Baltimore is throwing glitter and making it rain! Launching their National Tour from right here in Charm City, & Juliet is the refreshing and sensational ‘Elizabethan meets Millennials Mashup’ the world didn’t know it needed! Evocative, full of heart, and one hell of a good time, & Juliet is the upbeat, feel-good, coming of age tale that the great William Shakespeare was never able to truly give us; audiences are falling in love with it if their show-stopping ovations and unending applause are any indication. Directed by Luke Sheppard with Musical Supervision, Orchestrations, and Arrangements by Bill Sherman, and Choreography by Jennifer Weber, this smash-hit sensation is one for the books and is an explosive combination of catchy, familiar pop music and fantastically fabulous story, crashing into one of Shakespeare’s most tragic tales. It’s an epic win and making its debut in Baltimore is just the icing on the cake!
Jukebox musicals seem to be all the rage, especially with their blended and mashed-up medleys, but that doesn’t always make them brilliant. David West Read (Book) and Max Martin…and Friends (Music & Lyrics) have the deft hand of nuance, cheekiness, and cleverness on their side! & Juliet is exceptionally well developed and the story fits together pricelessly without feeling like a random pop-song catalogue has been forced into the narrative or vice versa. The story is hilarious and heartfelt, it’s the rewrite of Romeo & Juliet we so desperately did not know that we needed and it’s chock-a-block with brilliant musical choices that are woven flawlessly into the narrative tapestry. All too often as of late in these jukebox shows, you get pithy shoehorns where character names are contrived from song lyrics or other ill-fitting forced plot constructs that bump the narrative along. But this isn’t the case with Read’s libretto or Martin (and Friends) song selections. It feels as if the song catalogue of late 90’s and early 00’s pop music were written specifically to go along with this show; utter musical, lyrical, and narrative brilliance in action.
There’s a self-awareness to Read’s libretto as well; not so clunky as to constantly be paying itself out, but in a subtle and cheeky fashion. Shakespeare mentions, as does his wife Anne, once or twice how there will never be another Anne Hathaway and it’s a subtle wink to the audience rather than a hammer-over-the-head for us to get the joke. And there are plenty of Shakespearean quotes and references beyond just those from Romeo & Juliet that tickle and delight those in the audience who come from a more literarily informed point of view. Director Luke Sheppard has a tremendously talented team on his hand, both from the production side of the world and the performing side of the realm. Bill Sherman’s orchestrations and arrangements really allow for the pop-song selections to fit flawlessly into the time period whilst simultaneously creating a unique and chimerical hybrid of futuristic-1595. It’s wondrous strange and vivaciously remarkable.
Jennifer Weber’s choreography is mind-blowing. The hip-hop, fresh-street, high-octane, frenetically, perpetual motion of her dance routines is all the flash, splash, and astonishing intensity that one could hope for when it comes to such an impressive series of songs. “Confident”, “Since U Been Gone”, and “Stronger” are just a few that come to mind. And the principals— like Anne and Juliet, keep step with that sensational dance corps who are out there, popping, locking, leaping, and ferociously working the boards beneath their feet for these intense group numbers. Led by Dance Captain Francisco Thurston and his assistant DC, Kyra Smith, the dance corps pulls off some extraordinary moves, several of which look like they could come straight from any pop-star’s stadium-concert engagement. Weber’s choreography is nothing short of daring and dazzling. And it’s augmented tenfold every step of the way by Howard Hudson’s lighting design. There’s a party-atmosphere raging throughout most of the production and Hudson has a handle on it; blinking, colorful strobes, flashing sprays of heated tones, and all that jazz. But Hudson also balances those more somber moments, particularly whenever Juliet is singing alone on stage, giving her appropriate mood lighting. And Hudson’s snap-cues for whenever Anne— who let’s face it, is calling all the shots— hollers for lights up, down, or out are simply sublime.
You get a stunning set from Scenic Designer Soutra Gilmour, who gives us the fancy-font in the ascending-descending signs with the names of ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’ amongst many other sensational fly-pieces that drop in and out of the scenes as the show moves along. But Gilmour’s most stunning set pieces aren’t the signs, or even that wild ‘Renaissance Bar’ counter for inside the ball in Paris but rather that swinging chandelier that Juliet gets to hang from and the flying moon that both Romeo and Juliet ride together in the second act. There’s just something theatrically thrilling about actors who get to fly on set pieces; watching Juliet get air-lifted on the opulent, rainbow-crystal-dripping chandelier is no exception to that. Andrezej Goulding, on video and projection design, enhances a great deal of these magical moments with things happening in the background on the drop screen, and the overall special effects— spark-canons and confetti-canons are a brilliant added bonus every time they fire off at the end of a splashy big number.
Costumes are a world onto their own here at & Juliet and one could write a whole article about how creative they are, how wild they are, how saturated in rich tones, fancy patterns, crazy accessories, and wonderous color samples they are; the list goes on because they dazzle and amaze whilst fitting the fashion-forward fantastical-reality of this show’s atmosphere. Costume Designer Paloma Young takes the best of both worlds— the pop-modern era from which the music is borrowed and the physical trappings of 1595 in Elizabethan England— and blends them together in a visual masterpiece— particularly when it comes to the ‘surprise’ outfits revealed on Juliet when such quick changes occur. You get striking silver for the ‘DeBois Band’ which is equal parts rowdy and hysterical. There are just so many brilliant choices happening in Young’s sartorial selection for this show that it can only be said one must see it to believe it. Though those rogue, breathtaking magenta-knee-high boots on Juliet as she rolls into “Roar” near the end of the performance are the pièce de résistance in this production.
Conduction the production, Andre Cerullo (also on keys) leads an incredibly well-versed orchestra (featuring Reagan Casteel on keys, Clayton Nordhill on guitar, Tabari Lake on bass, Zack Albetta on drums, Kyung Leblanc on violin, and Devree Lewis on cello) through all of these iconic pop songs, which have been meticulously arranged by Bill Sherman in a fashion that suits the show like a bespoke glove. Cerullo’s orchestra creates perfect musical moments for ‘The Players’ (Naima Alakham, Camille Brooks, Nella Cole, Lois Ellise, Ishmael Gonzalez, Kenneth Onesimus Goubran, Shelby Griswold, Christopher Robert Hanford, Jourdan Ibe, Josh Jordan, Nicole Lamb, Yoshi Maysonet, Usman Ali Mughal, Jaydon Nget, Kyra Smith, Francisco Thurston) to live their best lives as a part of Juliet’s tale.
The aforementioned ‘Players’ are stellar; they comprise the dance corps, make up bit players— like Benvolio (Nella Cole) who drops some sick iambic pentameter-style rap beats late in the second act— and serve as the high-octane, indefatigable ensemble that moves like a roaring ocean current to swoosh this show along. The show itself achieves perfect balance between the hot-popping numbers, slower ballads, and moments in sp0ken scene; it’s just a marvel at how seamlessly it all comes together and that is largely in part to the tremendously talented ensemble, sweeping in and out of moments, characters, songs, and scenes with the impeccable timing and incredible spatial awareness and unimaginably contagious heightened energy.
It’s hard to drop insanely over-the-top characters like Angélique (aka Juliet’s Nurse) and Lance into the category of supporting characters when they’re so good at stealing the audience’s hearts, capturing the audiences’ attention, and generally just fun to enjoy in all their antics on stage. Kathryn Allison, as Angélique, and Paul-Jordan Jansen, as Lance, have a feral and fantastical chemistry that erupts from their not-so-meet-cute. “Teenage Dream/Break Free” is this wild and enthusiastic ‘chase-me-chase-you’ all around the bedroom with this pair of powerhouse vocalists belting their faces off whilst simultaneously making the most out of their physical comedic expressions. It’s deliciously unhinged and has the audience in stitches. Jansen has this insanely rich, buttery-smooth, baritone-bass sound that you’d expect to hear in a classical opera somewhere, which showcases itself gloriously during “Shape of My Heart”, in what might be the most satisfying heartstring-tugging moment of the show. Allison, who can often be heard as a part of the ‘Juliet-backup trio— featuring May, Anne/April, and the Nurse— has vocals that simply slay. And you get all the heartfelt character from Shakespeare’s Nurse’s origins in her rendition of “Fuckin’ Perfect” which she sings like a proper torch song to Juliet near the show’s conclusion. Allison possesses sass, flare, and attitude for miles, which makes her character extraordinary, and you get a different but equally entertaining flavor of that in Jansen’s Lance, especially when he gets into the run of boy-band songs in the second act… as a part of ‘DeBois Band’ (talk about brilliant puns…they named the character Lance and featured more BSB songs than N’Sync songs!)
Romeo, Romeo, why art thou still in this, Romeo? Didn’t thy get the memo? It’s called & Juliet. Tackling the role of star-crossed, dead-undead-who-knows-what Loverboy Romeo, Michael Canu does an extraordinary job of giving the character that simplistic naivete that comes along with a jerkface-boi who realizes he done screwed up! His vocals are on point— especially when he descends from the ceiling like something straight-up out of heaven, at the end of the first act, rolling his way through “It’s My Life.” There’s a lot to be said for Canu’s stage presence, and there is a sincerity behind his expressions when he’s seated with Juliet on that moon and they’re singing “One More Try” and “Problem/Can’t Feel My Face.” He adds perfect harmonies and blends to the ‘DeBois Band’ number, “Everybody”, which is so hilarious the audience can hardly contain their laughter.
