& Juliet
Postcard Review by Caroline Russell-King
Show – & Juliet
Playwright/s/Composer/s – book- David West Read, music & lyrics Max Martin & Friends
Production Company/Theatre space – Max Martin, Tim Headington, Thersa Steele Page, Jenny Petersson, Martin Dodd, Eva Price, Lukasz Gottwald, 42nd Club, Independent Presenters Network, Jack Lane, Library Company, Shellback, Shivhans Pictures, Sing Out, Louise!, Kim Szarzynski, Taylor & Riegler, Tenenbaum & Keyes, Barry Weiss, John Gore Organization, Broadway Across Canada / Jubilee Auditorium.
Length – 2 Acts (2 hours, 30 min, one intermission.)
Genre– Jukebox Musical/Rom Com/Fantasy
Premise –In an effort to repair her marriage, Anne Hathaway re-writes and co-writes a different ending to Romeo and Juliet wherein Juliet doesn’t die but goes to Paris with her friends.
Why this play? Why now? – One of Shakespeare’s best-known plays with a feminist twist that should make every 14-year-old girl reconsider her life choices. Plus, a sub plot of a trans-person dealing with issues like which bathroom to use makes this politically on point. Pop songs sprinkled with a few Shakespearian references means everyone can feel included and smart.
Curiosities – What would WS think? I think he’d be amazed at his global impact over millennia.
Notable Moment – I’m a sucker for the way flutter confetti hits the lights.
Notable writing – Shakespeare is inherently theatrical, and while this isn’t the first take on this, it’s a fun one. Sometimes it is a bit of literary whiplash to go from “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun” to “Oops! I did it again”. Shoehorning pop songs into a rom-com plotline takes some skill and along with a few original numbers Martin, West Read, and friends succeeded in making it a Broadway hit.
Notable performances – Belting Britney Spears and Katy Perry, Fabiola Caraballo Quijada in the titular role is fabulous, but only slightly less fabulous than Crystal Kellogg as Anne Hathaway. CJ Eldred brings Shakespeare to life beautifully as the beleaguered playwright losing control of his masterpiece. Josh Fermin and Nico Ochoa sweetly give a nod to Shakespeare’s (as the program says) “outside the gender binary” characters. Paul-Jordan Jansen may have grappled with his French noblemen’s accent but he more than makes up
with his strong operatic voice.
Notable design/Production – What costume designer doesn’t love the brief of the mashup between 1500’s Paris and 2000’s club wear? Paloma Young’s fun sparkly costumes work well under the great lighting design by Howard Hudson. Scenic Designer Soutra Gilmour sets the stage by giving us a literal jukebox in the first scene and ups the game with a huge pride rainbow chandelier, a trip to Paris, and a date on a Ferris Wheel.
Notable direction – Director Luke Sheppard & Choreographer Jennifer Weber rock (and pop ;-)
One reason to see this show – Five gold stars for these star-crossed lovers.
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