They shimmied. They belted. They slayed.

The Tudor divas of "Six," the 75-minute pop concert-cum-Broadway show about the wives of Henry VIII, returned to the Ordway Center on Wednesday with a witty show more polished and way more entertaining than it was three years ago, when it had a pre-Broadway engagement in St. Paul.

Now it's Broadway-minted, with attendant luster, breezy confidence and a whole lot of oomph.

It's still surprising to describe "Six," a remix of history created by British Gen Z pals Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow, as fun. After all, it's about what befell Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr as they got absorbed into Henry's clutches: "Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, lived."

No matter, the cast, dressed in Gabriella Slade's sparkly, metallic Tudor-chic pop get-ups and backed by the versatile, all-female band the Ladies in Waiting, create a celebratory atmosphere. As they sing in the opening number, "Ex-Wives": "Get your hands up / Get this party buzzing / You want a queen bee? Well, there's half a dozen" of 'em.

"Six" has a simple premise. The queens have gathered for a competition, in song, where they tell who had it hardest with Henry. Each gets a solo to tell her story.

This touring cast, directed by Moss and Jamie Armitage, is entirely new, and there's not a slouch among them. Boleyn is perhaps the most famous ex-wife as she was Henry's mistress while he was married to Catherine of Aragon and she is one of two wives who were beheaded. Zan Berube plays the role as a squeaky flirt and delivers "Don't Lose Ur Head" with humor and gusto.

"Six" wears its pop pedigrees proudly, with the queens showing stylings from pop princesses such as Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Ariana Grande. Amina Faye is fierce as Seymour, with her power ballad "Heart of Stone" sounding like a cross between Adele and Whitney Houston.

Terica Marie brings the house down as Anna of Cleves with "Get Down," a full-on Beyonce tribute that is all about taking back power.

For pure abandon, the queens all have fun in "Haus of Holbein," a German-inflected dance tune that would rock out any nightclub.

"All You Wanna Do," the Howard number delivered with sexiness and sass by Aline Mayagoitia, raised questions three years ago. The queen was oversexualized from childhood, and that history gets played up in choreographer Carrie-Anne Ingrouille's handsy and suggestive dances. Isn't it time to tone that down?

In truth, history was not kind to these women who are united by their relationship to a tyrannical madman. But "Six" rescues them from their fates, making them models of light, resilience and joy, and helping them reclaim their names.

'Six'
Who: Music, lyrics and book by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Directed by Moss and Jamie Armitage.
Where: Ordway Center, 345 Washington St., St. Paul.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat.-Sun. Ends Nov. 6.
Tickets: $55.50-$168.50. 651-224-4222, ordway.org.