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&Juliet is as Merry as the Day is Long
February 11th was the opening night of &Juliet at Tennessee Performing Arts Center. This jukebox musical is a re-imagining of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare written by David West Read and featuring music by Max Martin. His name might be unfamiliar, but the pop songs certainly aren’t. Just to name a few: “Oops I Did it Again,” “It’s My Life,” “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back),” and “Roar.” A meta-narrative, the musical begins with Anne (Teal Wicks), Shakespeare’s wife, coming to the opening night of Romeo and Juliet. When she hears what he has planned for the ending, she insists that she can write a better one. When he agrees to this, they work together, often bickering, to create a whole new play just about Juliet (Rachel Simone Webb) who doesn’t kill herself after Romeo does and finds out at his funeral that he’s been dating lots of other people. Her parents want to send her to a nunnery (I was so ready for a joke here as the term nunnery was used as slang for “brothel” in the 1600’s, but none came). Juliet runs away from home and goes clubbing in Paris with her friends, quickly becoming entangled in another engagement. Along for the journey is her best friend May (Nick Drake), her friend April (a character that Anne creates so that she can go into the play), and her nurse, Angélique (Kathryn Allison). Unlike Romeo and Juliet, this play is a comedy with a happy ending for all.
Webb is a stunning Juliet with a beautifully powerful voice. She manages to make you feel as if you’re Juliet’s friend as well, coming along to dance, laugh, and offer a shoulder to cry on. Despite the play being named for her, a great deal of the play is really about Anne, who is striving to find her own way and her own happiness. We know only a little of Shakespeare and Anne’s marriage: they were estranged for the majority of their marriage and Shakespeare’s lengthy will included only one sentence for Anne: “I give unto my wife my second best bed with the furniture.” David West Read gives her a voice, and brings her to life. Wicks is charming as Anne with impeccable comic timing. It’s impossible not to empathize with her and side with her. And yet, you don’t dislike Shakespeare (Corey Mach) who helps bring the lovers of the story together and adds needed conflict. Mach is able to balance Shakespeare’s arrogance with his charisma, making him undeniably likable. Another stand out performance is by Nick Drake as Juliet’s friend non-binary friend, May.
May brings us the most touching parts of the play as they explore their identity and what that means for their personal and romantic life. Although Juliet has agreed to marry Franҫois (Mateus Leite Cardoso) to satistfy their parents, there is no romance between them. May, who bumped into Franҫois earlier is falling in love him and trying to keep it inside. The big kiss between May and Franҫois is one of the sweetest moments. Drake perfectly embodies the fun, vivacious nature of May while also being soft and tender as they find someone to love. Cardoso played a sweet, shy Franҫois. One thing I didn’t care for was the sing-song, high pitched quality to his voice. I think it was done in an attempt to make his character seem anxious and perhaps a bit silly, but it was distracting and I much preferred his voice when he was singing. There was also a very cute romance between Angélique and her old flame, Lance (Paul-Jordan Jansen), Franҫois’s father. Kathryn Allison as Angélique was, by far, the sexiest character, fully aware of herself and what she deserved without youthful naivete. It was very nice to see a romance between characters that weren’t young kids exploring their first relationships.
Lance is French and Jansen played him with a silly accent that was funny but at times frustrating. Allison sounded so amazing in her rendition of “Teenage Dream” (truly, I’d rather hear her sing it than Katy Perry) and I was annoyed that Jansen was singing along with his exaggerated accent, basically ruining it. My favorite moment of the play is at the very end of Act I when Shakespeare decides to bring Romeo (Michael Canu) back to life. Shakespeare gestures and smoke comes up, the lights shine, and Romeo descends from the ceiling singing “It’s My Life.” Canu was the best himbo with his dumb, frat boy vibes and a rockstar quality that can’t be denied. The character is a little one note, but Canu plays it perfectly providing lots of laughs.
The costuming by Paloma Young is absolutely inspired, blending Elizabethan era corsets and doublets with short skirts and crop tops. Its fresh and new with bright jewel tones. The set design by Soutra Gilmour is flashy and fun. The sound mixing was exemplary, the music and voices were perfectly balanced. Ever character was well cast, and I especially loved the diversity of race and body type in the actors.
Bright, fun, and high energy, &Juliet is full of great pop anthems and witty banter. However, if you’re looking for anything deeper that that, you’ll be disappointed. If one is going to write a play suggesting Shakespeare needs some updating, I would assume that the new play would have some message or leave me with a feeling other than “well, that was cute.” And yet, Read did a good job honoring Shakespeare while gently poking fun at him. Not every play needs to be profound. Sometimes it’s fun to just turn off your brain and dance to Britney Spears. To use a phrase coined by Shakespeare, &Juliet is “as merry as the day is long.”
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Bethany is a wife, mother, and dog mom. In her spare time she likes to read, write fiction, and go out with her family. She feels lucky to live in Music City where she can go to the symphony or theatre all the time.
