Well…
& Juliet is clearly a crowd-pleaser and certainly oozes joie de vivre through its flimsy, crazy storylines and crammed, prolific popster powerhouse Max Martin jukebox (placed firmly centre stage at the outset).
The wafer-thin premise is what if the teenage Juliet (a high-octane performance from relative newcomer with the fab voice Geraldine Sacdalan) didn’t kill herself over a four-day crush and instead grasped girl power and a new beginning?
Shakespeare (X Factor winner, multi-platinum selling recording artist and award-winning West End actor Matt Cardle) has just completed the ending to the tragedy of pubescent star-crossed lovers, but his long-suffering wife (superb understudy Harriet Caplan-Dean: SIX, West End, UK tour & international tour) demands a rewrite, so seizes the quill and sets in motion a giddy romp from Verona to Paris for life-affirming partying—and wry digs at the state of her own marriage.
An aghast Shakespeare throws in plot-twists and a sultry stud Romeo (Jack Danson: Mamma Mia) returned from the dead, but nothing can quell Juliet’s coming-of-age frolic, which erupts in an explosion of daftness, disco lights, confetti cannons, aerial escapades and much singing, dancing and romcom.
Embroiled in an unlikely love triangle with would-be DJ Francois (Kyle Cox: Crazy For You) and best friend May (42 Balloons and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’s Jordan Broatch), feisty Juliet refuses to succumb to her mother’s threats and chooses her own destiny.
Morning Live’s resident doctor and This Morning presenter Dr Ranj Singh makes his musical theatre debut as Lance, and his silly accent and slapstick courtship of Sandra Marvin (Chicago, Hairspray, Waitress, Emmerdale, Loose Women, Call the Midwife and much more including guest performances with Michael Ball on tour) as sassy Angélique is hilarious.
The ever-present dynamic company fizzes (and steps into various roles: Lady Capulet, Benvolio, Nell, Richard and more) as the Martin back catalogue is shoehorned into the Broadway box office record breaker. Paloma Young's costuming is all ruffs and trainers, laced bodices and denim jackets, while Soutra Gilmour's set is graffiti and scaffolding, sumptuous bedchambers and sparse (out of timeline kilter) props.
But the music is what this is all about: Britney Spears’s “Oops!... I Did It Again” and “…Baby One More Time” are recurring themes; Shakespeare and Anne’s arguing over narrative is summed up with Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way”; Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” embodies Lance and Angelique’s reunion, while Romeo’s resurrection prompts a powerful “Since U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson) from Juliet. “Break Free”, “Blow”, “Roar” and “I Kissed A Girl” all have their place, while May’s struggle with gender is poignantly explored in “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”, their burgeoning relationship with Francois is debated in “Whataya Want From Me” and stand-out is Anne’s heartfelt “That’s The Way It Is”.
& Juliet doesn’t try to be anything but a good night out with tremendous verve and a lot of pretty good singing, tongue-firmly-in-cheek fun and dancing (choreographed by Jennifer Weber).