Never has a sextet of triple-threats delivered more 5-star Broadway pizzazz than the 6 wives of Henry VIII do in Six The Musical, now making its 2nd appearance at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, back in 2026 for a must-see 3-week run.

Not only that, but never has a musical with such humble beginnings (a 2017 Edinburgh Fringe debut almost entirely performed by Cambridge University students) made a splashier journey across the pond, first to Broadway and now to Los Angeles, than the dazzlingly designed big-bucks extravaganza Pantages audiences now get to savor.

The six women in question are (in order of marriage to the much-married King): Catherine of Aragon (Emma Elizabeth Smith), Anne Boleyn (Nella Cole), Jane Seymour (Kelly Denice Taylor), Anna of Cleves (Hailey Alexis Lewis), Katherine Howard (Alizé Cruz), and Catherine Parr (Tasia Jungbauer), whose fates (“Divorced Beheaded, Died. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”) are enumerated one by one by one in “Ex-Wives,” the first of nine uber-catchy songs that Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have written to accompany their smart and sassy book.

That show-opening showstopper accomplished (along with plenty of shout-outs to the L.A. crowd), each of Henry’s Queens gets her own vocal/dance showcase in the style of some of the most divalicious first ladies of 21-century pop.

Smith’s Catherine channels Beyoncé and Shakira’s powerhouse pipes in “No Way,” Cole’s Anne takes punk-pop goddesses Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne as her inspiration in aptly titled “Don’t Lose Your Head,” and Taylor’s Jane takes the beat down a few notches a la Adele and Sia in the heartbreaking “Heart Of Stone.”

Lewis’s Anna adds Nikki Minaj and Rihanna-style hip-hop beats to “Get Down,” Cruz’s Katherine (with a K) gives Ariana Grande and Britney Spears a run for their bubblegum pop money in “All You Wanna Do,” and Jungbauer’s Catherine 2.0 (or 3.0 if you don’t count spelling) gives us her best Alicia Keys-meets-Emeli Sandé in the soulful, piano-backed “I Don’t Need Your Love.”

And in the grand tradition of TV song competitions, we are told from the get-go that it will be up to us to choose which of Henry’s 6 wives wins 1st place for “The Worst Marital Experience of All”

Not only does this inspriec concept allow Marlow and Moss to create the catchiest of pop scores in multiple genres, each of them instantly recognizable to those who follow the music scene, we get to know each Queen’s story up-close-and-personal, and I’m guessing quite a few audience members will be googling their favorite wife/wives for further details once they’ve left the theater.

Six’s six touring leads may be at the very start of what look to be exciting careers ahead, but I doubt that even more seasoned Broadway pros could top the work being done by the all-around fabulous Cole, Cruz, Jungbauer, Lewis, Smith, and Taylor on the Pantages stage where they give the pop stars whose personas they’re inhabiting a run for their money where singing and dancing and acting up a storm is concerned, all of this under the assured direction of Moss and Jamie Armitage as they execute the dance workout of a lifetime choreographed by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille.

Not only that, but holy smokes these women can sing, accompanied by a smoking hot live band (music director Valerie Maze on keyboard, Yonít Spiegelman on bass, Rose Laguana on guitars, and Camila Mennitte Pereyra on drums), and if you’ve noticed there’s not a single male member in the bunch, you’d be right, with all of the above benefitting from Paul Gatehouse’s expert sound design.

Finally, Vegas couldn’t give these Queens a more spectacular production design than the one scenic designer Emma Bailey, costume designer Gabriella Slade, and lighting designer Tim Deiling have created, with special snaps to Deiling for color-coding each Queen’s lighting to match the color-scheme of Slade’s dazzling “pop-Tudor” fashions.

Galia Backal is associate director and Eliza Ohman is associate choreographer. Jay Carey is production stage manager.

Casting is by The TRC Company, Peter Van Dam, CSA. Alternates Reese Cameron, Anna Hertel, dance captain Carlina Parker, and Abigail Sparrow cover all six roles among them.

 I missed Six the first time it played the Pantages, so needless to say I jumped at the chance to see this most unique of shows. Talk about all-around fabulous. Long live Their Majesties The Queens!

Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles.
www.broadwayla.org

–Steven Stanley
February 19. 2026
Photos: Joan Marcus

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Broadway In Hollywood, Los Angeles Theater Review, Lucy Moss, Pantages Theatre, Toby Marlow