Review: & JULIET at The Paramount Theatre

Dear Readers, you should know by now my disdain for the Juke Box Musical.  But, as egregious as they can be (I’m looking at you “Flashdance, The Musical”), sometimes they manage to pull it off.  And why?  A good book and songs lovingly curated to fit the story and not jammed in.  It’s really that simple.  “Mamma Mia” and “Beautiful” are two wonderful examples as is “& Juliet”, currently playing at the Paramount Theatre.  So, let’s discuss a few things.  First, why this Juke Box Musical works so amazingly well.  And second, the power of the understudy.

This is most definitely a Juke Box musical but it’s not one particular performer but a particular song writer, Max Martin.  You may not have heard of him, but you certainly know his work as he has the distinction of being the music producer/songwriter with the most #1 Billboard hits of all time.  He’s worked with the likes of Brtiney Spears, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, The Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift to name just a few.  And so, this show is chock full of his songs such as “Teenage Dream”, “Since You Been Gone”, “Larger Than Life” and “Roar”. 

OK, so we know the songs.  Songs, I may add, that even if you weren’t fans of the artists have become engrained into pop culture and so you probably know them.  But how do these songs make a story?  That’s where brilliant book writer David West Read (one of the main writers for “Schitt’s Creek” I may add) comes in.  He has taken the story of “Romeo and Juliet” and turned it on its ear by throwing in the scenario, what if Juliet (understudy Lois Ellise on the night I saw) didn’t kill herself when she woke to find Romeo dead.  And that’s our jumping off point as now Juliet, along with her friends May (Nick Drake), April (understudy Shelby Griswold on the night I saw), and the Nurse Angélique (Kathryn Allison), go on a trip to escape Juliet’s parents and end up finding their own loves in Paris with the shy François (Mateus Leite Cardoso) and his overbearing father Lance (Paul-Jordan Jansen).  Oh, and while all this is going on we get to peek behind the curtain to find William Shakespeare (Corey Mach) and his wife Anne Hathaway (yes, his wife’s name was Anne Hathaway, also played by Griswold) arguing over which way the story should go. 

Read’s book is a thing of comic beauty filled with twists and turns, plenty of laughs, and oodles of heart.  And that, is just one of the elements that makes this show the wonderful bit of fluff that it is.  There’s also some wonderful staging and choreography from Luke Sheppard and Jennifer Weber, some period-esque, eye popping costumes from Paloma Young, and a stunner of a set from Soutra Gilmour. 

But this show would be nothing without the killer cast.  Let’s start with the ensemble.  They’re bright, energetic, engaged and absolutely slaying their moves and vocals.  Then we go into some principles.  We have Michael Canu as Romeo who, for a dead man, turns in a hysterical performance.  The more mature lovers of Jansen and Alison as Lance and the Nurse not only have tremendous chemistry but brought the house down with their take on “Teenage Dream”.  Mach as the egotistical bard brings in some powerhouse vocals along with his delicious swagger.  And Drake and Cardoso are adorable as the real star-crossed lovers in this piece and deserved every “aww” they received.

But we need to discuss Ellise and Griswold and the power of the understudy.  Now, I’ve seen understudies before.  Some not so great but for the most part equally as amazing as those cast in the leads.  But when I read that two, very front and center leads of the show were being performed by understudies, I’ll admit I flinched a bit.  But my trepidation was unwarranted as these two just plain killed in the roles.  Ellise has the presence and the power to lead this show and brought the house down on multiple occasions.  And Griswold, along with some incredible pipes, was an utter delight in the role as Shakespeare’s underappreciated but taking her own power wife.  She was beyond funny and captivated in the role.  So, let’s hear it for the understudies!!!

This was a show that snuck up on me when I saw it the first time.  I found myself with a hole in a Broadway trip schedule and thought, “this should be fun” and found one of my favorite shows I saw that trip.  It’s rockin’, funny, and just plain wonderful.  So, it’s no reason it’s STILL kicking ass on Broadway.  And so, with my three-letter rating system, I give “& Juliet” at the Paramount, and really this show in general, a “I could watch this show a hundred times and still be in love with it” WOW.  There are still a few tickets left, and I urge you to grab them up.  And if you miss them, here’s hoping it’ll come back soon.