The six wives of King Henry VIII have inspired an infectious, banger of a musical, Six, a reimagining of the queens as pop stars. The original music captures the style of popular artists, from Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna to Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears. It has finished its run at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, and it’s headed to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa from March 10 – 15, 2026.

I had the chance to interview Nella Cole, who portrays Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife. Her song “Don’t Lose Your Head” is a high-energy pop track that captures her story, drawing inspiration from Lily Allen and Avril Lavigne.

“This show was a dream of mine, and Anne Boleyn was my dream role,” Cole tells Nerd Reactor. “So I first learned about it, I think, during the pandemic. Everything was closed, but I found out about Six and started listening to the music, and I became obsessed.

Cole has a background in pop music and commercial dance, so Six was definitely a musical that would have everything she would love.

“Six definitely blends all of my skills together,” she explained. “As soon as I got familiar with it, I was like, ‘I have to be in this show.’ And then it was a journey of going in and auditioning. And then you don’t hear anything, and then they bring you back again. It’s a lot of callbacks. It’s a lot of rounds. It just took a couple of years. I’m just coming back and getting to know the team and everything. Finally, I got the call that I got Anne Boleyn, and it was just a dream come true.”

The tale of the six ex-wives of King Henry VIII is known to many British. The saying, “Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived,” is a popular saying among them.

“I think what’s interesting is Six has become so popular in the States, but it’s not our history,” she said. “So there’s a lot that we kind of miss that goes over our heads. But when we have team members who are from the UK, and we get to hear from them, it’s like a completely different thing in the UK. The history of the six wives is super prominent in their upbringing, and they learn about it in school. We open our show, you know, the first lyrics are divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. And I didn’t know that’s like a chant that they say in England, growing up to remember the six wives. So it’s totally different here in the States, but people have embraced it, and they love it.”

For Six the Musical tickets at Segerstrom, you can click on the link here.