& Juliet

***& Juliet*** is the hilarious and fun-loving new West End musical that asks: what if Juliet’s famous ending was really just her beginning? What if she decided to choose her own fate? This is Juliet’s story now. So don’t tell her how it ends...

Soaring with pop anthems including ...Baby One More Time, Everybody (Backstreet's Back), Love Me Like You Do and Can’t Feel My Face, & Juliet is a riotous blast of fun and glorious music that proves when it comes to love, there’s always life after Romeo.

## Plot

(This section contains content from Wikipedia)

### **Act One**

At the first production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the audience welcomes Shakespeare to the stage (“Larger Than Life”). He introduces his wife, Anne Hathaway , who is visiting from Stratford-Upon-Avon to see the play, and explains the plot and ending of the show to her. She suggests he change the ending, wondering what would have happened if Juliet didn’t kill herself; Shakespeare protests (“I Want It That Way”). He lets her explain her idea for the play, which commences with Juliet waking up to find Romeo dead (“…Baby One More Time”).At Romeo’s funeral, Juliet finds out that Romeo had many other relationships, with both men and women (“Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely”) and Juliet’s parents decide to send her to a convent. May , Juliet’s non-binary friend, and Angelique , her nurse, come to her rescue, and Anne writes herself into the play as ‘April’, another of Juliet’s friends. They decide to take a road trip to Paris (“Domino”). Anne writes Shakespeare in as a carriage driver and the road trip begins (“Show Me Love”).In France, they attend a ball which is a party for Prince Francois . Francois’ father Lance tells him he must either marry or join the army; Francois argues that he doesn’t wish to do either as the women of Paris are unappealing, as is the military. Juliet and her band of friends sneak into the party (“Blow”).Francois meets May, who reveals that they suffer with gendered concepts such as gender-specific bathrooms and gendered languages such as French (“I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman”). Francois then complains about living such a stifled life, which Juliet relates to, and they begin to bond over their shared experiences (“Overprotected”). Francois is drawn to Juliet and thinks he is in love with her, and they dance together (“Confident”).Angelique, Juliet’s nurse, and Lance are revealed to have spent the night together. She was formerly the nurse to his children, and Lance asks her to come back and live with him. Angelique wants to stay to look after Juliet, but Lance reminds her that Juliet is in her 20s and can take care of herself (“Teenage Dream/Break Free”). Angelique ultimately decides Juliet needs her more, so leaves Lance.Juliet wakes up next to Francois, who proposes, and Juliet agonises about her previous relationship with Romeo (“Oops!... I Did It Again”). When her parents arrive to take her to the convent, she agrees to Francois’ proposal, before discovering Angelique and Lance’s previous relationship. Anne challenges Shakespeare for making Juliet get married again, and complains that he leaves her in Stratford-upon-Avon while he works in London, and accuses him of never writing happy marriages.Shakespeare decides he needs a conflict or plot twist to add to Anne’s version of the play, so has Francois and May meet again. May offers Francois a drink and Francois reveals he has just proposed; May and Francois kiss (“I Kissed A Girl”).Anne is angry to discover Shakespeare intends to bring Romeo back. Juliet tells April that she is engaged again, only to have Romeo enter and declare he has come back for his wife (“It’s My Life”).

### **Act Two**

Romeo sings “Love Me Like You Do” to Juliet and forgives her for not killing herself. She reveals to Romeo her engagement with Francois (“Since U Been Gone”).Shakespeare tells Anne that Juliet didn’t listen to Romeo’s side of events, to which Anne counters that this is important to her and that she feels Shakespeare cares more about his plays than his family. She breaks his quill, meaning neither of them can make any further changes to the story.May grows angry at Francois for ignoring his feelings for them and for intending to marry Juliet (“Whataya Want From Me”), while Juliet complains to May that Romeo lied to her. Francois grows worried, as he hasn’t told Juliet about his feelings for May.Romeo reflects that he only ever felt valued for his looks but Juliet made him want to be a better person; Juliet nonetheless decides to be with Francois (“One More Try”). Despite this, she remains unsure of her feelings towards Romeo as she loves him but feels she shouldn’t (“Problem/Feel My Face”). Francois’ brother (in fact Shakespeare in disguise) invites Romeo to join his band, which is due to play at Juliet and Francois’ wedding. May also joins the band. Angelique, in the meantime, proposes to Lance.April discovers that Juliet is still in love with Romeo and recounts her own romance with Shakespeare (“That’s The Way It Is”). At the wedding, Shakespeare, May, Francois, Lance and Romeo perform (“Everybody”). Juliet walks down the aisle as Francois sings “As Long As You Love Me” as his vows, but they both object to the marriage, with Francois singing “It’s Gonna Be Me” to May. Romeo confesses his love to Juliet while her parents insist she return sto Verona with them, stating that they know what’s best for her, which Juliet refutes (“Stronger”).Lance accepts Francois and his true love (“Shape of My Heart”), while Juliet worries that she is an obstacle to their relationship. Angelique reassures Juliet that she will never leave her (“Fuckin’ Perfect”) but Juliet insists Angelique goes with Lance, before deciding to be confident and take charge of her destiny (“Roar”).Shakespeare complains that Anne ruined his play, which she refutes, and he agrees as he realises that he doesn’t want to lose her (“I Want It That Way – Reprise”).Romeo apologizes to Juliet and tells her that what he wants doesn’t matter; what she wants is what counts. They decide to go on a first date, as a new beginning for Juliet and Romeo. Angelique and Lance get married and the company sings. ("CAN’T STOP THE FEELING!")

