& Juliet ☆☆☆☆
Shaftesbury Theatre
The plot for & Juliet opens with an intriguing proposition. What if Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare’s neglected wife) could take control of the plot of Romeo and Juliet and rewrite it to focus on Juliet’s desires. How would that female perspective change Shakespeare’s most famous romantic play? Throw in a selection of melodic, power ballads from one of the world’s most successful writers (Max Martin) and the result is a jolly but convoluted and random confection of a jukebox musical.
Max Martin is the Swedish writer producer of some of the biggest hits of the last twenty years. In fact, he has written or co-written twenty-two US number ones for artists such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Westlife, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Pink. Many of these songs are worked into & Juliet; frequently a conversation immediately preceding each song will throw in the most peculiar turn of phrase in order to be able to shoehorn the song into the narrative. This was often clumsy and even drew (good natured) laughter from the audience.
On the opening night, however, Liam Payne (looking H.O.T. actually) and his entourage swept in and it becomes clear which demographic they are aiming for. In the next seat, the twenty-five-year-old and his boyfriend laughed like a drain throughout and cheered every song to the rafters. Many people will come to this show just to enjoy the music they have grown up with, have pre-existing emotional attachments to, and a show that shares their social values. It’s a very powerful draw.
There is a very strong LGBTQ storyline where we follow a period of self-discovery about two characters – May (played by Arun Blair-Mangat) who transitions (singing ‘I’m not a girl, not yet a woman’) and the gender variant Francois (Tim Mahendran singing “I kissed a boy and I liked it”)) which results in a fairy-tale marriage where they write their owns vows such as “I don’t care who you are as longs as you love me”. This gives the whole show a relevance, a social currency.
The set by leading UK designer Soutra Gilmour is a colourful mix of Elizabethan and modern elements that ends up looking like a derelict Disneyland. The cast, however, are all top notch with David Bedella bringing a bass-voiced cod-pieced camp to the proceedings and Cassidy Janson bringing a veterans musical theatre power to her role as Anne Hathaway – she truly owns her showstopper ‘That’s the way it is’ (Celine Dion).
Special mention must be made of newbie Miriam Teak-Lee taking the lead as Juliet (and who won the Stage Debut Award for Best Actress in a Musical for On the Town at Regents Park Open Air Theatre in 2017 and whose only other major credit is Hamilton at the Victoria Palace). Her voice soars, powerful and note perfect at full tilt and oozes a seductive smoky timbre during the quieter numbers. Displaying a trifecta of dancing, singing and acting, she dominates and makes her own a range of songs we only know from some of the biggest singers on the planet and all their production wizardry. Teak-Lee provides both the magic and the glue to keep this charabanc on the road – a star is born for Generation Z!
P.S. The Original Cast Album has already been released
REVIEW : JONNY WARDJonny Ward, Queerguru Contributing EDITOR is a drama graduate but has worked backstage for many years at venues such as The ROYAL ALBERT Hall, The 02, Southbank Centre and is currently at The NATIONAL THEATRE. He lives in Hoxton, London and is delighted to check out the latest, the hottest and the downright dodgy in queer culture for Queerguru. (P.S. He is currently single) @JonnyWard360
Labels: 2019, Jonny Ward, London Theatre, review
