After performing as a professional opera singer for 20 years, Kaitlin Bertenshaw didn't expect to return to her home state to teach vocal lessons full time.
In fact, when she first started singing, her father insisted she would end up being a music teacher and she always denied it, stating she was an artist, not a mentor.
"I sang all over the world. I studied French and German and Italian, I wore the big white wigs. I sung in Europe, Canada and Mexico for all of my 20s and into my early 30s," Bertenshaw said. "But I remember right around when the pandemic started, I was starting to feel kind of drawn to something else."
After moving back to Tucson in 2017, she began training students in between opera contracts.
"I fell in love with teaching. I loved it so much, I left my career for it," she said.
In 2020, Bertenshaw officially founded , an organization that provides singing and acting lessons to students of all ages. The organization is mostly a voice teaching studio. However, it offers additional programs and opportunities for performers, including occasional show productions.
Natalia Hightower sits still as a wig and crown are placed on her head during a rehearsal for “Six: Teen Edition†at Unity Church.
The show Bertenshaw is producing this month is Six: Teen Edition.
A , Six: Teen Edition is a full-length adaptation of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’ Tony-winning show Six: The Musical.
The show is presented in the form of a singing competition that tells a modern story of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII. The 75-minute score is modified for performances by teen actors for family audiences.
"It's a musical, but it's more like a concert," Bertenshaw said. "So I thought, 'What if we did this at a nontraditional space like the Rialto?'"
Four different all-female teen casts will perform at the Rialto, each with a production on Tuesday, June 17 and Wednesday, June 18.
"In April, we had auditions, and over 200 people applied to audition for our show, so what we did was hire four casts of six, but there were way, way more talented kids than that," Bertenshaw said. "We decided to take another handful of 18 of our favorite auditioners and put them in an opening act."
The show will also feature a live band, thematic drinks from Scented Leaf representing each of the queens, desserts, glow sticks, a dance pit and a real-time video of the performance projected above the stage.
"A lot of our students have won national competitions and are on their way to college going to the best musical theater programs in the country, so this isn't like a little kid recital," Bertenshaw said. "This is pretty professional quality production."
Marley Melrose, who plays King Henry's fourth wife Anne of Cleves in one of the casts, said Inner Voice Studio has given her the opportunities to perform in six shows over the past three years. The high school senior said she especially likes this show because of its power to uplift women.
"I just love the way my character expresses herself and doesn't really care about what other people think," she said. "She just really is herself, and I think that's so cool."
Sophia McCaleb, an incoming high school freshman cast as the third wife Jane Seymour, shares Melrose's feelings and said the show's feminist themes resonated with many of the young women performing.
"The experience has just been amazing, I love everyone here," she said. "I found a place where I belong, with like-minded people and so this show is just so dear to me. It's a dream come true."
Visit the  for more information. General admission tickets are $36  and $28 at the box office.