How the ‘& Juliet’ creative team fine-tuned the Broadway design
The creative team behind Broadway's & Juliet shares how the show transformed from London's West End with amped-up choreography, sound, and lighting design.
This season, several shows premiered on the West End before coming to Broadway, including & Juliet, the jukebox musical featuring hit songs from powerhouse music producer/songwriter Max Martin’s catalog. & Juliet, featuring a book by David West Read, flips the script on Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo & Juliet and reimagines the classic tale for a modern audience. In this feminist version, Juliet drops the dagger and chooses to live. The eponymous heroine ventures from fair Verona to Paris with her girlfriends, confidently stepping into a new chapter post-Romeo.
& Juliet opened at the Manchester Opera House in 2019 before transferring to the West End in 2020. Then, it went to Toronto and Broadway in 2022, receiving nine Tony Awards nominations, including for Best Musical. For the show’s transfer to Broadway, the creative team honed in on the narrative storytelling and the audience experience through design elements.
For Gareth Owen, the show’s Tony-nominated sound designer, the transfer across the pond allowed the sound team to fine-tune the design. “& Juliet Broadway is a more polished, refined version of the London production as far as sound is concerned,” said Owen.
The team pushed boundaries in London and tried several techniques for sound design. The team scrapped the failures for the Broadway iteration and further improved the successes. “The result is a much more cohesive overall picture — a sonic landscape that threads through the show from one end to the other with a definite purpose, as opposed to London, where we were often trying to be clever simply for the sake of it,” conceded Owen.
Dominic Fallacaro and Bill Sherman, nominated for Best Orchestrations, tuned up the storytelling for the Broadway transfer. “There were some small musical tweaks and upgrades, from cutting a few bars here to changing a string line there,” said Fallacaro. “Ultimately, it's about serving the narrative the best and thinking about all the creative musical ways you can amp up the storytelling.”
The show features chart-toppers from the past few decades, including “...Baby One More Time,” “Since U Been Gone,” and “I Want It That Way,” which cleverly lend themselves to a new storyline of empowerment, self-acceptance, and love.
Sherman added, “The creative team definitely tightened some narrative screws before Broadway, including song cuts and character refinement. In addition, we continued to find new ways to bring Max Martin's music to life.”
One noticeable change was with the showstopping number “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” which closes the show. The entire creative team worked together to drive the show home. “Along with our choreographer, Jennifer Weber, we workshopped hits and breaks into that number to maximize the explosive choreography and leave the show on an extra high note,” said Fallacaro. (Not just one, but two explosive confetti cannons extend that high note further.)
& Juliet’s lighting designer Howard Hudson also earned a Tony nomination. “Being able to work again on the show, having opened it in the West End, let us add another whole layer of detail,” said Hudson.
“Lighting-wise, when you leave a show, there’s always things with hindsight you think to yourself that you’d wish you’d done, and of course, we were able to make all those changes,” he said. “Broadway definitely feels more immersive as we tried to bring the piece into the auditorium more and really embrace the audience in the world of the show.”
For the entire creative team, the experience of bringing some of the greatest pop songs to the stage, and bringing the audience into the fun, has been gratifying. “Working on this project has brought me to the West End in London, Abbey Road, Manchester, Toronto, and now to Broadway, with some of the most talented creatives and artists, and I've loved it,” effused Fallacaro.
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Photo credit: & Juliet on Broadway. (Photos by Matthew Murphy)
Frequently asked questions
How long is & Juliet?
The running time of & Juliet is 2hr 40min. Incl. 1 intermission.
Where is & Juliet playing?
& Juliet is playing at Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The theatre is located at 124 West 43rd Street (between Broadway and 6th Avenue), New York, 10036.
What's the age requirement for & Juliet?
The recommended age for & Juliet is Ages 8+. Children under 4 will not be admitted into the theatre..
How do you book tickets for & Juliet?
Book tickets for & Juliet on New York Theatre Guide.
Is Shakespeare a character in & Juliet?
Shakespeare is one of the main characters in the musical. The events of the show unfold as he and his wife, Anne Hathaway, co-author a new ending for his play Romeo & Juliet in real time.
Is & Juliet based on Romeo & Juliet?
& Juliet is loosely inspired by Romeo & Juliet, but the events of the musical begin where Shakespeare's play leaves off. Multiple characters from Romeo & Juliet appear — including the title characters and the Nurse — but there are new characters, too.
Who wrote & Juliet?
David West Read and Max Martin wrote & Juliet. Read, who wrote the script, is best known as a writer on the Emmy-winning sitcom Schitt's Creek. Martin, who wrote all the pop songs that appear in the show, is a Grammy-winning music producer and songwriter who's created hits for the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, and more.
What songs are in & Juliet?
The 30 songs in & Juliet are all pop songs from the '90s to today, all written by Swedish music producer Max Martin. They include "I Want It That Way," "...Baby One More Time," "Since U Been Gone," and more. Learn about all the songs in & Juliet on Broadway.
Is & Juliet appropriate for kids?
& Juliet is recommended for ages 8 and up. The show contains some strong language and references to drinking alcohol, but the content is otherwise appropriate for all ages. Please note that children 4 and younger are not permitted in Broadway theatres.
Who directed & Juliet?
Luke Sheppard directed & Juliet on Broadway and in London's West End, where the show premiered. He makes his Broadway directorial debut with the show.
Is & Juliet good?
& Juliet received overall positive reviews from critics and is among the top-reviewed shows on New York Theatre Guide. Our review praises the show's "youthful exuberance" and energy, making & Juliet a great musical for anyone looking for a fun, uplifting time.
What is & Juliet about?
What would happen after Romeo and Juliet if Juliet didn't die? That's the question at the core of this pop-fueled musical created by the Emmy-winning writer of Schitt's Creek. Jam out to tunes made famous by Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, P!nk, Ariana Grande, and more, as Juliet travels to Paris with new friends and new love. Find out about & Juliet tickets.
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