## Characters

#### **Main**

* Juliet Capulet
* Romeo Montague
* Anne Hathaway
* William Shakespeare

#### **Supporting**

* Lance Du Bois
* Francois Du Bois
* Angelique
* May
* Lady Capulet
* Lord Capulet

#### **Ensemble**

* Nell
* Sly
* Imogen
* Lucy
* Kempe
* Gregory
* Judith
* Augustine
* Susanna
* Richard
* Eleanor
* Benvolio
* Henry
* Rumour (Broadway only)
* Margaret (swing)
* Cuthbert (swing)
* Fletcher (swing)
* Thomas (swing)
* Gwynne (swing)
* Viola (swing)
* Titania (swing)(Broadway only)

## Songs

### **Act I**

1. "Larger Than Life" – Shakespeare and Company
2. "I Want It That Way" – Shakespeare, Anne and Company
3. "...Baby One More Time" – Juliet
4. "Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely" – Juliet and Company
5. "Domino" – Juliet, Anne, Nurse, May
6. "Show Me Love" – Juliet, Anne, Nurse, May and Company
7. "Blow" – Juliet, Anne, Nurse, May and Company
8. "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" – May and Juliet
9. "Overprotected" – Juliet
10. "Confident" – Juliet and Francois
11. "Teenage Dream" / "Break Free" – Nurse and Lance
12. "Oops!...I Did It Again" - Juliet and Nurse
13. "I Kissed A Girl" - May and Francois
14. "It's My Life" - Romeo and Company

### **Act II**

1. "Love Me Like You Do" – Romeo
2. "Since U Been Gone" – Juliet and Female Company
3. "Whataya Want From Me" – May and Francois
4. "One More Try" – Juliet and Romeo
5. "Problem" / "Can't Feel My Face" – Juliet and Romeo
6. "That's The Way It Is" – Anne and Juliet
7. "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" – Shakespeare, Romeo, May, Francois, Lance and Company
8. "As Long As You Love Me" – Francois
9. "It's Gonna Be Me" – Francois and May
10. "Shape Of My Heart" – Lance, Francois, May
11. "Stronger" – Juliet
12. "Fuckin' Perfect" – Nurse
13. "Roar" – Juliet
14. "I Want It That Way" (reprise) - Shakespeare, Anne, Juliet, Romeo and Company
15. "CAN'T STOP THE FEELING!" - Shakespeare, Anne and Company

## Casts

### Original West End Cast

* Juliet Capulet - Miriam-Teak Lee
* Romeo Montague - Jordan Luke Gage
* Anne Hathaway/April - Cassidy Janson
* William Shakespeare - Oliver Tompsett
* Lance Du Bois - David Bedella
* Francois Du Bois - Tim Mahendran
* Angelique - Melanie La Barrie
* May - Arun Blair-Mangat
* Lady Capulet/Nell - Jocasta Almgill
* Lord Capulet/Sly - Ivan De Freitas
* Thomas - Josh Baker
* Imogen - Rhian Duncan
* Lucy - Danielle Fiamanya
* Kempe - Kieran Lai
* Gregory - Nathan Lorainey-Dineen
* Margaret - Jaye Marshall
* Judith - Grace Mouat
* Augustine - Antoine Murray-Straughan
* Cuthbert - Billy Nevers
* Susanna - Kerri Norville
* Fletcher - Christopher Parkinson
* Richard - Dillon Scott-Lewis
* Eleanor/Benvolio - Kirstie Skivington
* Henry - Alex Tranter
* Gwynne - Sophie Usher

## Trivia

* *& Juliet* will make its North American premiere in Toronto, Canada at the Mirvish Theatre in Febuary 2021.
* Due to COVID-19, all performances of the West End production of & Juliet are cancelled until April 26, 2020.