Sisters Abigail Barlow and Anna Grace Barlow Are Both on Broadway; Don't Worry, They're Not Competitive

Showbiz and sisterhood are on full display this season as the real-life sisters Anna Grace Barlow and Abigail Barlow, take to the stage. 

Abigail, one of the minds behind the Grammy-winning viral phenomenon The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical, began performances as Katherine Howard in SIX the Musical February 16, precisely four months after her older sister Anna Grace (known for her onscreen work in The Big Leap, Supernatural, and The Young and the Restless) opened the Broadway revival of Ragtime as Evelyn Nesbit.

Both are making their Broadway debuts, portraying real-life women who became internationally famous due to their beauty, and the madness it inspired; they also, by coincidence, wear strikingly similar costumes in a shared black-and-pink color scheme. The pair are enjoying their joint achievements with much more level-headed certainty.

“It very much feels like the universe brought me this opportunity now because I needed to be close to you,” Abigail shares, looking at her sister with unveiled warmth. “It’s kismet.”

“We have had this shared dream for our whole lives,” Anna Grace elaborates. “I'm four years older, but you look older, so we’ve ended up on the same trajectory when it comes to our careers. ” Abigail's eyes go wide as she laughs at her sister's blunt honesty; Anna Grace continues on, undisturbed. “We're from Mississippi originally, and there are four of us in total. We’re the two middle sisters, and our older sister is a performer-turned-nurse, and our younger sister is a professional actor. We’ve all been copying each other our whole lives.”

Copying may be too strong a word. “You’ve been inspiring me my whole life,” Abigail corrects, playfully rolling her eyes. “And I just told [Margaret] we aren’t competitive!”

A little bit of competition is natural between siblings, but to hear them tell it, that hatchet was buried many, many years ago. "We're very different," Anna Grace explains. "You know the picture that's like, the Barbie house and then the black house? We're like that... I mean, really, would we be sisters if we didn't have a fist fight or two growing up?"

Abigail, clearing resisting the urge to shove her sister in that very moment, adds: "Our differences felt huge when we were growing up, but as we got older, we became built-in best friends." She looks at Anna Grace, smirking. "Built-in best friends that should never, ever share a bathroom ever again." Anna Grace grabs a pillow off of the couch as if to throw it, before bursting into laughter.

Curled up in Abigail’s New York apartment with her rescue dog Benji underfoot, the pair are comfortably vulnerable together, finishing each other's thoughts with ease and the occasional chuckle. Having each other to lean on has clearly done both good, with Anna Grace helping Abigail navigate the move from California to New York as Abigail provides Anna Grace with the unflinchingly honest feedback she craves.

“The first time she came to see Ragtime, I was so concerned with what she was going to think, because I know I can trust her more than anyone else,” Anna Grace explains. “We speak the same language. Having her here at the same time has made this experience so much sweeter.”

Adjusting to the Broadway schedule and lifestyle has been a learning curve for them both. While they got their start doing children's theatre, much of their focus in recent years has been on-camera work, with Abigail's social media stardom and Anna Grace's television work taking up the majority of their time.

In the revival of Lynn Ahrens-Stephen Flaherty's Ragtime, Anna Grace makes quite an entrance—dropping down onto the stage as real-life vaudeville star Evelyn Nesbitt suspended on a swing. She's cherishing her self proclaimed "princess track" as the perfect way to baby step into the eight-shows-a-week schedule.

"Coming from the on-camera world, where you get an unlimited amount of takes, made me soft," Anna Grace admits. "I've done musical episodes of things where I would sing it in a studio, and then sing along to myself on set. But this is the first time in a while that I've had to nail all of the moving parts at once. It's been an adjustment, for my perfectionist brain. I look around at my Ragtime cast every day, and tell them they should be getting paid millions of dollars for how hard it all it. Broadway is the hardest performance work out there, it's certainly the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, and every day just increases the amount of utmost respect I have for it, and for the people who do it for years on end."

While Anna Grace has been with the revival since the beginning of its Broadway rehearsal process (taking over after City Center Encores! actor Stephanie Styles exited the production), Abigail is going through the fast and furious experience of replacing in an already running show. She's the latest to portray Katherine Howard in the Lucy Moss-Toby Marlow musical. 

"When musical theatre is done right, it's the most glorious art form on the planet," Abigail states definitively. "It's living and breathing genius. I was definitely anxious about stepping into SIX, because I didn't know if I could live up to that." Anna Grace narrowly avoids rolling her eyes as she pointedly turns to look at Abigail's Grammy on the wall; Abigail ignores her. "It's been a long time since I've performed on stage, in a show instead of in a concert. I haven't done a full rehearsal process since I was in high school. Coming into a show like SIX, that is such a well-oiled machine, was honestly nerve wracking. I didn't want to be the piece out of place."

Abigail takes a long breath. "I couldn't do this without her," she shares, shaking off a wave of tension as Anna Grace pats her hand. "The rehearsal process for SIX really humbled me. When I booked the show, she told me, 'Girl, you're about to get your ass handed to you', and she was so right. Being able to call her, having her to lean on, to know she truly understood exactly what I was going through..." Abigail trails off, looking out the window as Anna Grace squeezes her hand. Abigail turns back to her, visibly emotional. "I love you so much." 

While both sisters are in shows with an tightly knit ensemble casts, their characters are similarly othered within the narrative. Both leave a disconcerting impression on their audiences, breathing life into women who were forced to use their sexuality and sensuality as a way to survive in environments that were dominated by abusive men. Having each other to bounce notes off of has helped them navigate their characters' complexities, and the pressure of performing those complexities on Broadway, with confidence.

“Ever since she was born, I've always felt Abigail is like, my arm that popped off my body and grew its own arms and legs to become a friend,” Anna Grace states, wholly earnest as Abigail buries her face in her hands. “I know how much of a dream this has been for me, and I know that she’s wanted it just as much as I have. Achieving this dream at the same time… The only people who could possibly be prouder than I am are our sisters and our parents, who are firing on all cylinders with pride.” She pauses, looking over at her sister with unfiltered fondness. “It's incredible to realize you’re in the best days of your life, as you’re living them.”