Dylan Mulvaney on Playing a Polarizing Woman in SIX & Opening Doors for Trans Performers

"I think some people might consider me to be a slightly polarizing woman," Dylan Mulvaney tells Broadway.com Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek. Making her Broadway debut in SIX: The Musical, Mulvaney is playing Anne Boleyn, "who famously was also quite polarizing," she points out. "I think there's something really beautiful about getting to embody this woman who was a little bit ahead of her time and a lot misunderstood. She wanted to feel powerful, she wanted to have a voice, and that got her into some not-so-great situations. I'm hoping that I can take what I've been through these past few years and bring it into the character."

Mulvaney notes how on-brand Anne Boleyn's song "Don't Lose Ur Head" is for her as well. "There's so many people in this world that I would love to [tell], 'I'm just trying to have fun. I'm just trying to be me. Please don't freak out about somebody embodying who they truly are.'" Last fall, Mulvaney's solo show The Least Problematic Woman in the World ran off-Broadway. She wrote and starred in the autobiographical work, which traced her life from growing up in a conservative family to becoming a trans TikTok icon. Featuring original music, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, the duo behind the book and music for SIX, wrote the opening number.

Now, the opportunity to take on a character other than herself is a welcome challenge for Mulvaney, who always dreamed of performing on Broadway. "As much of a gift as it is to show up every day and be vulnerable and share my story, that wasn't what I initially wanted to do. I think in a lot of ways I had to, because there was nowhere else to channel that energy."

Growing up in San Diego, the first-ever professional production she saw was Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical at the Old Globe Theatre, with Vanessa Hudgens as Cindy Lou Who. At just three years old, she was hooked. Mulvaney took dance classes—"I was the only boy in dance class for years"—and auditioned for the show every year until the age of 10, when she finally got cast. She also played Ryan in High School Musical and Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. "I grew up playing all these really fun, exciting roles. And then when I transitioned, those roles weren't there. So I was like, 'Okay, well, I guess I'm going to do the next best thing, which is show people who I am and write a show about me.'"

Working in professional theater in San Diego "was the first time I really got to be around gay adults who were living their job and living their truth," Mulvaney says. "I realized that being queer and being in the theater was going to be the safest place for me and really where I was the happiest." In rehearsal for SIX, she says, "I'm back to that kid. I don't want to be anywhere else."

Mulvaney praises her soon-to-be co-stars, with all six queens joining the cast on February 15. "They're unreal," she says of the triple-threat performers. "It is insane how in one moment you're the leading lady and you have to sell it to the audience and embody your character and sing these insane notes, and then the next moment you're like Beyoncé's backup dancer." When she steps on stage at the Lena Horne Theatre, Mulvaney hopes to make herself proud—along with her family, friends and followers. Her mom and dad are flying in to see the show, and looking ahead to that first performance makes her emotional. "I think it will be a testament to moving forward. Through all of the pain, I've moved forward and no matter if I mess up that night or if I get a word wrong, the fact that I am there is the win and I'm going to give the best show that I can. I just want to make sure little Dylan knows how proud I am of them and hopefully that kid is proud of me."

She also hopes that her casting can help other trans people feel like they too have a space on Broadway. The day the news was announced, Mulvaney says she received messages from trans kids around the country who were inspired to audition for shows at their schools and beyond. "It makes me so happy to know that someone can do whatever it is they want to do and that our identities or who we truly are isn't going to stop us just because of other people's perceptions."

Looking to the future, Mulvaney will keep performing and hopes to write more shows, including a play or musical with a larger cast. "I think we're still in a place where we're not seeing a lot of folks write for trans people. While I wait for more of those roles to open up, I think I want to create some of them. In the long term, I'd love to help queer and trans people make their art and use what I've built to keep the door open."

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