Jesse J, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and NSYNC, among others, are all back in the West End. No, not the actual performers but their songs which all, and more, feature in the smash hit musical ‘& Juliet’.
After a 19 month (!) hiatus, the most musical of musicals of shows in the West End is back, and it appears to be better than when it first ran back in 2019! ‘& Juliet’ is not the classic Romeo & Juliet that we all know, ‘& Juliet’ has a twist in that it imagines Juliet’s life without Romeo – and it works like a charm – and it’s not a run of the mill mushy love story! ‘& Juliet’ is narrated by the man who wrote the classic original play – William Shakespeare himself (Oliver Tompsett), alongside his wife Anne (Cassidy Janson). Both Tompsett and Janson own their roles – they are perfect and perfectly matched – and Janson can sure sing!
Juliet is played to perfection by Olivier winner Miriam-Teak Lee…….she belts out each number like she’s singing them for the first time! Also back is the fabulous and fantastic (also an Olivier winner) David Bedella as Lance, the father to Francois (Tim Mahendran) and lover to Juliets nurse (Melanie La Barrie – who is fabulous). Yes it’s complicated, but there’s more complication when Francois and Juliets’ gay friend May (Alex Thomas-Smith) fall for each other – and Francois is the same guy who is wooing Juliet! This mayhem and comedy of errors is all set to the songs of Max Martin (…Baby one more time, Ooops I did it again, Roar, I kissed a girl, and Everybody, among others) all make for a fun and fantastic night at the theatre!
It’s really good to see this show back on stage – it only ran for 4 months before it had to close because of you know what. And Max Martin, who wrote more than 75 songs that have made into the top 10 – is the man responsible for this show. Thanks Max! Now that ‘& Juliet’ is back open again, get on that computer and book tickets immediately – you’ll have a great night out – perhaps the best night you’ve had in two years. The show is fantastic!
For tickets and more information, please click here: www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk
Review by Tim Baros