Teenage Dream
& Juliet
Aronoff Center for the Arts
Through April 20
Tuesday – Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 1 and 6:30 p.m.
Tickets at CincinnatiArts.org.
You probably read Romeo & Juliet in high school Since then you’ve seen one of the movies – up to and including West Side Story – and it always ends the same way – in tears.
But the musical & Juliet begs the question “What would happen if Juliet didn’t end it all over Romeo?”
You can explore the answer to that question through an incredible pop music landscape as Broadway in Cincinnati brings & Juliet to the Aronoff Center for the Arts.
Featuring songs by the legendary Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Max Martin, a book by the Emmy-winning writer from “Schitt’s Creek,” David West Read, direction by Luke Sheppard and choreography by Emmy-Award winner Jennifer Weber, & Juliet opened on Broadway in November 2022, where it continues playing to sold-out crowds and breaking box office records.
Rachel Simone Webb brings a warmth and an incredible voice to Juliet. She leads a formidable cast as Juliet’s new story bursts to life through a playlist of pop anthems including “Since U Been Gone‚” “Roar,” “Baby One More Time,” “Larger Than Life‚” “That’s The Way It Is,” and “Can't Stop the Feeling!”
Spoiler alert: Romeo makes an appearance (because of course he does…), played by CCM grad Michael Canu. You won’t want to love this “guy with a tight body and lots of feelings” but his adorable lack of self-awareness will win you over.
Michael Canu and the company of the North American Tour of & JULIET
Photo: Matthew Murphy
&Juliet recontextualizes these pop anthems in fun and often moving ways, offering unexpected takes on marriage, love, letting go, and, of course, finding true love.
& Juliet has been performed on four continents since its World Premiere in September 2019. It began at the Manchester Opera House in England, before moving to London’s West End, where it won three Olivier Awards, and 6 WhatsOnStage Awards before playing its final performance at the Shaftesbury Theatre in March 2023. The show had its North American premiere in July 2022 in Toronto, where it broke box office records and played to standing-room-only audiences, before heading to Broadway, where it again broke box office records and plays nightly to sold-out crowds.
Header image: Rachel Simone Webb and the company of the North American Tour of & JULIET.
Photo: Matthew Murphy