Life After Romeo in Edinburgh

Proving there is life after Shakespeare’s Romeo, & Juliet the musical plays Edinburgh Playhouse this week  (4 stars)

With three Olivier Awards and six What’sOnStage Awards the & Juliet touring musical brings with it a reputation of pop hits and feel-good comedy from audiences and critics alike.  Primarily a Juke Box musical as a vehicle for songs co-written by Swedish composer Max Martin, the show originally ran for a month in Manchester in 2019 before transferring to the West End that year to the Shaftsbury Theatre and closed in March 2023. Post-Covid a run in Toronto in 2022 prompted a Broadway transfer in November and within its first year had nine Tony Award nominations including Best Musical.  Several international tours are current or in the planning including this production who return to Scotland in February 2025 at His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen.

The story surrounds the supposition that Juliet did not kill herself after the death of Romeo and comically explores the possibilities thereafter.  The strength of this show is in the quality of the songs and the inventive set, helped by an ever-changing screen.  The cast talk directly to the audience, the big songs are spread throughout the principals and with spectacular effects, lighting and production the last song Can’t Stop The Feeling! (a big hit for Justin Timberlake) sung by Michael Nelson as Shakespeare and his wife Anne played by Lara Denning was a sensational standing ovation all before their curtain call and a rare appearance by the seven-piece band led by Musical Director Marcus Carter-Adams.  But of course, the show gets to a great start even before the houselights go down as the cast appear on stage to chat and dance as if it was all random, an unusual and great welcoming start to the loose pantomime-like atmosphere ahead.  Gerardine Sacdalan has wonderful character as Juliet and joins Anne Hathaway for a sensational That’s The Way It Is which had the audience cheering even before it ended. 

The songs are the strength of this show and with boy band hits I Want It That Way and Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), girlie pop hits Oops I Did It Again and ..Baby One More Time, rock hits like Bon Jovi’s It’s My Life plus big crossover hits like I Kissed A Girl and Roar there are not only the familiar but clever new arrangements and lyric changes to suit courtesy of supervisor Bill Sherman.  Even through ballads like Love Me Like You Do or As Long As You Love Me the energy does not faulter with strict direction from Luke Sheppard.

& Juliet at Edinburgh Playhouse until November 16th Tickets: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/and-juliet/edinburgh-playhouse/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA3Na5BhAZEiwAzrfagKBy2bo21GY9mB7CTq-RohOAQTzVL4X9DFJ6RZjtLgVIL0XM746rTBoCQWsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds