Review: & JULIET at Cirkus

Finally, the musical &Julia has come "home" to Stockholm where so much of Max Martin's music has been created and recorded. It was first staged in Manchester in 2019 before moving down to the West End where it was a great success and has since also been played on Broadway, among other places. But now it is time for the Swedish audience to be entertained by this girl power musical full of Max Martin's fantastic song treasure in the spring of 2026. This is the first non-replica production of &Julia in the world, which means that the choreography (Zain Odelstål, set design (Marcus Englesson) costumes (Annsofi Nyberg), mask & wig (Katrin Wahlberg) and lighting design (Robert Hvenström) are created for this Swedish production and not as it looked, for example, in London. Max Martin has been very involved in the casting and has been watching several audience rehearsals and of course he was in the applause at the premiere together with David West Read who wrote the original script.

The Swedish translation is done by Calle Norlén, who captures the subtlety and humor of the musical well. The dialogue is in Swedish, but all the songs are performed in English except One more try, which was specially translated to En chans till, an extra little treasure for the Swedish audience. The fact that the songs are performed in English is obvious because they are songs that everyone knows well and often also knows the lyrics. It is delicately woven into the story of Juliet and Romeo and the parallel story of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare. We come straight into the premiere of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare's wife Anne (Linda Olsson) is not happy with the ending where Julia (Joanné Nugas) is going to commit suicide when she finds her Romeo (Oscar Zia) dead. Anne persuades Shakespeare (Viktor Norén) that Julia should continue to live and decide her own future. But not only that, Anne writes herself into the story as Julia's friend April. When Julia's parents want to put her in a convent, Julia, Anne, Julia's nurse Angelique (Sussie Eriksson) and Julia's Best Friend May (Simon Delmel Lund) flee from Verona to Paris. There they enter a party held for the young François (Martin Redhe Nord). A party where François' father Lance (Rennie Mirro) hopes he will find himself a wife. This is where a series of complications begin to unfold as Anne and William fight over who gets to write what in the story about Julia. Several good disputes and surprise moments that attract laughter - with extra finesse the more you know Max Martin's songbook.

The audience is treated to an energetic, humorous musical fireworks display in the best girl power spirit. During the course of the evening, you realize how many strong songs with girl power that Max Martin has written for international female artists. Here it is really Anne, Julia and Angelique who make the biggest impressions and excel in their roles. Joanné Nuga makes a fantastic musical debut and with her enormously strong voice and intensity she gives a real power to her Julia. Julia grows in self-confidence during the performance and completely explodes in the finale. She owns her Julia and shows that she is absolutely the right choice. Both Linda Olsson and Sussie Eriksson are well-established musical artists and the question is whether this is not the best thing I have seen them do in a musical. Linda gets to show off her entire range as a musical artist and has a voice that carries the great power ballads. Sussie is a pure joy on stage and her comic timing is wonderful.

Anne, who has so far been forced to stay at home with the children in Stratford upon Avon, has a free evening that she makes the most of when she puts her William in his place and outshines him with her feminine cunning and determination. Sometimes you wonder how she could fall for him, who in Viktor Norén's hands has a rather self-righteous and slightly cocky appearance. The spark that should exist between Anne and William does not really reach the audience even though it picks up a bit towards the end. However, sparks fly about Angelique and Lance! There, things really heat up in the humorous bedroom scene, which is rewarded with both a lot of laughter and one of the longest applauses of the evening. Rennie Mirro impresses both vocally, with his French accent, charm and humorous side.

Martin Rede Nordh as François has once again been given a role that fits him like a glove. His François is a shy, searching young man who is allowed to blossom when he finds his true love. With perfect comic timing, sensitivity and with his strong musical singing voice he shines. Simon Deimel Lund makes a superb musical debut as May and we can only thank Edward af Sillén for finding him at Golden Hits. He is as self-evident in his role as Joanne is as Julia. I kissed the girl together with Martin is one of the highlights of the performance.

Romeo is a bit of a Casanova with more than one girl and Oscar Zia embodies him as the self-absorbed but charming guy that Julia has fallen in love with.

The director Edwards af Sillén together with choreographer Zain Odenståhl lifts the entire ensemble to a very high level in song, dance and acting. The choreography and Max Martin's songs brings an energy and joy which is hard to resist.  

&Julia is a wonderful energetic joyful musical girl power explosion  - with the added message that everyone should be allowed to be who they are.

&Julia runs until the end of May so make sure to get tickets as this is the best medicine for the winter cold that has taken hold over Stockholm and Sweden. 

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