High-energy jukebox musical & Juliet reimagines Shakespeare classic

Notwithstanding the dad jokes, bad puns and the misquotations, this passionate and deeply committed young cast stages a winner.

A scene from the musical & Juliet at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre. Picture: Daniel Boud

All it takes to transform a male-skewed tragedy of murder and mayhem into an affirmative female-skewed comedy is to give a star-crossed girl some friends and allies, some wise advice and some good old fashioned perspective.

Suddenly, suicide isn’t Juliet’s only option when she wakes from her drugged sleep to find her beau Romeo poisoned beside her. She’s been programmed by Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Pink and the rest of the pantheon to believe in life after love.

That’s where the narrative of this high-energy jukebox musical begins: with Juliet donning her headphones and rocking up to Romeo’s funeral … to discover that there was a conga line of lovers before her and that he’d used the same poetic lines on all of them.

Like the set, which has a central disc which revolves in one direction and an outer ring which revolves in the other, & Juliet has an inner and outer narrative. In the outer ring, William Shakespeare’s wife Anne Hathaway (Amy Lehpamer) demands Will (Rob Mills) change the ending of Romeo and Juliet.

“The ending is writ” – Shakespeare insists, glibly. “The ending is shit!” – Anne demurs. She steals his quill and starts where Will left off, in the Capulet family crypt. Anne creates a best friend for Juliet – a trans kid named May (Jesse Dutlow) – and also writes herself into the story as Juliet’s wiser, older friend April. Together with Juliet’s nurse Angelique (Casey Donovan), the four go to Paris. The town, not the count. (Sorry, no, Anne doesn’t bring Count Paris back from the dead!)

There’s a cute moment where Juliet is gently quizzed by a French lad, Francois (Yashith Fernando), about her late lover. He asks how long they were together. Juliet replies: “Four days … It ended badly.” Youch!

Though Francois and May have already kissed – and, in Katy Perry’s emphatic words, they liked it – Francois ends up engaged to Juliet within 24 hours. (Cue Juliet’s “oops, I did it again!”) But, no spoilers here.

Lorinda May Merrypor leads the way as Juliet. Picture: Daniel Boud

Despite all the dad jokes, bad puns and Bard misquotations, there’s a powerful heartbeat impelling the show. It’s provided, largely, by the passionate and deeply committed young cast. (There are no fewer than seven making their pro debut.)

Lorinda May Merrypor is a wonderful Juliet, decisive and hugely energetic, at her best when belting out Ke$ha’s Blow. The puckish duo May and Francois are well matched. Their voices duel like fencing foils. Jesse Dutlow has a lovely light singing voice dipping into a light baritone when speaking. It’s a beguiling combination, perfect for the “I’m not a girl” role. Yashith Fernando’s role is more cartooned, but his voice is true, ­especially singing As Long As You Love Me.

There are torch songs galore: Amy Lehpamer singing Jessie J, Blake Appelqvist singing Ellie Goulding, Casey Donovan and Hayden Tee doing a deliriously good travesty of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream. There are also some clever medleys.

In case you’re wondering, all 30 of the songs were co-written by Swedish record producer and songwriter Max Martin, the one-man Stock, Aitken, Waterman of the new millennium. Perhaps you’ve seen him credited as Karl Martin Sandberg when you’ve looked up some song lyrics, or perhaps you’ve not noticed him at all. (He famously doesn’t do interviews.) But Martin has written chart toppers for everyone from Robyn in the mid 1990s to Gaga, Coldplay, The Weeknd and Lizzo in the 2020s.

As we’ve come to expect from Michael Cassel Group productions, & Juliet is well resourced and supremely well rehearsed. The stage craft is impeccable. But it’s the collegial energy of the ensemble that transforms a kinda weird jukebox musical into something heartblowing, transformative and irresistible.

& Juliet. Music and lyrics by Max Martin and friends. Book by David West Read. Regent Theatre, Melbourne. March 9. Tickets: $30-$225 and VIP packages. Bookings online. 2¾ hours, including interval. Bookings open until May 14.