Miriam-Teak Lee and Keala Settle in & Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London. Picture: Johan Persson
The producers of multi-award-winning musical & Juliet have announced the first singalong performance of the feel-good show at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 6 June 2022.
Announcing the special performance which will feature screens displaying the lyrics to every song, director Luke Sheppard said: “During our hugely successful run at the Shaftesbury Theatre, we’ve been reminded again and again that audiences love the songs of & Juliet.
“We wanted to create a special occasion where everyone is welcome to join in and have as much fun singing our songs as the actors do every night – when normally we ask the audience to leave the performing to them!
“A key message of the show is celebrating inclusivity through the magic of theatre, and our hope is that this event continues to open up this show to new audiences as well as those who want to experience the show in a unique way.”
& Juliet uses the most iconic pop songs written by prolific pop hit writer Max Martin over the last three decades, along with new song ‘One More Try’, to accompany a re-imagined Juliet who finds a way past her doomed romance with Romeo by embarking on a whirlwind trip to Paris. The musical also features the characters of Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway who take opposite sides in Juliet’s battle to change her story and discover life after Romeo.
The current cast includes 2020 Olivier Award winners Miriam-Teak Lee (Hamilton, On The Town) as Juliet and Cassidy Janson (Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, Chess) as Anne Hathaway, with Oliver Tompsett (Kinky Boots, Wicked) as William Shakespeare, Tim Mahendran (Spring Awakening, The Hired Man) as Francois and Alex Thomas-Smith (Dear Evan Hansen, Bat Out of Hell) as May.
They were recently joined by new cast members Tom Francis (Rent, Hope Mill Theatre) who stepped into the role of Romeo following the departure of Jordan Luke Gage, and Julius D’Silva (What’s New Pussycat? Birmingham) who took over from Olivier Award winner David Bedella as Lance. The Greatest Showman star Keala Settle (Waitress, original Broadway production) is making her West End debut by following Melanie La Barrie into the role of Angelique the Nurse.
Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Alex Tranter, Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson remain in the ensemble alongside new additions to the company Ebony Clarke, Bessy Ewa, Collette Guitart, Cassandra Lee, Nathan Louis-Fernand, Zara MacIntosh, Carl Man, Christian Maynard, Rachel Moran, Owen Saward, Aaron Shales, Benjamin Terry and Suki Wong.
Booking for the musical which debuted at the Manchester Opera House in October 2019 before arriving in London a month later was recently extended through to 24 September.
With a story by David West Read, & Juliet features arrangements of Martin’s chart-topping songs by Grammy Award-winning orchestrator Bill Sherman. The triple Olivier Award-winning production features choreography by Jennifer Weber, set design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Gareth Owen, video design by Andrzej Goulding and casting by Stuart Burt.
Swedish-born songwriter and producer Martin first made his mark in the 1990s with hits including Britney Spears’ ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’, Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’ and The Backstreet Boys’ ‘I Want It That Way’. More recently, Martin has written or co-written hits for today’s biggest stars including Adele, Ellie Goulding, Kelly Clarkson, Usher, Taylor Swift and Pink.
Angela Thomas
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