NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� We first see Juliet in the Capulet tomb, devastated. She's wakes up to see her Romeo dead. But before she plunges a dagger into her heart, she starts ... singing. What comes out is, improbably, a Britney Spears hit.
鈥淥h, baby, baby. How was I supposed to know? That something wasn't right here? Oh, baby, baby. I shouldn't have let you go,鈥� she sings, the opening lines of 鈥�...Baby One More Time."
That such a pop song works perfectly in this august scene is a credit to playwright David West Read and the team behind the Broadway jukebox musical
They've taken an original story using 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� as a launch pad and mixed in some of the biggest pop hits of the past few decades by Spears, Celine Dion, NSYNC, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake, Pink and Backstreet Boys.
鈥淚 really tried to let story and character drive it,鈥� says Read, an Emmy-winning writer from 鈥淪chitt鈥檚 Creek.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long process to make it seem effortless, but it鈥檚 a lot of effort.鈥�
The link between the songs is Swedish super-producer Max Martin, who has had a hand in writing such hits as 鈥淪ince U Been Gone,鈥� 鈥淩oar,鈥� 鈥淟arger Than Life,鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 The Way It Is鈥� and 鈥淐an鈥檛 Stop the Feeling,鈥�
The musical starts when William Shakespeare's wife challenges him to rewrite 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� with a happier ending for Juliet, sparking a journey of self-discovery for the young woman and nearly everyone on stage. Inspired in part by 鈥淢ama Mia!鈥� it has multiple couples of different generations.
鈥淚 think the genius of David has just knocked all of us sideways,鈥� says director Luke Sheppard. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think Max ever imagined that somebody would be able to find such a cohesive world for this.鈥�
Read had been handed a playlist of over 200 Martin songs in 2016 and whittled it down to about 30. He challenged himself to not change any of the lyrics, although he altered some pronouns. Some hits 鈥� like Perry's 鈥淐alifornia Gurls鈥� and Maroon 5's 鈥淢oves Like Jagger鈥� 鈥� were clearly never going to fit.
鈥淚nstead of going for what are the most popular songs, I tried to prioritize what are songs that are going to tell this story in the best possible way," says Read.
Masterstrokes include turning Adam Lambert's 鈥淲hataya Want From Me鈥� into an duet between arguing lovers, giving Perry's 鈥淭eenage Dream鈥� to an older couple looking back on their young romance and handing Juliet 鈥淥ops!... I Did it Again鈥� after she's found herself in a second romantic conundrum.
In one special move, Read gave Spear's 鈥淚鈥檓 Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman鈥� to a new character, Juliet鈥檚 nonbinary friend, May, played by genderqueer Justin David Sullivan. It鈥檚 a landmark moment for Broadway, allowing a nonbinary main character to talk about being misgendered and what it's like to date while trans.
Read also turned Perry's 鈥淚 Kissed a Girl鈥� into a duet between May and a male love interest. 鈥淚 wanted it to be a queer love song sung by two unexpected characters that feel more representative of our current world,鈥� he says. (Some audience members have walked out after that. 鈥淐learly we still have a ways to go,鈥� says Read.)
There are also nods to musical theater conventions: 鈥淪tronger鈥� works as a callback of 鈥�... Baby One More Time鈥� (鈥淢y loneliness is killing me鈥� in the first song reappears in the second as 鈥淢y loneliness ain't killing me no more鈥�). And musical theater rules mean you need to have a song where a lead character makes clear they want something; the creators of 鈥�& Juliet鈥� had one in plain sight 鈥� Backstreet Boys' 鈥淚 Want It That Way.鈥�
Read even made a connection between Martin and The Bard himself: 鈥淪hakespeare was the pop writer of his time. We think of him as very highbrow now, but he was creating an entertainment for the masses. That kind of overlap between Max and Shakespeare seems like it could be a fun way to give a brand to someone who doesn鈥檛 have his own brand.鈥�
The team got an early indication that the concept would work at the first workshop in which an audience was invited. Backstage, they waited for the reaction to 鈥�...Baby One More Time.鈥�
鈥淭he audience didn鈥檛 laugh. And that was amazing. I was like, 鈥極K, passed that test,鈥欌�� says Sheppard. 鈥滻 felt the audience just lean in that moment and connect with that song and with that artist."
Critics have been kind to the finished show, with Variety saying 鈥�& Juliet鈥� 鈥渋s exactly the musical Broadway needs right now: fun, exuberant, supremely joyful, hilarious and excellently performed by a talented and diverse cast.鈥� Entertainment Weekly said Read's work is 鈥渃leverly, sometimes ingeniously calibrated to sync with the songs.鈥�
鈥淭he ones that really mean a lot to me are the critics who clearly come in with a hatred for jukebox musicals and reluctantly admit that there is a lot of craft in this one,鈥� says Read.
He credits Martin for being open to outside-the-box ideas and allowing the show's collaborators the flexibility to make what's not another run-of-the-mill jukebox musical.
鈥淪ometimes it feels like someone slapped their name on something, and they show up on opening night and people are maybe making the show for the wrong reasons,鈥� says Read. 鈥淭o have the artist working with us and collaborating with us, I think also separates this from other jukebox musicals where the artist is either dead or not involved.鈥�
Read has since moved on 鈥� he is the creator and showrunner of the upcoming Apple TV+ series 鈥淭he Big Door Prize鈥� 鈥� but his experience with 鈥�& Juliet鈥� has been so positive that he and Sheppard are working on another jukebox musical, this time with the catalog of Roy Orbison.
鈥淲e're trying to tell a new story with his existing music and challenging ourselves to do something completely different from what we would did with 鈥�& Juliet,鈥欌�� he says.
___
Online:
___
Mark Kennedy is at
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
