Andy Haynes

Local pride aside, “& Juliet” truly belongs to its two female leads. Fabiola Caraballo Quijada stars as Juliet, while Crystal Kellogg plays Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare’s wife. Fresh off winning the 2025 Jimmy Award for outstanding high school performers, Quijada is making her first Broadway tour appearance and delivers a breakout performance. Her singing and dancing are impressive, but it is her vulnerability, comedic timing, and commanding stage presence that mark her as a performer with a very bright future.

All told, in a touring Broadway series season here in Orlando dominated by jukebox musicals and 30-year-old shows, “Shucked” is a breath of fresh air. A new musical with modern sensibilities that definitely isn’t afraid of taking itself too seriously, “Shucked” is an absolute delight. If this is the direction and style that new musicals want to take, then I am here for it.

Literally hit song after hit song after hit song come fast and furious in the show, some only lasting a few bars just due to the sheer number of musical performances."

The show is led admirably by the leads, Matt Loehr as Joe/Josephine and Tavis Kordell as Jerry/Daphne, who maintain the pace and push the energy throughout the production. The rest of the cast more than holds their own, with special recognition going to Leandra Ellis-Gaston’s take on the character Sugar, made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the movie. She manages to capture Marilyn’s sweet naïveté that endeared her to millions while also making the character her own. I also want to mention Edward Juvier as Osgood, a millionaire who falls in love with Daphne (Jerry in drag). What could have been a mincing dolt instead becomes a sweet and endearing hopeless romantic who is just seeking love and open to it in whatever form it presents itself.

Indeed, without watching Robin Williams perform the part, it’s much easier to recognize the constant impressions and wild energy of the character as coping mechanisms that wear thin on the other adults around him. McClure’s Daniel can’t avoid making the joke in every situation presented to him, often to his own detriment. McClure manages to both honor the original performance of Williams while still grounding the character and finding a way to make it his own.