She graduated from IAB, moved to Madrid, spent months auditioning for the first Spanish production of Six El Musical – and got the call she’ll never forget while on her way to Mercadona. Meet Liz Tatis, IAB alumni and now Ana de Cléveris at the Teatro Gran Vía.
When Liz Tatis received the call telling her she had been cast in Six El Musical, she was walking through Madrid with her flatmate, she didn’t have the number saved. She almost didn’t pick up.
“When I answered, she said: ‘We’re calling from Six. You’re going to be Ana de Cléveris.’ I said: ‘No. Stop. You’re joking.‘” Her flatmate filmed the whole moment. The first people she called were her parents, back in the Dominican Republic. “Until we started rehearsals, I was still like — this is not happening.“
It was happening. Born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and trained first at Theamus Teatro Musical before completing her studies at IAB Barcelona, Liz is now playing one of the six lead roles in the first-ever Spanish production of Six El Musical, on stage at the Teatro Gran Vía in Madrid until 8 November 2026.
She came back to IAB last week – not as a student, but as a working professional. “IAB has always felt like home,” she says. “It was my home before I was a professional, so coming back now feels really special – and strange in the best way. It’s the same place where I grew as a student, but I’m returning as a completely different version of myself.” We sat down with her to talk about the journey.
The Long Road from Graduation to the Gran Vía
Life after IAB, Liz says, required a significant mindset shift. The version of the future that most performing arts students carry with them into graduation – get out, land a dream role, build a career – doesn’t always match the reality waiting on the other side. “We have this idea that we graduate and then we’re going to have this dream role and we’re going to be famous, and it takes time.“
What she learned, over months of auditions and rejection in Madrid, was not to take it personally. “I learned not to take rejection personally. It’s part of the career, instead I use that experience to grow and motivate myself to stay consistent.” It’s a distinction that sounds small but makes an enormous difference in practice: rejection as data, not as verdict.
Living in Madrid, she says, was essential to understanding how the Spanish musical theatre industry actually works. “It gets you into the industry. You have to go to auditions even when you don’t feel motivated. You still have to show up for yourself.” The city, its rhythms, its networks – all of it becomes part of the training in ways that no classroom can fully replicate.
A Fan Before She Was a Queen
Liz didn’t arrive at the Six auditions as a blank slate. She had been a fan of the show long before the production came to Spain. “I saw it for the first time on Broadway in 2023,” she says. Watching those six queens take the stage, she already felt something particular about one of them. “The fact that I’m going to be doing Cleves – which is like a dream role of mine – I feel very connected to her personality. And I’ll be doing it three years after seeing it on Broadway. It’s insane. It’s a blessing.“
That personal connection to the character made every stage of the audition process feel meaningful rather than just stressful. It was something worth fighting for.
The Six Audition: Four Queens, Five Rounds, Four Months
The audition process for Six El Musical in Spain was one of the most extensive the industry has seen in the country: over 1,000 performers applied, with hundreds invited to audition in person. For Liz, the process ran from November to March: five rounds, including online submissions, in-person callbacks, character-specific sessions, and a dance call at every stage.
“I’ll say like four rounds – but with a dance call at each one, it was more like five.” She was asked to prepare four different queens across the process: starting with three, and then a fourth added during the audition process. “I really wanted to do a great job, and it’s difficult to give each queen their specific characteristics and character work that makes sense.” That determination to honour each character fully, she says, came from a place of genuine love for the material rather than anxiety about the process itself.
What kept her going through the months of callbacks and waiting was the show itself. “It gave me a satisfaction as an actress just to have that experience of learning different characters and bringing them to life. It’s difficult to explain. It just gives you something.” Ana de Cléveris was with her from day one of the process and stayed with her all the way to the end.
On Accents - and Why Being Dominican Is Part of Who Cleves Is
One of the things that makes Six El Musical particularly special is that each queen gets to keep her own accent – and for Liz, that means performing as Cleves with her Dominican identity intact and celebrated. “Being Dominican is part of who she is, and I’m really proud of that.“
That said, the production did require her to work specifically on a Castilian Spanish accent for the single and certain group songs. “Dominican Spanish is very fast – we have our own rhythm, our own way of saying things,” she explains. “Working on Castilian was something that added to my career. But as Cleves on stage, I get to be fully myself.” It is, she suggests, one of the things that makes the show feel genuinely contemporary: each queen arrives from wherever she is, and that specificity is a strength rather than something to smooth over.
Back at IAB: Full Circle
Returning to the IAB campus carried a particular kind of weight. The studios, the corridors, the rhythm of the place – all of it familiar. But she is not the same person who left. “It’s the same place where I grew as a student, but I’m returning as a completely different version of myself.“
When asked what IAB ultimately gave her, she settles on something quietly profound: “The value of teamwork.“
For students currently in those same corridors, wondering what comes next, her advice is direct and hard-won. “Believe in yourself. Keep working. Rejection is going to come – your dream roles are going to go to someone else and you’re going to be devastated. But take that and say: practice meets opportunity. Keep taking dance classes, acting classes, singing lessons. Just keep going.“
Inside the Production: Feeling Like Queens
Liz is warm when she talks about the experience of being part of this production – not just the role itself, but the environment around it. “They’ve been treating us incredibly well, making us feel very supported, like queens,” she says. “There’s so much care, and so many people working behind the scenes. That has genuinely been one of the things I’ve appreciated most.”
As for a dream role after Six? She doesn’t hesitate this time: La Chocolat in Moulin Rouge! “That role,” she says, “is something special.“
On the Future of Musical Theatre in the Dominican Republic
Liz carries her roots with her everywhere and has a clear vision for what she’d love to see happen at home. “The industry in the Dominican Republic is growing a lot. We’ve seen Cabaret, we’ve seen Rent. A lot is happening.” But she wants more. “I would personally love to see Six reach Latin America, and of course the Dominican Republic. That’s something I’d genuinely love to see happen one day.” New stories, new musicals, more voices from a region with so much to offer. “We have lots of musicals that people don’t know because they’re not that famous. New musicals, new stories, that’s what we need.“
Liz Tatis is a graduate of IAB Barcelona’s BA (Hons) Musical Theatre programme, originally from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. She is currently playing Ana de Cléveris in Six El Musical at the Teatro Gran Vía, Madrid, until 8 November 2026.
Interview by Zeb Díaz
Article by Sara Barbieri
