REVIEW: Radical Royals Dazzle in SIX at the Fabulous Fox Theatre

Take six insanely talented songstresses, a four-piece all-female band, an intricate LED-based set piece, some glow-in-the-dark glasses and studded platform boots, and what have you got?  Surely not a historical recreation of the tale of Henry VIII and his six infamous wives.  Yet that is exactly what is going down at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta this week, thanks to Broadway in Atlanta’s touring production of Six the Musical, written by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow.

The premise of Six is a simple yet cleverly creative one - the six former wives of the 16th century English king join together to form a group of singers and host a contest to find which queen was dealt the worst hand in life.  This competition is spurred along by each queen singing a catchy and/or heartfelt number, and whichever of the “Divorced, Beheaded, Died” crew has the soppiest story wins the coveted title of band leader.  Along the way, the queens jockey against each other in a way that is side-splittingly funny and provokes both historical and modern commentary.

The audience’s approval is largely what determines which queen takes the lead (at least until a point), and so the show beginning with a concert-like atmosphere of screams and cheers was not unexpected. The opening number immediately shows off the perfect blend of vocals from the six queens, and the crowd was captivated enough to settle in, especially when the first queen - Catherine of Aragon, played by Alpharetta's own Emma Elizabeth Smith - steps forward to take her turn in the spotlight with “No Way.”  Smith is dazzling from start to finish, and makes the first solo her own with her feminine, powerful vocal quality.

Of course, the show IS a contest, so just as Aragon was eclipsed by the sultry Anne Boleyn, Smith is quickly followed by the adorable Nella Cole.  She is hilarious throughout the entirety of the show, and her Gwen Stefani-esque vocals gave her performance of “Sorry Not Sorry” a raw edge.  After Cole comes Kelly Denice Taylor’s turn as Jane Seymour, the only wife to die of natural causes.  Taylor actually began her run with Six during its last stop in Atlanta two years ago, and since then, she has grown so much in the role.  She knows every inch of her power ballad “Heart of Stone” and makes a nearly 5,000 seat theater feel intimate.

Hailey Alexis Lewis’s Anne of Cleves admits to the audience that her life post-divorce from Henry was pretty easy, but that doesn’t stop her from putting every ounce of talent she had into her performance of “Get Down.”  She brings the house down before she even started.  It is a tough act to follow for Katherine Howard, played in this performance by alternate Anna Hertel, but she sent the audience on a rollercoaster of emotions with her song “All You Wanna Do.”  History buffs will know, however, that her story doesn’t end happily; neither does her song, and Hertel’s storytelling is powerful.

The surviving queen, Catherine Parr, was also an alternate, Carlina Parker, and it’s obvious that their casting department knows what they’re doing.  Parker is perfectly suited for this role with a richly-toned voice that was smooth and sultry.  She and her fellow bandmates end the show by reclaiming their thrones and blending as well as any hand-picked girl group in a historical rewrite of sorts.

The audience was up on their feet for the final song, a megamix of all the tunes from throughout the night, and they poured out onto the street afterwards to line up at the stage door.  It’s funny to note that the biggest fans there seemed to be the littlest ones - multiple teen and pre-teen girls were eagerly waiting to get their favorite queen’s autograph and snap a selfie with the stars.  

In a post-Hamilton theatrical world, it seems that one of the best places to get a history lesson might be the stage. And though the historical veracity of Six may be tenuous, its artistic merit cannot be denied.

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Upcoming Shows

SIX (Boleyn Tour)

4/23 - 5/3/2026