulvaney is undeniably talented.
Still, the announcement sparked an inevitable backlash, largely from right-wing and so-called “gender-critical” accounts on X. Critics branded the casting “woke,” with some insisting the role of Anne Boleyn should have gone to someone assigned female at birth.
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Following the reaction, the show's X (formerly Twitter) account was made private and is now locked to non-followers. The show’s Instagram account remains public, though comments were turned off on the post announcing Mulvaney’s casting — notably not the case for the rest of the newly announced queens.
One response to the backlash summed it up perfectly: “‘They made Anne Boleyn trans’ is so funny considering this is a show where Catherine of Aragon is Beyoncé and Katherine Howard is Ariana Grande. No part of this show has ever been about accurately recreating history — you’re just transphobic.”
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And truly. SIX is a pop concert about six women who lived hundreds of years ago and were all, in one way or another, victims of the patriarchy. They’ve been reimagined as chart-topping pop stars who sing about sexting, DJing at famous artists’ houses, and reclaiming their short, brutal lives with glitter, power and belted high notes.
Also, one of the co-creators of SIX, Toby Marlow, is non-binary and gay. They wrote the literal musical.
So what, exactly, is the problem here?
Inclusivity in the theatre
I don’t want to diminish the impact of SIX — it’s one of my favourite musicals and delivers a genuinely powerful message about girlhood, reclaiming history, and giving women the final word. But even outside of pop-concert camp, I would have no issue with a trans actor in any theatrical role. Because theatre, at its best, has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to inclusivity — something that’s become increasingly clear in recent years.
Back in 1998, Toni Braxton made history as the first Black woman to play Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. Yet in 2023, the internet lost its collective mind at the idea of Halle Bailey — a Black woman — playing Ariel. Apparently, it wasn’t “accurate” for a mermaid to be Black. A mermaid. Be serious.
More recently, Hadestown opened on Broadway in 2019 and the West End in 2024, embracing blind casting across race and gender. I’ve seen the show twice: once with a male Hermes, once with an actor who identifies as a woman. The Fates shift constantly, too — including, most recently, a trans woman who was nothing short of extraordinary. It wasn’t “unrealistic,” because it’s theatre. Nothing about theatre is realistic. People burst into song, time bends, space collapses, and yet somehow, it all feels profoundly true.
That’s the magic. Everything is unrealistic, and everything is possible.
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You can be an American founding father in Hamilton. You can be Céline Dion on a sinking ship in Titanique. You can be a warthog in The Lion King. You can be a green, socialist witch in Wicked.
Speaking of Wicked, there was plenty of racist backlash when Cynthia Erivo was first cast in the film adaptation — despite the fact that non-white women have been dazzling audiences as Elphaba on stage for years. Saycon Sengbloh. Brandi Chavonne Massey. Mandy Gonzalez. It has never mattered, because Elphaba is green. And because it’s make-believe.
This openness also extends to queer performers. In fact, many of Broadway and the West End’s most beloved leading men have historically been played by queer actors — partly because straight men were once discouraged from pursuing theatre at all.
Jonathan Groff is adored for Glee (at least by me), but he also shattered hearts as Melchior in Spring Awakening and charmed audiences as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. His identity as a gay man never detracted from those performances — because talent is the point.
“I wouldn't want to play without my trans teammates because that's not the team that I love.”
Back to Erivo: she’s since starred in Jesus Christ Superstar and is set to make her West End debut as Dracula. She identifies as queer and bisexual, and it doesn’t matter. She’s playing roles and doing them brilliantly.
Which brings us back to Mulvaney.
Anyone angry about her casting in SIX is missing the most fundamental lesson theatre has to offer: you can be anyone in here. I can’t wait to see Dylan Mulvaney as Anne Boleyn, and honestly? Given Anne’s legacy — her defiance, her visibility, her refusal to shrink — I think she’d be pretty proud to be portrayed by a strong, brave woman like Dylan Mulvaney.
