Juliet’s Story (& Juliet Review)

& Juliet was the only brand new musical on Broadway that I was dying to see on our trip to NYC in May, so it’s only fitting that it’s the first review I’m writing of all the shows we saw from that trip. I had been casually following this show since it began its run in London’s West End. I was excited that they brought it over to New York to start a run on Broadway. Because there are shows that are so similar in musical style, you end up seeing a lot of crossover with casts. As it turns out one of my very favorite shows, Six, had a few of the same actors. That coincidence is how & Juliet got on my radar.

& Juliet is a jukebox musical similar to Mamma Mia! and Escape to Margaritaville. A jukebox musical is a show in which the music comes from the pop sphere instead of being original to the show. I originally thought that the show just picked a smattering of popular songs and artists from the early 2000s and 2010s. There’s lots of Britney Spears, *NSYNC, and Backstreet Boys, with Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry sprinkled in among other artists. What I learned when I got to the show and read the playbill was that all of the songs in the show were written by Max Martin. Fun fact: Max Martin not only did he work with all the pop artists to create their biggest hit songs, but he also helped Taylor Swift write some of her top radio hits from Red, 1989, and Reputation. I’m talking “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “Bad Blood”, “Style”, and “Delicate” just to name a few. P.S.: Broadway people, what do we have to do to get a Taylor Swift jukebox musical? Just imagine “All Too Well” as the big 11 o’clock number!

All distractions from Ms. Swift aside, back to the show. & Juliet utilizes dual storylines. In one, William Shakespeare is about to present Romeo & Juliet for the first time and his wife, Anne Hathaway, comes into town to support him. She decides she doesn’t like that Juliet kills herself to be with a boy she just met, so she decides to rewrite the ending to explore what could happen if Juliet lives. The second storyline is the new play. Anne writes new characters, like Juliet’s best fried May and even writes herself into the story as April, and she creates a journey where Juliet escapes to Paris to not end up living out her life in a convent. Everything is going great with Juliet meeting a new boy until Shakespeare decides to create a twist where Romeo comes back to life and go win back Juliet.

The energy in this show is top notch! If you’re looking for a life changing piece of art in a musical, this is not the show for you. However, & Juliet is such a light-hearted, energized, and funny show that had the entire theater engaged and dancing along by the end of it. & Juliet is currently running in the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. This was my first time seeing a show in the Sondheim and I was blown away by it. It feels like it’s tucked away from the front of the theater and that there isn’t much there aside from a classic Broadway theater, but it’s because you enter at the top of the building and go down a few levels to reach the orchestra level. The theatre was restored in 2009 and while it’s very modernized in the lobby area, including the bathrooms, they kept the major architecture seen in the theater itself. The lobby area is massive and gives you plenty of space to be able to gather there and hang out before the show begins and during intermission.

The lighting (Howard Hudson) and sets (Soutra Gilmour) for this show were so incredible, and definitely added flash and pizzazz. The costumes (Paloma Young) were very interesting. The designer modernized the style of the renaissance period by playing with sleeve and skirt lengths. Juliet even wears pants at one point in the show! There were also more modern elements added to the costumes. The actors also wear different types of bomber jackets and jean jackets, while also wearing Converse for shoes. I loved the mix of styles and time periods. It helped tie together the historical setting and the modern music.

There are two people I wanted to talk about super quick in this review: one character from the show and one actress from the show. The first is the character of May. May is a non-binary character and I have to applaud the casting team of the show because as they have classified the gender as such for the character, they are also using non-binary performers for the role itself since the first production of this show. Justin David Sullivan actually abstained from being considered for a Tony Award Nomination because there isn’t a non-gender category as of now.

The actress I wanted to shed light on very quickly is Melanie La Barrie, who has been with the show since it’s original run in Manchester before the show even transferred to the West End. While this used to be more common, it seems like not many performers get the chance to take their show across the ocean to help open in another country. Getting to see someone who has been with the show since it’s inception was a real treat, especially with this post-COVID season we’re in where it’s finally getting easier to travel without any restrictions and live for a short period of time somewhere else in the world.

I can definitely see why & Juliet is a fan favorite and has a following where people see the show over and over again. This is such a great musical to go see to escape life and just have fun for a little while. The show is currently up for 9 Tony Awards this Sunday and I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a few home. For me it’s hard to judge on technical awards, but I definitely see this show being a frontrunner for book and costume designs,. However, I think the real front runner of this show is going to be Betsy Wolf for Featured Actress for her performance as Anne Hathaway. She was incredible and my mom loved her performance in the show.

We were lucky enough to see the entire Original Broadway Cast for the show with only Daniel J. Maldonado in the role as Lord Capulet/Bouncer.

The original cast is led by Lorna Courtney (Juliet), Stark Sands (Shakespeare), Besty Wolfe (Anne), Melanie La Barrie (Angelique/Juliet’s Nurse), Justin David Sullivan (May), Paulo Szot (Lance), Ben Jackson Walker (Romeo), and Phillipe Arroyo (Francois).

& Juliet is currently playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City. They also announced that they will be starting a National Tour in 2024 in both the US and the UK.