Both are great.

“Six” seems destined to occupy a top spot in the confetti canon . Framed as a live singing competition among the six wives of Henry VIII — you could call it “The Tudor Voice” — it revels in the ritualistic suspense and hype of such events. But instead of asking judges to reward the contestants’ vocal pyrotechnics, “Six” instructs the audience to choose as the winner the wife whose story is most pathetic.

“The Queen who was dealt the worst hand / Shall be the one to lead the band,” one lyric goes.

Each of the six then offers a précis of her story and sings a number that slyly pins her character to a pop genre. Catherine of Aragon (Adrianna Hicks) gets a defiant Beyoncé-esque anthem (“No Way”); Anne Boleyn (Andrea Macasaet), a hip-hop earworm (“Don’t Lose Ur Head”); Jane Seymour (Abby Mueller), an emo ballad called “Heart of Stone”; and Katherine Howard (Samantha Pauly), an Ariana Grande-style shot of bubble gum sass called “All You Wanna Do” — with an Ariana Grande ponytail to top it off.

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, who started writing the musical while students at Cambridge University in 2017, mine plenty of humor from the anachronistic pairings and the catty contemporary byplay. Aragon identifies Howard as “the least relevant Katherine.” A hilarious “Sprockets”-like house music spoof called “Haus of Holbein” shows how Anna of Cleves (Brittney Mack) supposedly came to Henry’s attention thanks to the master’s painting.

It’s a tidy concept, but tidy concepts are often undermined by a lack of theatrical stamina. Not so here. Directed by Ms. Moss and Jamie Armitage, “Six” delivers pure entertainment throughout its headlong 80 minutes. The wickedly smart lyrics are well set on tunes that are both catchy and meaty; the cast of terrific singers sells them unstintingly, straight to the joyful finale.

And the production values — especially Tim Deiling’s arena-rock lighting — befit a splashy North American premiere with Broadway backing . (After Chicago, it travels to Cambridge, Mass., Edmonton, Alberta and who knows where else.)