Joy & Fun & Juliet

I admit that I had low expectations for & Juliet. The premise just sounds clumsy, “What if Juliet didn’t kill herself after Romeo?” And a jukebox musical at that, with songs written Max Martin and collaborators. It sounds like the show was cobbled together to try to mimic the success of Moulin Rouge crossed with SIX. I was wrong that it would not be a ton of fun. It is. And, if it is Moulin Rouge and SIX mashed together, it works

& Juliet is energetic, fun and what people expect a musical to be: big, loud, colorful, and overwhelming. It isn’t perfect, but it a blast.

And I will start by saying the cast is fantastic. I don’t want to be redundant and complement each actor, but the singing, acting and casting were first rate from top to bottom. 

The story begins with Shakespeare’s wife, Ann Hathaway (Betsy Wolfe). She questions why Juliet has to die in Romeo and Juliet. When Shakespeare (Stark Sands) gives a waffling answer – That is what makes it a tragedy – she convinces him to try a new tack. Let Juliet decide to live and see where it goes. And so, Juliet (Lorna Courtney) escapes her parents plans to send her to a nunnery by running off to Paris. A nunnery is where fallen women are sent. Since Juliet is no longer a virgin , she no use to her parents. Escaping with her are two new friends, May (Justin David Sullivan) and Ann, plus one old friend, the nurse (Melanie La Barrie) from Shakespeare’s original play.

In this show, the star-crossed lovers are the non-binary May and Prince François (Philippe Arroyo) and, The Nurse and King Lance - Paulo Szot lending a adult air and voice to the proceedings. Shakespeare and his wife Ann share the stage as feuding couple with different expectations of marriage. The late arrival of Romeo (Ben Jackson Walker), freshly not dead, complicates the happily ever after for all concerned.

The & Juliet songs, mainly bouncing and upbeat, add to the carnival like atmosphere. With one or two exceptions, the songs fit and and add a layer of comedy. & Juliet adds an inside joke or two that everyone who has seen or heard Romeo and Juliet will understand.

The story here is more gender inclusive with love stories between men and women, non-binary characters and a freedom from stereotypes. But the main moral of the story is that self-empowerment gives a person the freedom to choose who to and how to love. And how being true to yourself might be the greatest superpower we all have.

If this all sounds preachy, do not worry, & Juliet is infused with joy and life. Veteran London Director Luke Sheppard balances the razzle dazzle of the show as expertly as he does the moments of love and heart. Instead of a preachy show about gender, he allows this musical to spread the joy throughout the audience without losing engagement in the story. 

& Juliet is good story, great acting and a positive message.

& Juliet
Playwrights: Max Martin & Friends, Music | David West Read, Book | Director: Luke Sheppard | Cast: Lorna Courtney, Paulo Szot, Betsy Wolfe, Stark Sands, Justin Davie Sullivan, Melanie La Barrie, Ben Jackson Walked, Philippe Arroyo | Website: & Juliet

Kinky Boots Delivers - Fun, Flirty and Fabulous (for a bit to long)

Kinky Boots, freshly opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, is great fun.  A toe-tappy, big dance number, ball of fabulousness - riding in on drag queens and lessons on self-confidence and redemption.  Which is to say, a bit of old-fashioned Broadway.

The cast and the Kinky Boots

What makes Kinky Boots special are the songs by Cyndi Lauper.  Here infectious brand of sweetness and sentimentality, without being saccharin or dull, moves the musical and all the pieces.  Director Jerry Mitchell makes perfect use of the material, and the diverse players to produce a great time.

It is a familiar tale; a young man wants to leave a dry stuffy town to make his way in the big city.  Dad dies and he has to take over the business, all the while yearning for the life he could have had.  Until, he discovers there really is no place like home, once you change it enough.  In the case of Kinky Boots, the dry town is in England, Clarence the Angel is a drag queen named Lola (with her own Angels) and the young man saves the factory and himself by making designer footwear for men that like to dress as women – sequined, shiny, fabulous women.

Stark Sands, Annaleigh Ashford & Billy Porter

Stark Sands plays the young man in question, Charlie Price – recipient of Price and Sons shoes.  Mr. Sands brings a nice understated earnestness to the role, trying to find a way to save the factory, but still be with his fiancé in London.  A veteran of American Idiot, Mr. Stark knows when to let the song take center stage, and also when to belt it out.

Billy Porter has the far showier role of Lola, Drag Queen extraordinaire, sassy show muse and dispenser of wisdom.  I can’t image the role being any good without Ms. Lauper’s songs.  Her songs allow Mr. Porter to explore both sides of a stereotypical role and bring a warm heart to the proceedings.

Two first act numbers, The Sex Is In The Heel and Everybody Say Yeah are big time Broadway at their best.  Infectious and fun, these set up high expectations for Act 2.  Expectations that aren’t, always, meet.  In Act 2, writer Harvey Fierstein hues a little too closely to the movie – taking us down some sentimental lanes better left hinted at or imagined.  Here Kinky Boots occasionally feels formulaic and too obvious.

All is forgiven quickly though as Kinky Boots ends as it should - in a big brassy number that leave the audience happy and the cast in afore mentioned designer footwear.  Great Fun.

Kinky Boots

Jerry Mitchell, Harvey Fierstein & Cyndi Lauper

Book: Harvey Fierstein, Music & Lyrics : Cyndi Lauper

Director: Jerry Mitchell

Cast: Stark Sands, Billy Porter, Annaleigh Ashford, Celina Carvajal, Daniel Stewart Sherman, Marcus Neville, John Jeffery Martin, Nathan Peck, Joey Taranto

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