Francois (Mateus Leite Cardoso) is the striking epitome of nervous, closeted, sheltered, and wholly pitiable young love-interest who— much like Juliet— is on a quest to make his own way in the world if he can just find the courage and confidence long enough to do it. When Cardoso makes ‘wedding vows’ out of “As Long As You Love Me” not only is it beautiful but it’s hilarious; the way he flip-turns that scribbled note is hysterical. The audience is treated to their first musical taste of Cardoso during “Overprotected” where he’s playing the virginal (it’s an instrument. And a delicious pun!) Cardoso’s dorky mannerisms, adorable affectations, and overall introverted-nature just radiates in relatable waves to the audience.
A great deal of time is spent singing with May (Nick Drake), and when they bring their voices together for “Whataya Want From Me?” it’s a tidal wave of angst and emotional chaos. When they blend together for “It’s Gonna Be Me” (another pun-realized in all of its epic glory, this time, meme style!) it is more than miraculously delightful. There’s a natural ease with which the two of these performers sing and its shown at its finest during their shared duet of “Shape of My Heart”, which features a few segments sung by Lance. Nick Drake, as May, is fierce. Ferocious, singing bestie-queen who is the perfect addition to the narrative tale of Juliet. (This is her story now!) Drake stuns not only in the way that they fill out the role of May with serious stage presence and emotional vulnerability but also in the way that they sing. Featured first and often as backing vocals for Juliet, you get some seriously impressive sounds from Drake not only in group but when they sing on their own. “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” is a smoldering powerhouse emotional torch song that Drake sings until it lays down sung!
Of course this whole delicious daydream-fantasy narrative gets spun underway when Shakespeare (Corey Mach) and wife Anne (Teal Wicks) start to have a cute lover’s quarrel at the top of the show about what exactly the play Romeo & Juliet is meant to be. You get the rocker bust-out number “Larger Than Life” to introduce Mach as The Bard, which follows immediately into “I Want It That Way” which gets parsed out like this witty sectionalized lover’s spat; the way they play off one another, both speaking and singing is truly brilliant. While Mach spends a good deal of time hidden out of sight, Wicks’ Anne…come April…gets inserted into the narrative and becomes a supportive pillar upon which a great deal of the libretto rests. The vocal volcano that is Wicks erupts in overdrive for the tail-end of “That’s The Way It Is” and the house is just shook with her vocal prowess, expressive capabilities, and overall magnetism in the role. Wicks is charming, cheeky, and witty, particularly when biting back and forth with Mach’s Shakespeare, as the pair go head to head in dialogue scenes, duking it out over who’s writing what; the whole argument serves as one big analogy and metaphor for the problems in their marriage and it’s a wild ride from start to finish with the pair of them. Wicks brings gloriously animated facial expressions to the character of Anne, most of which matriculate down through her full physicality, expressing waves of feelings in her body language as well. And she dances in-step with the dance corps, holding her own for some of these high-octane choreographed routines. Their combined “I Want It That Way (Reprise)” is perfection, and just watching all the antics the pair get up to during their respective scenes and numbers is bliss beyond compare.
From meek and displaced in her own story to confidence for miles, Juliet (Rachel Simone Webb) owns her spot in the limelight as the titular character. The story is rewritten to give Juliet agency, to give a female character in Shakespeare’s canon her own voice, a choice made on her own, Webb nails that story arc with flying colors from start to finish. The gamut of emotions that Webb runs through in this production is enough to make you dizzy and she’s doing it while singing, dancing, and living in the moment like this is her actual life story on display. It’s phenomenal. And while there’s zero question of her sensational vocal capabilities, you really get the wow-factor of what Webb is capable of when she blasts her way into “Confident” right in the last third of the first act. Loaded with emotional expression not only when she’s singing but when she’s speaking and interacting with other characters, you get the clear sense that Webb understands the complex character of Juliet from a deeply earnest and sincere part of her heart. And when she blasts off like a rocket into orbit for “Roar” she’s got the entire audience whooping and hollering along with her for that show-stopping climactic number. Webb is living, breathing, and amazing the world as the titular character of & Juliet, hands down, no contest.
This is real— so take a chance and get tickets (if you can!) to the launch of the National Tour of & Juliet here in Baltimore— and don’t ever look back; don’t ever look back! They’re making it glitter-rain (confetti and good vibes too!) and it’s one for the ages! Do not miss!
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes with one intermission
& Juliet plays through September 28th 2024 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on the Main Stage of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center- 12 North Eutaw Street Baltimore, MD 21201. For tickets call (410) 837-7400 or purchase them online.
