Six queens. One king. Five centuries of history distilled into a magnetic pop concert that dares to ask who gets to tell a woman’s story.
A few musical notes hush the pre-show chatter before a thunderous boom sends the curtain flying open. There they stand: six Tudor queens in glittering, defiant formation, ready to deliver the refrain that has become their collective calling card — “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.” In SIX: The Musical, created by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss and co-directed by Moss and Jamie Armitage, history gets a remix, and the queens reclaim the microphone.
The premise is deliciously simple. The six wives of Henry VIII compete to determine whose relationship with the king was most consequential, recounting their experiences through contemporary pop music, sharp humor, and unapologetic attitude. But the competition exposes a deeper problem: these women have been remembered primarily through their association with a powerful man. What happens when they get to define themselves?
The production’s ultimate triumph rests on the shoulders of its six leading ladies, as they transform inclusion and diverse representation into the show’s defining superpower. Far from blending into the background, their fierce cohesion and group chemistry actually serve to amplify each other’s distinct historical voices. It is an exuberant, concert-style tour de force driven by breathtaking performances from Christina Jones as Catherine of Aragon, Brittany Smithson as Anne Boleyn, Melina Savannah Cruz as Jane Seymour, Shelby Griswold as Anna of Cleves, Thabitha Moruthane as Katherine Howard, and Nina Ann Nelson as Catherine Parr.
Their contrasting vocal and performance styles carry the audience from cheeky bubblegum pop to stirring ballads and gospel-inflected anthems without losing the distinct personalities at the heart of the show.
The queens’ visual identities are equally striking. Award-winning costume designer Gabriella Slade gives each a distinctive, edgy aesthetic, while the choreography of Carrie-Anne Ingrouille both energizes the audience and sharpens the story’s social commentary, particularly in “All You Wanna Do.” Moruthane initially draws us into the number’s playful surface, then exposes the disturbing implications of a young woman repeatedly objectified and denied meaningful agency. The effect is sobering: the line between flirtation and exploitation can be dangerously thin when the power dynamic is one-sided.
The award-winning soundtrack delivers on every level. Jones brings commanding conviction to “No Way,” while Smithson makes “Don’t Lose Ur Head” a comic highlight. Griswold turns “Get Down” into a spirited assertion of independence, transforming a seemingly humiliating historical outcome into an opportunity for self-definition. Yet the songs do more than entertain. Their shifts in tone expose the tensions beneath the glitter: miscarriages, coercive relationships, dangerous beauty standards, and violence are not merely colorful anecdotes in these women’s lives.
Tim Deiling’s lighting design punctuates these takeaways — further distinguishing each queen’s story arc through shifting colors, focused spotlights, and dramatic changes in atmosphere.
Emma Bailey’s versatile scenic design makes a relatively simple set work hard: a staircase becomes a throne, a performance platform, and a chorus line. The staging keeps the action moving, rewarding close attention with vivid stage pictures and moments that can disappear as quickly as they arrive.
An electrifying all-female band known as the Ladies in Waiting — led by music director and keyboardist Valerie Maze, bassist Sarah Klein, guitarist Rosa Laguana, and drummer Camila Mennitte Pereyra — sizzles on stage, becoming another character in the experience, not simply accompaniment. Their visible presence reinforces the production’s celebration of women as creators and performers in their own right.
Audience participation further blurs the line between concert and theater. Direct addresses and playful invitations turn spectators into witnesses and, at times, judges. The effect is infectious: we are drawn into the queens’ lives and serve as mirrors to scrutinize history’s incomplete narrative about them.
SIX moves at an exhilarating pace from one high-energy number to the next. While this momentum sustains the excitement, it also creates the production’s most consequential tension. Some of the story’s most heart-wrenching, traumatic experiences can pass before their full weight registers. “All You Wanna Do” reveals how effectively the show can expose the darkness beneath its own entertainment; younger viewers encountering these subjects for the first time may need more space to process what they have seen.
That presents an opportunity for the touring production to extend the experience beyond the theater. An optional digital companion with historical context and age-appropriate discussion prompts for parents and educators could help audiences explore the lives behind the lyrics. Such a resource would not diminish the show’s irreverence. On the contrary, it would give viewers, especially youth audiences, another way to engage with the difficult histories that make the spectacle meaningful.
Ultimately, SIX succeeds because its queens want more than a memorable refrain or a place in a king’s biography. They want the freedom to tell their stories on their own terms. The competition that initially divides them becomes a platform for something more powerful: the recognition that their experiences are not interchangeable, and that their worth cannot be measured by their proximity to a man. By taking back the microphone, these queens don’t just reclaim their voices — they shatter the historical boxes built around them, demanding to be remembered as complex, whole individuals who refuse to let a single label define their lives.
Running Time: One hour and 20 minutes, with no intermission.
SIX: The Musical plays through November 1, 2026, at the Hippodrome Theater, The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD. Ticket prices range from$57 to $410. Purchase them online through the official Hippodrome Theatre ticket page.
See the playbill here.
Cast credits and bios for the Boleyn Company North American tour are here.
Alternates: Brooke Aneece Dismuke, Anna Hertel, Carlina Parker, and Abigail Sparrow
Associate Conductor: Jen Christina
Music Technology: Phij Adamas
Synthesizer Technician: Randy Cohen Keyboardsa
Music Coordinator: Kristy Norter
