It’s a ponderance at the very heart of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts’ new production of & Juliet, a jukebox spectacular offering a twist of appropriately Shakesperean proportions.
What’s in a name? Not Romeo, it seems. This international smash-hit musical posits the question ‘What if Juliet didn’t die at the end of Romeo and Juliet?’ and dances on that precept on a journey of self-discovery filled with lashings of soul, heart and humour.
And hits. Loads of them, in actual fact. A story by Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read combines with the catalogue of Swedish hit-machine Max Martin, a shy pop genius who for three decades done his best to shun the spotlight Even so, Martin has penned hits for the likes of Britney Spears, Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and The Weeknd and has the third most number #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, behind Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
“I’m an insecure songwriter deep down,” he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s music program, Q in 2023. “I mean, David West Read is a genius. You know, you have him, like, looking at it — it felt, I don’t know.… But hey, he did a great job. The way he sort of used the songs is a miracle to me — the way it actually sounds, to me at least, like the songs are actually written for the show.”
For Read, the 30 Martin-penned songs in & Juliet provided him a unique creative springboard for this new take on The Bard. To Read, Martin is indeed ‘The Shakespeare of pop’.
“There’s so many songs about heartbreak and young love,” Read told the New York Theatre Guide in 2023, “and I thought, ‘How do you put a brand to this?’ Because Max Martin wasn’t really known by anyone, even though he’s the most successful songwriter after The Beatles.
“So I came up with the idea of Juliet from Romeo & Juliet,” Read continued. “We’re going to repurpose and reinvent these pop songs and it’ll be great, but also reinvent a classic love story.”
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“When he created this story and gave me an example of how the songs could actually work to tell this story, that’s really when it started to come to life,” Martin said.
Songs from Britney Spears (…Baby One More Time, Stronger, Oops I Did It Again), Katy Perry (I Kissed A Girl, Roar), Backstreet Boys (Larger Than Life, Everybody: Backstreet’s Back), Demi Lovato (Confident) and Bon Jovi (It’s My Life) make up just a portion of the hitfest as Juliet finds herself and becomes empowered by her own story.
After debuting in Melbourne in 2019 & Juliet has become a hit itself on Broadway, London’s West End, North America, Toronto, Melbourne, Hamburg, Stockholm and New Zealand.
Performed by WAAPA 3rd Year Musical Theatre and Music students
the production is directed by Alastair Knights, with Musical Direction by Vanitha Hart and choreography by Jodie Bickle.
& Juliet runs at the Regal Theatre from Friday-Thursday, September 11-17, at 7.30pm, with a matinee on Saturday, September 12, at 2pm. Tickets: $89 Full / $84 Concession / $82 WAAPA Friends / $55 Restricted View (booking fees apply). Book through the Regal Theatre (08) 9381 9943 or online at regaltheatre.com.au.