'& Juliet': Pop musical look at life after Romeo

‘& JULIET’: (from left): Joomin Hwang, Rachel Webb, Bobby Pocket Horner, Lorna Courtney, Virgil Gadson. Photo: Matthew Murphy.

& JULIET
Book by David West Read
Music & lyrics by Max Martin & friends
Directed by Luke Shepard
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
124 West 43rd Street
212-239-6202, www.AndJulietBroadway.com

By David NouNou

There is an infectious vitality to & Juliet that is off the charts. It has a great and actually funny, irreverent book by David West Read and a catchy score from start to finish by Max Martin & friends. No spoiler alert here, but the score includes Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” and “Oops…I Did It Again”, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” & “Roar” as well as the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody” and more surprises.

As Shakespeare wrote it, Romeo takes his poison and dies. Juliet awakens from her drugged coma, learns from Friar Laurence of what happened, and stabs herself to death. The end. Well, not in this version. Juliet (Lorna Courtney) wakes up and figures things out for herself. Why should she kill herself? And it was selfish of Romeo to kill himself and not wait for her. She intends to live her life. Thus, the merriment unfolds.

Besides Juliet, there are the three other principal protagonists: William Shakespeare (Stark Sands) and Anne Hathaway, not the actress but actually Shakespeare’s wife (Betsy Wolfe). They manipulate how the story should continue now that Juliet is alive. Anne looks at things from the feminist point of view and wants Juliet to experience all the alternatives at her disposal, while William wants to keep the traditional manner in which he conceived it. The third principal is Melanie La Barrie as the Nurse.

As the play progresses, different characters are introduced that alter Juliet’s life and if she should even remarry. Even Romeo (Ben Jackson Walker) is resurrected and makes another plea for Juliet’s hand in marriage. Decisions, decisions.

With further alterations by William and Anne, Juliet leaves Verona for Paris to flee her parents and encounters Francois (Philippe Arroyo), the dejected son of Lance (Paulo Szot), a man of high importance in the courts of Paris. Lance forces Francoise to make him proud by marrying Juliet. One problem, though: Francoise is gay and in love with May (Justin David Sullivan) who happens to be Juliet’s BFF. Lance in younger days had an affair with Juliet’s nurse. Messy. Messy. Not to worry; things do sort themselves out.

As I mentioned the premise is great, the score delightful, and the performances in some cases are good, except for the over hamming by most. Lorna Courtney delivers her songs “Oops!…I Did It Again” and “Roar” like a finalist on The Voice and not so much as the character, Juliet. Betsy Wolfe is a consummate Broadway pro and really gives Anne the boost for feminism that the character requires. She is in great voice and far superior to her British counterpart in the London version we saw this summer. Stark Sands as William is raffish enough, but lacks the spark and passion needed for William to be compelling.

The surprise of the evening is Paulo Szot, best known for his 2008 Tony-winning performance as Emile De Becque in South Pacific. He is a wonderful baritone who seems to be enjoying himself in the part of Lance singing and precision dancing as a boy band singer. He delivers a delightful performance.

This musical is further enhanced by its creative team. Set designer Soutra Gilmour has created original, unorthodox, seamless, cluttered but easy-on-the-eye sets. The costumes by Paloma Young are colorful. Lighting Designer Howard Hudson captures every mood, night or day. Choreographer, Jennifer Weber has injected so much energy and originality in her dances. Director Luke Sheppard keeps the merriment going and unfolding at every scene, but in his English version, the supporting cast was tighter and more focused than the freewheeling in this version.

The surprises keep coming, the fun rolls along, and remember in this version it is Juliet, not Romeo.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published November 30, 2022
Reviewed at November 29, 2022 performance.