JADAR

★★★★★

& Juliet is a jukebox musical that uses the songs of Max Martin – one of the most successful songwriters of all time. With a book by David West Read, the story focuses on a “what if” scenario, where Juliet does not die at the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and instead lives her own life (hence & Juliet). The musical premiered at the Opera House, Manchester, where I previously reviewed it. Following a West End run and various international productions – including Broadway, where it is still going strong – it has finally embarked on a UK tour, beginning where it all began.

The show opens with a play-within-a-play – Romeo and Juliet, obvs. – directed by Shakespeare (The X Factor’s Matt Cardle – we all knew he could sang, but he can act too!).

His wife, Anne Hathaway (yes, really – played by Lara Denning, who, like Cassidy Janson before her, arguably steals the show), comes to watch a rehearsal but is horrified by the “shit” ending. She begins rewriting the play, with the ending becoming a new beginning. She even puts herself into the play as one of Juliet’s best friends, April.

From thereon, Anne and Shakespeare battle it out, each trying to steer the ship whilst throwing curveballs to distract or just piss off the other. It’s a battle of the sexes, like the two fairies in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty repeatedly changing the colour of Aurora’s dress from pink to blue (and in the end, pink prevails!).

But as humorous as it is, we soon begin to see parallels between the star-crossed lovers and Will and Anne – and Anne’s determination to rewrite the play seems to be representative of her desire to rewrite her life.

Juliet is played by rising star Gerardine Sacdalan, who has the voice of an angel and bundles of sass. She’s not as gritty as Miriam-Teak Lee but she does her own thang with the role – and it works.

Her non-binary best friend, May, is played by Jordan Broatch, who recently starred in 42 Balloons – another pop musical destined for stardom. May is the heart and soul of the show, and Broatch’s roaring rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman’ is sublime and subversive.

Juliet’s possy is rounded off with Angélique (Sandra Marvin – ever the vivacious songstress), the Nurse from the original play. When the clique travels to Paris, Angélique encounters an old flame, Lance (Ranj Singh, aka Dr Ranj off the telly – who exceeds expectations as this colourful, cartoonish character but might be better going completely pantomime). Lance is keen for his son, François Dubois (Kyle Cox – quite the versatile actor, who is playing a very different role, and singing a very different tune, in this musical) to wed – but “Frankie Du Boy” has a secret.

The core cast is rounded off with Jack Danson, who both charms and alienates as the sexy but smooth-brained Romeo. His solo number, Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’, is a real show-stopper.

Speaking of show stops, there was one a mere half hour into the show, just as we got to Paris. Director Luke Sheppard thrice came onstage to keep the audience – which was full of press and guests – up to date. Turns out, the flying equipment stopped working. It’s impressive that, in the show’s entire history, this is the first time that has happened – but even more impressive is how the cast, crew and creatives handled the issue.

It’s unfortunate that we did not get to see people flying or sitting on a moon but they weren’t missed, and people who had not seen the show before won’t have felt anything off, especially because of how well the actors adapted to the changes – especially Sacdalan, who just danced and had fun instead.

As is often the case with tours that only spend a week or two at each venue, some things have been shrunk – there is no revolve, and a staircase is used in place of a rising platform – but Sheppard has done such a great job of redirecting the show (and Jennifer Weber’s electric choreography fills the stage) that these things are not missed, especially because the production value remains exquisite.

& Juliet fortunately premiered before productions decided to save money by using screens in place of actual sets, and it’s an absolute extravaganza. Soutra Gilmour’s set design is massive; there are so many scene changes, but every scene is a visual delight. Paloma Young’s costumes are camp AF – a fusion of Tudor and modern clothing, like something seen at a vogue ball. Howard Hudson’s lighting animates every scene, and Gareth Owen’s sound design is sublime.

Whilst the production thankfully does not use screens in place of set, it uses them to enhance scenes; Andrzej Goulding’s video and projection designs are as gorgeous as ever.

The star of the show is, of course, the songs. Nobody writes pop songs like Max Martin. The score goes from Backstreet Boys to Britney to Bon Jovi and back(street) again.

But whilst some might dismiss Martin’s music as radio-friendly, commercial pop, his lyrics are actually rich, smart, and meaningful – and letting loveable characters sing these songs in specific contexts allows the lyrics to be properly appreciated (even more so when they are slowed down, forcing the audience to savour every single line).

Most of the rearrangements are remarkable: Britney’s ‘Baby One More Time…’ is given a bass-heavy makeover, and there’s a splendid, seamless mashup of Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’ and Ariana Grande’s ‘Break Free’. However, what starts off as a dark, slow, sultry reworking of Grande’s ‘Problem’ transforms into a pop extravaganza inelegantly sprinkled with lyrics from The Weeknd’s ‘Can’t Feel My Face,’ with the chorus singing so loudly that you can (perhaps fortunately) hardly hear Romeo (who, for some reason, can’t feel his face).

Whilst I prefer it when musicals start with a musical number, and Backstreet Boys’ ‘Larger than Life’ works well in the opening scene, I do wonder if the opening scene would be better played straight – so that the rewriting feels more magical and whimsical (and like a brilliant bastardisation of standard Shakespeare).

Let’s be real – the real opening number is the next song, where Shakespeare and Anne hilariously argue about the ending of the play to Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’ (finally, the gibberish lyrics make sense!).

& Juliet is, arguably, the best jukebox musical out there – and surely the best non-biographical jukebox musical (best bio jukebox has to go to Tina) because of the book. Read has done such an incredible job of building an epic story around Martin’s iconic songs, rather than shoehorning them in. Even in Act 2, when there’s one song after another, every song works.

I sometimes turn my nose up at jukebox musicals but Read does them so well; his sophomore musical, In Dreams (which I reviewed in Leeds, ahead of its Toronto transfer) is built around the songs of Roy Orbison – and it doesn’t even feel like a jukebox musical (well, until ‘Pretty Woman’ anyway).

The script is incredibly well-written and has been informed by lots of research. In the opening scene, when Shakespeare reveals the ending of Romeo and Juliet, a member of the chorus breaks the fourth wall and says, “This isn’t a spoiler; it’s in the prologue” – as those of us forced to study it at GCSE will remember!

Arguably the funniest character is Anne – she gets some real stingers. When Shakespeare is confused by a male-presenting character having a “woman’s name” (May), Anne scoffs, “This from a man who built a career out of men dressing as women often playing women dressing as men!” When she inserts herself into the narrative as one of Juliet’s friends, alongside May, she exclaims, “April, May, and July-et!”

The script, of course, pokes fun at Anne sharing her name with a certain Hollywood actress. “Yes, my actual surname is Hathaway – let’s not dwell on that,” she says early on, with a blissfully unaware Shakespeare later remarking, “There will never be another Anne Hathaway!”

There was also a case of accidental comedy, when Sandra Marvin, perhaps best-known amongst musical theatre fans for playing Deloris in Sister Act, tells Juliet, whose parents are sending her to a convent, that “Being a nun is a lot of fun!” This was not intentional, but “death of the author” renders intentions irrelevant!

& Juliet is a fun, feminist, heart-warming musical that rewriters history into herstory and champions and celebrates diversity. Ironic, then, that its writer, songwriter and director are all White men – but that almost makes it better; three White men have created the most wonderfully woke musical ever to woo the West End (and now the whole country)!

The politics are a bit heavy-handed and on-the-nose, and occasionally they can feel a little preachy (to the choir!), but it all comes from a good place – and only a Tory could leave this show without a great, big smile on their face (especially after last week’s election results).

& Juliet runs at Opera House Manchester until July 20 and tours the UK until June 28.

Photo: Matt Crockett