Many centuries after William Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliet we’ve come to learn that the Bard’s wife didn’t feature the tragic ending. Anne Hathaway wants a rewrite in which Juliet does not kill herself but instead lives to slay another day, so to speak. From this premise the fun-loving musical & Juliet has arrived on Broadway after its West End premiere.
This show features songs written by Max Martin and “friends”. Mr. Martin is the songwriter and/or producer behind more number one hits than any other artist this century. The performer list goes back to 1996’s Backstreet Boys followed by Brittany Spears, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd up to Lizzo in 2022. And many, many more.
A very large selection of massive hits are combined with a book by David West Read, an Emmy winner as writer and producer of Schitt’s Creek. This is a jukebox musical with a lot of wit, some heart and girl empowerment messaging. I use the term girl instead of woman as Juliet was originally written as a thirteen year old. The book does not shy away from that awkward fact and the audience laughs.
The simple yet clever conceit has William (Stark Sands) and Anne (Betsy Wolfe) amusingly battling for control of the rewrite. After the deceased Romeo’s previously undisclosed transgressions are aired, Juliet sets off for her next phase. There will be a new love interest, naturally, and some side characters to help her find a happy ending.
These cohorts include her Nurse (Melanie La Barrie, excellent) and a new BFF May (Justin David Sullivan). May is a nonbinary character played by someone who identifies as he/she/they in real life. “I Kissed a Girl” is firmly coopted here to have even more opportunity to scare away the self-aggrandizing conservative morality police.
Other principle characters include love interest François (Phillipe Arroyo) and his codpiece wearing father Lance (Tony winner Paulo Szot). Paloma Young’s costumes are colorful Elizabethan riffs. Ben Jackson Walker is listed in the program as Romeo but he is dead at the top of the show. I will not spoil his plotline only to say the performance is a memorable one.
Belting her lungs out is Lorna Courtney as Juliet, She is delightful bundle of pop star energy. The cast seems to be having a grand time across the board. Special kudo to Betsy Wolfe who nails Anne Hathaway’s desire to recast women’s roles in history not to mention her own. Recounting her relationship with Shakespeare in “That’s the Way It Is” is a spotlight standout moment.
The performance which stood out for me amidst the talented competition was that of Mr. Arroyo as the lovelorn, love stricken, slightly lost and quite enchanting François. His journey is one of development, discovery and, ultimately, honesty and acceptance. There are a ton of laughs to be had throughout but there is also some heartfelt, albeit musical theatery, emotions as well.
Time for a quibble or two which keeps this production from being less than spectacularly awesome which it could have been. The choreography (Jennifer Weber) is definitely less than one might expect. More arms than legs if memory serves me right. The lighting design (Howard Hudson) is noticeably off with many examples of characters not lit correctly.
& Juliet could have been great. Instead it is simply an enormously entertaining spectacle combining gleeful writing and smile inducing performers with a cavalcade of pop hits. This one is for fun seekers and, especially, for those who need a break from reality. I know “I Want It That Way”.
&Juliet is running on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
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