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[title]Are you an Aussie musical theatre fan who is hungry to see something new? Then you oughta be excited for the Australian debut of West End and Broadway hit & Juliet in Melbourne. Verified by our Melbourne arts and culture editor at a five-star hit (read the review), the Regent Theatre season must close on July 29, 2023. The production is touring to Singapore next, and as yet, there's no announcements for another season in an Australian city (but we live in hope!).
Billed as the greatest love story ever remixed, this anthemic pop musical inspired by Shakespeare’s most popular romance imagines a world where Juliet Capulet’s story doesn’t end with sacrificing herself for her first love (that’s Romeo, if you’re not following). With the book penned by Emmy Award-winning Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read, the music of & Juliet draws on the songbook of five-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer Max Martin, the genius behind more number one hits than any other artist this century. Yep, that means you’re in for some Britney Spears bangers, and then some.
Now, jukebox musicals and reworkings of the Bard are nothing new, but & Juliet manages to take these elements and serve up something altogether fresh, fun and hopeful. Time Out had the opportunity to go see this show on Broadway before its Down Under debut – and even this self-professed jukebox-sceptic was won over. It must be something to do with the combination of theatrical spectacle, relatable and progressive messages about love and relationships, the queer representation, the bombastic pop dance numbers, and the shining presence of the properly diverse cast and ensemble – but it had me whooping and weeping more than once.
The Australian cast is led by proud Aboriginal and South Sea Islander woman Lorinda May Merrypor in the title role, and Australian music industry legend Rob Mills as Shakespeare, while music theatre icon Amy Lehpamer tries to rewrite the narrative as his wife Anne. The breakout heartthrob of Fangirls and The Lovers, Blake Appelqvist, steps up as bad boy Romeo. Rounding out the cast is Casey Donovan, Hayden Tee, Jesse Dutlow and Yashith Fernando.
Choreographer Jennifer Weber has been involved with this show since it was an off-Broadway pipe dream, and she headed to Australia to play an integral role in casting and developing the local production. She sat down with us in New York City for a chat about the “meticulous crafting” that makes this show work, and what we can expect from the Australian run.
Photograph: Supplied | Jenn Weber
Jenn, the pop-inspired dance moves are such a big part of this show’s personality. In your mind, what are the quintessential ingredients of great ’90s or 2000s pop choreo?
That’s a really good question. There are some certain shapes and rhythms that are very iconic to that era. Very clean shapes, not super detailed musicality. If you watch what's happening today in pop choreography, it’s like crazy intricate musicality. But in terms of the ’90s specifically, there’s much more simple, big gestures.
There is a certain synchronicity to how the pop beats marry with the emotional pull of Shakespearean storytelling. Why do you think it works?
The reason you feel this, like, big feeling when you watch the show is because of how meticulously the show is crafted. I think that the reason the emotional payoffs of the choreography are so big, is down to the juxtaposition of how the narrative is being pushed by the dance. I think if we just did really big dance numbers, just because “this is a banger, and we should, like, smash it out” you know, it actually wouldn't have the impact that it has… My background is in a mix of hip-hop and pop and theatre. And so, you know, that's just my vocabulary. My body just has its way of moving, and that's how I translate the things I'm thinking to the physicality on stage.
What were you looking for in the casting process for the Australian production?
It's like this x-factor thing, you know. It's this thing you can't quite describe, but you absolutely know when you see it. We don't go by “type”, like “we need one of this type of person, or that type”. It's not that at all, it's completely the opposite. There's just something special that we see in somebody, and they might not be the best at every single thing that we need – but there's this thing, and that's the thing we want.
What's so cool about this show is there's a massive diversity in casting, and everyone really brings their own flavour… But then when we all come together, it's like we're all moving as a unit, but we're all so different, different body types, different styles.
Photograph: Supplied/Johan Persson
Do you feel like that's a movement we're seeing in musical theatre, where casting is less about uniformity?
I think theatre is having such a great moment where it's really evolving and taking more chances. I mean that on every level, like, in terms of casting, but also in terms of creative teams. & Juliet is the first big musical I’ve worked on. For a long time, it felt like it was always the same people working on Broadway, on stage, off stage or whatever. And now it feels like there's a real desire for more voices to be amplified through the medium, which is very exciting to be part of.
If you had to pick one, what is your favourite musical number from the show?
Oh my gosh, every day it changes, but the ‘Problem’/’Can't Feel My Face’ mash up in Act Two is definitely one of my favourites. It's sort of like Juliet's fantasy moment, and also, ‘Problem’ [by Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea] is just such a banger of a song. And because it is functioning as our dream ballet, it's one of the biggest choreographic moments.
In a musical, the thought is when the emotion rises, people sing. And in my head, when emotion rises, people dance. I think dance, it really makes people feel, you can really make people feel excited, or sad, or energised, or inspired. Everybody's on the same beat, and that has a feeling of community and connection.
& Juliet plays at the Regent Theatre, Melbourne, from February 26 to July 29, 2023. Tickets are on sale now.