When I think about & Juliet, the musical I saw last night at the Ahmanson Theatre, three musicals come to mind:

• Mamma Mia, which is a wonderful jukebox music of female empowerment and love, set to very catchy pop tunes.
• Some Like It Hot, which we saw two weeks ago at the Pantages, and which is a wonderful musical about acceptance of people for who they are
• Something Rotten, which sends up Shakespeare and exposes him as the egoist we all know him to be.

From the opening notes, & Juliet was a thoroughly enjoyable and fun musical. It was a delight to watch, with extremely strong dancing and singing, and some great underlying messages. But it is really hard to describe.

But let’s try.

To start off: This is a jukebox musical, featuring the music of songwriter and producer Max Martin. If you’re like me (especially if you’re older, like me), you’ll go, “Who?” So let’s put it this way: He’s a Swedish songwriter (hence, the reason ABBA came to mind), who has written almost 300 songs, made famous by artists from the Backstreet Boys, Brittney Spears, Katy Perry, Jessie J, Robyn, Ke$ha, Demi Lovato, Ariana Grande, Bon Jovi, Adam Lambert, Céline Dion, *NSYNC, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, and… well, you get the idea. Essentially, the music in this show is a soundtrack of the early 2000s and late 1990s. This is why Mamma Mia comes to mind, and the tunes are so poppy and energetic.

The basic plot of the musical is inspired…. by William Shakespeare. The basic premise is: What if Juliet, at the end of Romeo and Juliet, hadn’t killed herself, but instead lived and reclaimed her power? At least, that’s what Ann Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife keeps push, although William, ever the egoist, keeps meddling back into the story to get his way. Insert various humorous impacts and conflicts here. This is why Something Rotten comes to mind.

But this is a modern musical, with modern sensibilities (although perhaps not so modern, as Shakespeare was someone gender-bending in his characters anyway). So one of Juliet’s friends, May, is trans/queer (it is never made explicit). And, this being a love story, May falls in love with one of the leading men (and you can predict where that leads). This goes heavily with the notion of acceptance of us for who we are and whatever we choose to be. This is why Some Like It Hot comes to mind.

So you have the basic idea of the show. I could go into the details of the plot, but you can get that by reading Wikipedia, or going to the & Juliet page.

I do want to highlight some cast members: Rachel Simone Webb was outstanding as Juliet. Boy, does that girl have a set of pipes. Ishmael Gonzalez, swinging up to play May, did a remarkable job. They have wonderful movement and a great voice. Teal Wicks was great as Anne Hathway; I particularly liked her facial expressions in response to Will (Corey Mach)’s antics. Notable in the ensemble was Kate Mina Lin and Shelby Griswold.

We really enjoyed this show. Even with the large number of cast substitutions (one mid-show that I didn’t quite catch), the cast was very strong (and I was impressed by the number of larger folks in the cast, which is also a form of acceptance). The dancing was remarkable, and the costumes superb. There was one costume change near the end I couldn’t figure out how they did it. It was just a lovely afternoon.

There were, however, two problematic aspects:

• First, enough with the glitter or confetti cannons. It seems like every show I’m going to these days has one of these things raining bits of paper or mylar on the audience. It makes a mess for the theatre to clean up and throw away (it can’t be reused or recycled). We just don’t need it.
• Second, the audience at this show was a problem. Perhaps it was that this music drew in a newer and non-theatre crowd, but people would walk and stop, unaware of folks around them. People had no idea where to go, and kept going in and out of the theatre. There also, evidently, was a couple that had had too much to drink in the middle of the row behind us. They were being loud, and people were constantly leaving the row to complain to the ushers. The ushers, of course, couldn’t do anything about it as they were in the middle of a row and the show was going on, so these people who kept complaining were simply just disturbing even more people. There’s no good answer here, other than: DON’T GO TO THE THEATRE IF YOU CAN’T HOLD YOUR LIQUOR!

But these are minor aspects, and one day shows will learn about glitter/confetti cannons and they will go out of vogue. I hope.

& Juliet  continues at the Ahmanson through September 7, 2025. Tickets are available through the CTG Website or TodayTix.

Credits

& Juliet. Book by David West Read. Music and lyrics by Max Martin and Friends. Directed by Luke Sheppard. Choreographed by Jennifer Weber.

