Larger Than Life – &Juliet proves there’s life after Romeo
Naomi MacKay watched &Juliet at Milton Keynes Theatre – running until Saturday 12 April.
Even if you’re no Shakespeare scholar, you’ll know the story of Romeo & Juliet. Well expect that story to get turned upside down in this fabulous, cheesy pop musical.
In this version, created by the Emmy-winning writer from Schitt’s Creek, Juliet isn’t about to end it all for a boy she met four days ago – instead she sets off on an adventure in a bid to get away from her mum’s threats of sending her to a nunnery…
Featuring the songs from hit songwriter/producer Max Martin, there’s more chart toppers than you can shake a stick at – from Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time, to Katy Perry’s Roar and others hits including Since U Been Gone, Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life, I Want It That Way, and Can’t Stop the Feeling!
Unlike some jukebox musicals, which shoehorn the story/song in to fit, there’s some incredibly clever transitions, which had the audience giggling as they realised where the song was going…
The cast is a delight – it’s a high-energy musical with fantastic choreography and wow do they look like they’re having fun! I have to apologise to Gerardine Sacdalan as Juliet. I first saw the show in London, with Oliver Award-winning Miriam Teak in the leading role, and I couldn’t imagine anyone in that part. So it took me a while to warm to Gerardine’s Juliet, but warm I did, and she made it her own.
Another surprise was Step’s Lee Latchford Evans as Lance – I wasn’t really sure why a multi-award-winning show like this warranted ‘celebrity’ casting – but he was fabulous; very comical without veering into pantomime. And The Wanted’s Jay McGuinness made a charming foil as Shakespeare to his wife Anne Hathaway (the wonderful Lara Denning) as they break the fourth wall as Anne rewrites Will’s ideas for the greatest love story ever told.
I can’t finish without mentioning Sandra Marvin’s Angelique – with fabulous comic moments and even more impressive vocals, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
&Juliet has everything; wonderful choreography, a story with more twists and turns than a theme park rollercoaster, brilliant comic moments and all those hit songs. You’ll come out of the theatre humming at least one of them.
And the good news is that the show is running for two weeks at Milton Keynes, so if you really enjoy it, you can watch it baby – one more time!
Book your tickets at atgtickets.com/MiltonKeynes.
Photo credit Matt Crockett
