& Juliet is a Broadway jukebox musical re-envisioning the ending of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.
In the play, Anne Hathaway—Shakespeare’s wife—dislikes the written ending of Romeo and Juliet and begs her husband to work with her in rewriting it.
Now, instead of Juliet dying in despair next to Romeo, she decides to live her life, and with her friends, she runs away to Paris, France.
Since the show is a jukebox musical, that means that the songs used throughout the play are already existing songs. & Juliet uses songs specifically by the Swedish pop songwriter, Max Martin.
Many of these songs are recognizable and commonly played on radio stations.
Due to the specific style that Broadway performers sing in, the songs did not always sound great. A lot of times, the beat was too fast for the performers and they were struggling to keep up to the rhythm.
However, that does not mean that the performers on stage were bad at singing—in fact it was quite the opposite. Everyone was able to sing very well while doing incredible stunts on stage.
On the topic of things done well, the stage and special effects were incredible. There were so many moving pieces that allowed for constant background changes, which is something that is not extremely common on Broadway.
There were also many moments where the main actors would be suspended in the air, allowing the focus to be drawn to them and invoking a feeling of awe from the audience.
That being said, the story itself was mediocre. The plot was mostly predictable aside from one or two plot twists.
In addition, there were many misunderstandings or things left unsaid.
Despite that, the show itself was very funny if you looked at it through a satirical lens.
If you choose to go to the play just to have a good time and laugh at the jokes with friends, you won’t be very disappointed.
However, if you go and take it very seriously, you might not have the best time.
WJPS 11th grader Evdoksia Livaditis recalled, “I liked the play. I thought it was funny and the whole time I was laughing with my friends.”
Additionally, WJPS teacher Ms. Marks added, “I’m not typically a musical fan but the 90s tunes and fun costumes kept me engaged. I love it when writers flip the script and change plot to reveal further motivations and perspectives. The show was a blast.”
