& Juliet Visits Kansas City’s Own Broadway

I saw & Juliet’s touring company performance at the Music Hall on November 19th. I was fortunate enough to have recently been in New York City where I saw the Broadway Cast perform in this production and was able to compare the touring production and one on Broadway.

& Juliet is a musical rewriting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet using popular music from the 90’s through today, all written by Max Martin. This production was directed by Luke Sheppard.  The plot questions, “what if Juliet didn’t kill herself over a boy she practically just met?” The story is told through discussion between Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway (played by CJ Eldred and Crystal Kellogg respectively) who delivers an empowering point of view via Juliet’s story.

I thoroughly loved the story. I experienced delight watching the female empowerment of Juliet and the other women in this musical from the imagination of Anne Hathaway. Also, Anne’s snippy remarks about her husband William added an element of humor that I adored. At one point, William made a comment about “May,” a character in the show, being a feminine name to which Anne replied by pointing out his plays were performed with men portraying women all the time.

While I didn’t find it necessary to know the score ahead of time, it certainly added an element of fun and entertainment to viewing this musical. I was able to get into it on another level from most musicals I’ve seen. The song “Confident” was my favorite in the show. I already liked this song before I ever saw the show, but the way it was performed in this musical and used to move the story forward made it even more entertaining. It really showed the audience how the main character had grown and matured.

While I liked all the characters and the actors who portrayed them, May, played by Nico Ochoa, was my favorite character because of their sassy personality.  I loved Juliet, played by Fabiola Caraballo Quijada; her voice was spectacular and her acting was immaculate! 

While the touring company’s performance was very similar to the Broadway performance, there were a few notable differences in the show due to the stage being different. The Broadway show had a double rotating stage, like what I remember from Hamilton. There was also a trap door which rose from below the stage at a different point, adding a “rockstar effect” to one of the musical numbers. Of the differences I noticed, those two stage differences are what stuck out most to me. 

The fact that there would be cast differences was obvious in a touring company, however I didn’t feel like the differences took anything from the show. There was a lot more crowd enthusiasm at this performance than there was at the Broadway show. The enthusiasm was fun, but it did tend to run into some of the next lines in the play, making it hard to hear.

I’m grateful that I was able to see a Broadway show here, in my hometown. It's truly a great thing The American Theatre Guild brings to Kansas City. It gives those who may not be able to travel, or those who just may not wish to travel to New York the opportunity to see world-class stage productions, performed with the most spectacular effects by the most awe-inspiring performers available. I greatly enjoyed this show and I highly recommend that anyone see it, particularly those who would recognize the music because that just adds extra fun to the experience!