Erin Strecker

This may be the one musical where you really might exit humming the set — but you’ll also remember the rapier-sharp repartee between Hilty and Simard, who lean into the material’s catty campiness with hilarious results. Simard’s Helen isn’t the only one who’s busting a gut at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. In addition, Hilty’s playfulness extends to her bio in the Playbill, where her credits are lifted directly from Streep’s résumé aside from a lone authentically Hilty TV credit, Smash, and the Streep-centric Instagram handle @ThisIsTotallyMegansRealBio. It’s a deft touch for a show that defies expectations in its all-out assault on the funny bone.

And boy, are there lows. It’s a great credit to the production that as the horrors of dementia come into focus the show doesn’t fully drown in the tears (SO many tears!) of audience members. Instead, we’re left with a soft landing of sorts, thanks to the restrained, emotional performances of Harewood and Plunkett, melding the hopelessness of a disease with the hope that must come through in some way in all musicals — even the tragedies. If fans are left wishing they’d gotten a bit more time with people they’ve grown to care about, well, don’t we all.

Welcome to Six, the ferocious, feminist, and fun new Broadway musical about the six wives of Henry VIII. But this isn't exactly your mother's Philippa Gregory novel. Yes, these women have been gossiped about about incessantly in both fiction and academic circles over the past 500 years, but this version of the tale, by newcomers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, gives these ladies a very refreshing 2021 update.

This is the best of what a jukebox musical can be: a thrilling burst of color and chorus and nostalgia and bold reimagining. There are a whopping 70 songs you know and love in the show - some full numbers, some just snippets. Happily, the songs have been updated to include the present, which means modern hits such as 'Shut Up and Dance' sit nicely along classics like Elton John's 'Your Song.' The tunes feel like they're coming a mile a minute, but rather causing confusion, at the performance I attended, there were gasps of recognition and excited applause breaks of delight as all the various medleys and mashups unfolded.

Happily, this thoroughly modern update is a genuine thrill, mostly thanks to Robert Horn's smart book, which excises a lot of the more cringe-y aspects on the original comedy, and instead invites audiences to laugh at Michael Dorsey. The show begins with Michael interrupting the opening number to complain about his character's motivation, for goodness sake! Packed with jokes, the show is completely ridiculous, but it totally works.