& Juliet — Theatre Review

Musical: & Juliet
Theatre: Princess of Wales in Toronto
Performance: Saturday Matinee, July 30th, 2022

I don’t think I have ever been more at a loss for words after a musical. I truly don’t know where to start here, other than saying if you are in a position to go see this show, do so immediately.

& Juliet is a jukebox musical featuring songs by Max Martin about what might have happened if Juliet hadn’t killed herself at the end of Romeo & Juliet. The show begins with the very first performance of Romeo and Juliet, the VERY first, William Shakespeare himself is there, as is his wife who is paying him a surprise visit and has some critiques of his choice of ending, expressed in a brilliantly staged duet of “I Want it That Way,” using the song to convey their argument over the ending (“I want it THAT way” “but I want it that way”).

This scene is a beautiful example of how expertly the pre-existing pop songs are woven into the text in this show. Juliet shouldn’t kill herself at the end. Tell me why: Ain’t nothing but a heartache, ain’t nothing but a mistake. The lyrics fit so perfectly, and the arrangement makes it feel like this song was written just for this musical, and the same can be said with pretty much every other one of the roughly 30 songs used in the show. None of the songs are original, as it is a jukebox musical, but it doesn’t feel like that while watching the show. It has been written so cleverly that every song has a purpose and fits perfectly. One or two lyric changes here or there to make the songs fit a little better, but they’re minor, barely any tweaking needed. This show really flowed seamlessly from dialogue to song, and seeing where things were going was extremely fun.

It is also abundantly clear throughout the show that the writer knows Shakespeare, gets Shakespeare, and really gets Romeo & Juliet. There are fantastic jokes and references to Shakespeare’s work and life, rhyming couplets scattered throughout, puns, and a scene where Shakespeare can’t stop quoting himself. There are also several not-so-subtle sex jokes and a couple swears, keeping it true to the original Shakespeare style. Yes, if you haven’t already realized, Shakespeare’s plays were all full of dick jokes and swearing, funny how language has evolved to hide that. Oh, and as Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway, is a character, there are obligatory jokes around her name and the existence of the contemporary actress Anne Hathaway.

The choreography was brilliant too, this show was very dance heavy and so high energy. The cast just kept going nonstop, and they really looked like they were having the time of their lives the whole way through. In one scene, a few characters have a full on Backstreet Boys sequence and it was a major highlight. On that note, the costuming is amazing too, ranging from outfits that look like they would belong in the 16th century to outfits that would not be out of place on a 90s boyband and everything in between. Costuming is clearly inspired by the time period of the original Romeo & Juliet, but with a modern flare, similar to 2015's Something Rotten. Props such as cameras show up, Juliet swings from a chandelier at a rave, but at no point does anything feel anachronistic. It is all tied together brilliantly, and everything fits together exactly right.

I was fortunate enough to see multiple understudies at my performance, and they all gave amazing performances. I can’t compare them to the regular leads, as this is the only performance of this show that I’ve seen, and I won’t get to see it again before it transfers to Broadway, but they all did a truly brilliant job, and after the scandal with the Broadway League insulting understudies and swings earlier this year and blaming them for shows not doing well during Omicron, I am thrilled that I got to see these amazing understudies and watch them get a standing ovation that was more than earned. There wasn’t a single weak performance in the entire show, and the entire audience loved it as far as I could tell. I saw several people sort of dancing in their seats throughout, some going all out with their arms right up in the air, and I couldn’t resist a bit of movement myself.

The cast I saw had understudies Rachel Webb as Juliet, Tiernan Tunnicliffe as Anne, Joe Moeller as Shakespeare, and Matt Raffy as May, with swings Daniel J. Maldonado, Brittany Nicholas, and Alaina Vi Maderal covering roles the aforementioned understudies and some other actors usually play. Lance, Nurse (who in the show is given the name Angelique, though the programme still lists her as Nurse), Romeo, and Francois, were all played by their regular leads: Paulo Szot, Melanie La Barrie, Ben Jackson Walker, and Philippe Arroyo respectively.

I was thrilled to discover when looking through my programme, and with the help of a little extra research, that the regular lead for the nonbinary character of May as well as the understudies all appear to be nonbinary themselves. While people are still trying to defend Hollywood films that cast cis actors in trans roles with “maybe that was just the best actor for the part,” seeing not one but three nonbinary actors listed for a nonbinary role, and having watched one of the understudies absolutely nail it, was extremely validating and I believe shows that things are heading in the right direction when it comes to appropriate casting, I really hope to see more things like this in the future, not just for theatre but for film and television as well.

The technical aspects were amazing too, featuring a turntable, rising platform, trap door, and actors descending from the flies. There was also confetti dropped from the ceiling in addition to confetti canons, so depending on seating you could be going home covered in glitter and confetti. Smoke effects were used as well, and strobe lights. Lots of strobe lights. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed this show and will eagerly recommend it, do be careful if you are photosensitive and strobe lights are a trigger.

Unfortunately the website for Mirvish Productions does not give any mention to sensory friendly performances for this show, so I do not know if those are an option. Hopefully it will be when the show transfers to Broadway, this is an incredible show that should be accessible to all audiences and sensory friendly performances are a vital accessibility tool that should exist for all shows. The audience advisory does mention the flashing lights, loud noises, and pyrotechnics, and there are signs outside of the theatre mentioning it as well, but at this point seeing those warnings with no opportunity for sensory friendly performances feels like the theatre is saying “we know this show is not accessible for a lot of people but we don’t care”. I truly hope that this changes in the future.

While somewhat on the topic of the audience advisory, I mentioned earlier that there are a couple of F bombs (the P!nk song F****** Perfect makes an appearance uncensored) and some sex jokes about “playing the virginal”. The recommended audience is 6+ with no mention of the swearing or sort of humor that appears, and I did see some kids at the performance I attended. I’m not a parent, at least not to human kids, and I don’t think I’d mind that so much if I was and I took my kids to see it, I honestly think that it’s great for younger kids, I bet they loved it, but knowing that there are parents out there who took their small child to see the R rated Deadpool and complained has me thinking that at least one parent must have complained about their kid hearing an F bomb and having to explain the virginal joke to their kid when the theatre’s website makes zero mention and says recommended for 6+. While I personally don’t care and don’t think that would change if I were a parent, I do think that if I were in charge of the audience advisory I would make a mention just to be safe and at least be able to throw it back at the parents who do like to complain about content. Keep the 6+, but maybe make a mention just to be on the safe side, especially once it transfers.

All in all, this show was absolutely brilliant, and I hope it does well when it transfers to Broadway, ideally with the inclusion of sensory friendly performances and maybe a minor update to the audience advisory just to shield from potentially complaintive parents. For now, it will be playing at the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto until August 14th.