The reviews are in for the West End premiere of & Juliet, a new musical from Swedish songwriter, record producer, and singer Max Martin, which imagines Shakespeare's tragic character in very different circumstances.
Starring Miriam-Teak Lee in the title role, the musical features music from Martin's extensive pop catalog, including Britney Spears' "Baby One More Time," the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody," and The Weekend's "I Can’t Feel My Face."
In the new musical, Juliet gets over Romeo by running off to Paris with Nurse and her best friends on a whirlwind trip of romance and self-discovery.
Following a limited run in Manchester, & Juliet is currently playing London's Shaftesbury Theatre. The musical is directed by Luke Sheppard (In the Heights) with a book by David West Read (Schitt’s Creek), choreography by Jennifer Weber, and new arrangements by Tony and Grammy-winning orchestrator Bill Sherman.
Read reviews for the London premiere below.
Evening Standard (Nick Curtis)
The Guardian (Michael Billington)
Independent (Alexandra Pollard)
The Telegraph (Dominic Cavendish)
Time Out London (Andrzej Lukowski)
Rounding out the cast of & Juliet are Cassidy Janson, Oliver Tompsett, David Bedella, Arun Blair-Mangat, Jordan Luke Gage, Melanie La Barrie, Tim Mahendran, Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Danielle Fiamanya, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Billy Nevers, Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Dillon Scott-Lewis, Kirstie Kivington, Alex Tranter, and Sophie Usher.
& Juliet features costume design by Paloma Young, set design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting design by Howard Hudson, and sound design by Gareth Owen. The show is produced by Max Martin, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele, Jenny Petersson, and Martin Dodd.
