David and Hannah Mirvish & Associates/& Juliet, music and lyrics by Max Martin and Mates, e-book by David West Learn, music supervisor, orchestrations, & preparations by Invoice Sherman, choreographed by Jennifer Webber, directed by Luke Sheppard, Princess Alexandra Theatre, closes Might 17. Tickets here.
The Canadian manufacturing of & Juliet opened on Sunday, and from the primary moments it turned clear that Toronto has one other runaway hit on its fingers.
This staging by Luke Sheppard is a triumph — bursting with vitality, coronary heart, and unapologetic theatrical pleasure — and it appears destined to run without end on the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
It’s that uncommon industrial musical that satisfies each the attention and the ear, delivering spectacle whereas grounding itself in a narrative that feels refreshingly up to date.
What powers this juggernaut is its irresistible mixture of Max Martin’s pop catalogue and David West Learn’s sharply comedian e-book.
The Creators
Martin, the Swedish songwriter-producer behind a number of the largest tracks of the final three many years, has been liable for extra No. 1 hits than nearly anybody alive.
His music has formed international popular culture — from Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys to Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Céline Dion — and & Juliet transforms these songs into narrative engines. Quite than feeling like retro jukebox inserts, every quantity lands with shocking dramatic precision.
Balancing this musical structure is Learn’s sensible, cheeky, completely fashionable script.
The award-winning Canadian author, greatest recognized for his work on Schitt’s Creek, reimagines Shakespeare with each irreverence and affection. He asks a easy however radical query: what if Juliet (Vanessa Sears) didn’t die?
From that premise springs a playful theatrical experiment in authorship, storytelling, and company, as Anne Hathaway (Julia McClellan) barges into her husband’s (George Krissa) rehearsal room and decides that Juliet deserves a lifetime of her personal.
Learn’s writing is each self conscious and heat hearted, leaning into humour with out sacrificing emotional reality.
The Story
The plot, buoyed by this narrative framework, turns into a celebration of alternative, independence, and the refusal to be written out of 1’s personal life.
Juliet seizes management of her future and steps right into a world of chance, travelling along with her pal Might (Matt Raffy) and Nurse Angelique (Sarah Nairne) to Paris whereas Shakespeare and Anne argue over the form of the story in actual time.
It’s a present that desires to welcome everybody, and it does so by weaving in a number of strands of up to date id: a trans/similar intercourse coming-of-age story — Might and François (Brandon Antonio) — a romance for an older couple — Angelique and Lance, François’ father (David Silvestri), and friendships that matter as a lot as romance.
There’s something right here for each viewers member — wit for individuals who know their Shakespeare, and a heartfelt message of empowerment that resonates throughout generations.
Oh sure, and Romeo (David Jeffery) who actually isn’t useless.
Spectacle For Musical Theatre Lovers
The manufacturing’s visible world, courtesy scenic designer Soutra Gilmour, lighting designer Howard Hudson and video designer Andrzej Goulding, is astonishingly complicated, an endlessly shifting theatrical panorama the place one thing is going on all over the place you look.
The set is constructed from modular platforms, flying parts, and a lattice of scaffold-like buildings that permit scenes to slip effortlessly from Shakespeare’s rehearsal room to Verona’s streets to the glittering golf equipment of Paris, all with out ever stopping the present’s momentum.
Quite than literal surroundings, the designers use motion, color, and projection to sculpt area — LED screens bloom into pop-art backdrops, mild pulses like an extension of the rating, and the ensemble themselves develop into a part of the structure as they reposition parts in full view, creating the sense of a narrative being rewritten in actual time.
Lighting capabilities nearly as a scenic character — daring saturations, sharp beams, and rhythmic cues form temper and placement with breathtaking immediacy. Projections broaden the world far past the bodily stage, deepening the present’s pop-theatrical hybrid vitality.
The costumes by Paloma Younger work in tandem with this kinetic atmosphere, marrying Renaissance silhouettes with fashionable streetwear and high-glam pop thrives; each character appears to step out of a mash-up between Shakespeare and MTV.
Fast modifications occur in view, woven into choreography, and the color palette — vibrant pastels, jewel tones, metallics — stitches the performers straight into the visible world, making clothes a type of scenic storytelling.
Collectively, the set, lighting, video, and costumes create a stunning, continually remodeling universe that matches the musical’s exuberant pop spirit beat for beat.
The Performing
Sears offers the efficiency of her life. She is virtually by no means off the stage and it’s completely radiant as Juliet. She sings up a storm, dances like a whirlwind, acts like an Oscar winner — in brief she is perfection.
McClellan and Krissa have nice chemistry collectively as Anne and Will. I don’t know the way outdated McLellan is, however the girl is a stupendous dancer for somebody not within the flush of youth, and each she and Krissa can belt out a tune.
Raffy and Antonio are suitably candy whereas Nairne and Silvestri deliver smiles because the older era. Jeffery as Romeo has the toughest position to play as a result of he’s a nerd which he does very nicely.
The Curmudgeon
I’d be lower than trustworthy if I didn’t let my curmudgeonly facet communicate out. The whole lot I’ve written above is completely true however right here comes the BUT…
I didn’t acknowledge one music and so they all sound the identical.
99% of the songs are all canbeltos — that means sung at full voice and loud.
Whereas vigorous and energetic, the choreography may be very repetitive.
Sorry, & Juliet followers, however it needed to be stated, however then, I did say it was from my grouchy facet.
Closing Ideas
Ultimately, this Canadian manufacturing understands precisely why & Juliet has already conquered audiences around the globe.
It marries pop exuberance with theatrical craft, delivering a present that’s wildly entertaining.
Toronto has embraced it wholeheartedly, and judging by the response on opening evening, & Juliet is poised to develop into one of many metropolis’s defining industrial hits.
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a inventive writing teacher for Ontariolearn.