Cast [underscores indicate “at our performance”; strikeouts indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Rachel Simone Webb Juliet; Paul-Jordan Jansen ↑ Usman Ali Mughal Lance; Teal Wicks Anne; Corey Mach Shakespeare; Nick Drake ↑ Ishmael Gonzalez May; Kathryn Allison Angélique; Ben Jackson Walker ↑ Josh Jordan Romeo; Mateus Leite Cardoso François, Naima Alakham Lady Capulet, Nell; Camille Brooks Judith / Rosaline; Kate Mina Lin Eleanor / Benvolio / Portia; Lois Ellise Susanna, Swing; Ishmael Gonzalez ↑ Jourdan Ibe Gregory ; Kenneth Onesimus Goubran Augustine; Shelby Griswold Lucy / Helena; Christopher Robert Hanford Henry / Bathroom Attendant; ↑ Jourdan Ibe Lennox, Swing; Josh Jordan ↑ Kyra Smith Richard; Nicole Lamb Margaret, Swing; Yoshi Maysonet Dion; Usman Ali Mughal Francisco Thurston Lord Capulet, Sly; ↑ Kyra Smith Titania, Swing; ↑ Francisco Thurston Cuthbert, Swing.  There was no indication of who took over the roles of the Gregory, Cuthbert, or Richard, or whether the ensemble just go smaller. There was also an announcement after intermission that someone named “Nicole” was joining the cast, but it was unclear if that was Nicole Lamb swinging into her understudy role of Anne (although that actress didn’t seem to change), or Nella Cole, who was in the original tour cast, taking over as Eleanor / Benviolio / Portia, although that actress didn’t seem to change either. Folks that seemed to disappear from the cast between the program printing and update sheet: Michael Canu Romeo; Nella Cole Eleanor, Benvolio, Josh Ferman u/s François, Romeo; Virgil Gadson Crosse, Swing.

Music Department (♯ indicates local): Max Martin and Friends Music and Lyrics; Bill Sherman Music Supervisor, Orchestrations, and Arrangements; Andrew Cerullo Music Director; Dominic Fallacaro Additional Orchestrations and Arrangements; Michael Aarons, M² Music Music Coordinator; Haley Bennett Associate Music & Supervision; Andre Cerullo Conductor / Keyboard; Kelsi Fulton Assoc. Conductor / Keyboard; Clay Nordhill Guitar; Tabari Lake Bass; Zack Albetta Drums; ♯ Jennifer Choi Fischer Violin / Viola; ♯ David Mergen Cello ; ♯ Brad Gardner Keyboard 2 Sub; ♯ Dan Fornero Music Contractor; Anja Wood, M² Music Assoc. Music Coordinator; Emily Grishman Music Preparation, Adriana Grace, and Alden Terry Music Copying; Pre-Broadway Copying Mark Cumberland; Phij Adams Music Technology & Ableton System Design; Randy Cohen, Randy Cohen Keyboards U.S. Music Technology; Scott Wasserman Additional Ableton Programming & Music Production; Matt Farnsworth Vocal Studio Vocal Coach/Consultant.

Production and Creative: Luke Sheppard Director; Jennifer Weber Choreographer; Francisco Thurston Dance Captain; Kyra Smith Asst Dance Captain; Soutra Gilmour Set Design; Paloma Young Costume Design; Howard Hudson Lighting Design; Gareth Owen Sound Design; Andrzej Goulding Video & Projection Design; J. Jared Janas Wig, Hair, & Makeup Design; C12 Casting Casting; Susanna Wolk Assoc. Director; Joel Rosen Production Stage Manager; Annelise Castleberry Stage Manager; Chloe Rose Schweizer Asst Stage Manager; Danny Daniello Company Manager; Juniper Street Productions Production Management; RCI Theatricals General Manager; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking, Marketing, & Publicity.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

• September: ♦ Shucked at BIH/Pantages; ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya; ♦ Eureka Day at Pasadena Playhouse. I’m seriously considering One Man, Two Guvnors at A Noise Within, and possibly Just Another Day at the Odyssey (simply so I can go up to Dan Lauria afterwards and ask if he’ll ever bring back Meeting of Minds, which stopped when he went off to do Lombardi many years ago).
• October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ ha ha ha ha ha ha at Pasadena Playhouse
• November: ♦ Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at CTG/Taper; ♦ Paranormal Activity at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as I Want It That Way | "& Juliet" @ CTG/Ahmanson by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.