Odds and Ends: SIX Hits the Big Screen, Wicked Celebrates 20 Years in London & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you might have missed.

Queens on Screen

From Edinburgh to the West End to Broadway, SIX: The Musical is a royal smash. Now, the diva-centric musical is coming to the big screen as SIX: The Musical Live! A recording of the production staged at London’s Vaudeville Theatre will be released stateside on August 14, 2026, featuring the original West End cast. The ferocious sextet is made up of Jarnéia Richard-Noel as Catherine of Aragon, Millie O’Connell as Anne Boleyn, Natalie Paris as Jane Seymour, Alexia McIntosh as Anna of Cleves, Aimie Atkinson as Katherine Howard and Maiya Quansah-Breed as Catherine Parr. Ahead of the domestic release, SIX's live recording was previously released in Australia and the U.K. It was directed for film by Liz Clare. Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, SIX has the wives of King Henry VIII take the stage and tell their stories in the form of individual pop performances. Moss and Jamie Armitage co-direct the crowd-pleasing spectacle for the stage, currently running on Broadway at the Lena Horne Theatre.

An Emerald Anniversary

Wicked is celebrating 20 years at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre with an all-star cast. Current stars Emma Kingston and Zizi Strallen will continue their run as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively. They will be joined by Jordan Litz, making his West End debut as Fiyero. Litz has played the Winkie prince on Broadway and the show’s national tour, holding the record as the longest-running Fiyero in the production’s history with more than 1,700 performances under his belt. Olivier Award nominee Claire Machin steps into the role of Madame Morrible and Yara Fabricante makes her West End debut as Nessarose. Michael Matus continues his reign as The Wizard, alongside David McKechnie as Doctor Dillamond and Ross Carpenter as Boq. The blockbuster musical about the origins of Oz’s preeminent Wicked Witch and her blonde counterpart premiered on Broadway in 2003 at the Gershwin Theatre, where it continues to dazzle audiences eight times a week.

McNally Manor

Rattlestick Theater is getting a renovation and a name change that honors a legend of the stage. The off-Broadway venue will be newly-christened The Terrence McNally Theater after the late playwright. Among the renovations the theater will undergo is the installation of an elevator, new bathrooms, expanded dressing rooms, sound-proof flooring and windows and a larger lobby. McNally’s play Corpus Christi was revived at Rattletick in 2008 and the Terrence McNally Foundation has supported up-and-coming playwrights in partnership with the theater through the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator since 2023. In a statement, Rattlestick’s artistic director Will Davis said, “Terrence’s community values and keen eye for talent are alive in the DNA of this company that has launched so many powerhouse careers over the last three decades. As the first transgender person to run a theater in New York it is the honor of a lifetime to name the Rattlestick building for Terrence McNally, a towering artist and a gay icon of the American Theater.” McNally, who passed in 2020, authored such works as Love! Valour! Compassion! and Master Class, as well as the book for Ragtime. The latter was revived on Broadway last fall in an all-star production at the Vivian Beaumont Theater that was recently extended through August 2026.

Bradley Gibson Returns to Olympus

Bradley Gibson (The Lion King, A Bronx Tale) will make his West End debut as the title character in Hercules at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This is not Gibson’s first time going from zero to hero, as he originated the role in the musical’s world premiere production at Paper Mill Playhouse in 2023. Based on Disney’s animated romp revolving around a hunky half-god, Hercules features music by Alan Menken, lyrics by David Zippel and a brand-new book by Robert Horn and Kwame Kwei-Armah. Tony-winning showman Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs the toga party, with Tanisha Scott serving as co-choreographer. Gibson will perform in Hercules from June 29 through September 5, when the show is scheduled to close.

Fancy a Danish?

A new musical based on David Ebershoff’s novel The Danish Girl is in development. The production will feature a book and lyrics by Nora Brigid Monahan, an original score by Alex Parker and direction by Georgie Rankcom. The Danish Girl tells the real-life story of Lili Elbe, a transgender artist who was immortalized in paintings by her wife, Gerda Wegener in the 1920s. Ebershoff’s novel was also the source material for a 2015 film adaptation starring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, the latter of whom won an Oscar for her portrayal of Gerda. In musical form, The Danish Girl boasts a predominantly trans creative team. Further details regarding the production will be announced later this year.

Swan Song

The musical adaptation of Black Swan will have its world premiere at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, with a talented crop of performers taking on the psychological thriller. Based on the 2010 film for which Natalie Portman won an Oscar, Black Swan takes us into the mind of Nina, a gifted dancer who fights for her sanity as she prepares to play Princess Odette in the ballet Swan Lake. So You Think You Can Dance winner Melanie Moore will star as Nina, with Jada Simone Clark as her rival Lily and Tony nominee Amber Iman as the manipulative artistic director LeRoy. Tory Trowbridge co-stars as Beth, an embittered prima ballerina forced into an early retirement. Black Swan features music and lyrics by Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 scribe Dave Malloy and a book by Guggenheim Fellow Jen Silverman. Moulin Rouge! Tony winner Sonya Tayeh directs and choreographs the production. Performances begin at the Loeb Drama Center on May 26 with an official opening on June 3. The show is set to run through June 28.