shakespeare goes POP & atticus wants lobstah.
i didn’t watch the tonys this year. but, on a fuller theatre nerd level: i of course listened to the folger library’s shakespeare unlimited podcast interview with david west about & juliet.
and now i need to get to broadway ASAP!!!
& juliet is a jukebox musical featuring a mash up of hits written by max martin. so it’s {thankfully} not like all billy joel songs or all gloria estefan songs—it’s a mix of familiar pop tunes all written by martin. so classics from britney, the backstreet boys, xtina, ariana grande, kelly clarkson, katy perry, demi lovato, n’sync & more… all masterfully cobbled together into a retelling of romeo & juliet!
according to the podcast, the first scene of & juliet is shakespeare rising from the floor in a smoke cloud to open the show. er, concert? (some spectacle can be seen on the show’s website here: um, wowza! andjulietbroadway.com ) during the development process, show writer david west took max martin to a variety of musicals. (max martin had only ever seen mamma mia; he is swedish, after all!) and max, in turn, took david to pop concerts. & juliet sounds like the perfect blend of both*.
*cue these are a few of my favourite things….!
& juliet sounds like all the things i write and talk about basically all the time i’m not talking or thinking about books:
shakespeare as the popular entertainment (i.e. pop culture) of his day.
fame. love. the tension between art and commerce.
this show explores, what if (an author’s favourite writing prompt!) juliet didn’t kill herself, but decided she still had a lot of livin’ (& lovin’) to do? and what if (!!) shakespeare and his wife anne hathaway journey to paris with this youngster juliet?
repeat: i want to (nay, need to) see this show!!
since my next trip to nyc isn’t on the books yet, i did buy the original broadway cast recording of & juliet. i started listening to it on my way to writer’s group this morning and i was laughing and singing along after the opening chords. and as much as i love my writing group, i’m excited to get back into the car and listen to the rest of it. (yes, my rad 2006 car still has a cd player AND a cassette player, thank you very much. so does my studio.)
also, the folger shakespeare library re-opens after a few years of renovation this november, so another pilgrimage to there is due, too! https://www.folger.edu/
so here’s the list of broadway shows currently playing that i’d LOVE to go see:
& juliet (pop music! shakespeare easter eggs! a happy r&j retelling!)
life of pi (the puppetry!!! golly!!! also book-inspired!!)
funny girl (its first return to b’way since streisand! also i think lea michele is incredible!)
six (the touring production is coming to greenville next month, but still deciding on the ticket splurge!)
fat ham (probably not my deal, but it is a hamlet retelling!)
new york, new york (yes, inspired by the classic movie, but live!)
moulin rouge (for the immersive theatre set; and prayers for aaron tveit to make one more surprise re-appearance just for me.)
sweeney todd (i’ve been a josh groban fan since his song “you’re still you” in 2001; and praying this theatre classic isn’t as bloody as i expect/all the theatre jokes & references allude to?)
camelot (for the costumes, becasue it’s at lincoln center, and because the new book is by aaron sorkin; plus it’s starring phillipa soo, of hamilton’s original schuyler sister fame, as guenevere!)
kimberly akimbo (only because people keep talking about it and the poster looks like the reading rainbow logo of my youth)
parade (which looks depressing, but ben platt, & it’s a classic i know nothing about)
merrily we roll along (i’m not the world’s biggest sondheim fan, but danny radcliffe in glasses and a sweater vest and sharing the stage with jonathan groff? yes, please!)
and announced but not open yet:
smash (yes, that iconic 2-season nbc tv show that sparked the ongoing “karen or ivy?!” debate amongst theatre people friends.)
if anybody would like to fund my trip to NYC to see & report on these shows, please be in touch. (& i’d like to stay at the library hotel, s’il vous plait. unless you have a suite available at the plaza or the bowery for me… those are equally acceptable.) ;)
bonus theatre content:
i did finally get to see aaron sorkin’s adaptation of to kill a mockingbird when the touring production came to my city earlier this spring.
i could write a lengthy essay about this show (and i’ve got the thoughts & notes for it if i decide to later), but today i’ll hold myself to only saying two things:
1. i understand why people snuck into shakespeare’s plays and tried to copy down the dialogue.
okay, fine, they did it to make illegal copies to sell—or to produce unauthorized performances, but still… this play was worth studying! i haven’t found it in print yet, so i guess that unless you get cast in the show, sorkin’s script isn’t available to read?!! travesty. i’m keeping my eyes on the samuel french website and the drama book shop!
2. my husband and i have a running bit now: “hey atticus! yuh wanna go tuh rehd lobstah?”
needless to say, jem and scout’s southern dialects were non-existent. they went from newsies/yankee to boston to “mid-atlantic” to that old-timey affected hollywood lilt. the rest of the cast was great. and the kids brought the necessary humor breaks. (esp. dill!), but atticus’ two kids need a little more dialect coaching, please!! totally took the audience out of the drama. (scout’s physicality as an 9-ish year-old was fantastic, btw. she was a winner of so you think you can dance, so that makes sense: but please get her some vocal training! that’s as nice as i can say it and my only critique.) :)
okay:
let me know in the comments which plays and musicals you’re anxious to see! or if you’ve seen any on my wishlist!
watch the & juliet cast’s 2023 tonys performance below; it’s just SO joyful!! :D
(p.s. i also want broadway dance lessons. santa, can you hear me?!)
& update: i finished listening through the & juliet obcr while doing errands today. totally did a spit take on track 28. gotta love an annie hathaway joke. ;D
& through a beautiful coincidence of the universe: i happened to paint a piece of early fan art for evelyn skye’s the hundred loves of juliet this month in the crayon box. you can try my patreon free for a week and check out the full time-lapse painting post & see step x step how i made the finished artwork right here!