★★★★
It isn’t often that the songs in a jukebox musical fit so perfectly, there are fewer needs for conversational links.
But & Juliet may be the exception.
Examining what Juliet’s life may have planned out like when Anne Hathaway takes the quill, the Luke Sheppard-directed bonanza is filled to the brim with bangers from multi-award-winning producer Max Martin.
Look, it’s no Shakespeare. David West Read's book features pantomime-esque pitter-patter conversation and doesn’t trust its audience enough to dissect the life lessons, instead spelling them out like a call-and-repeat children’s TV presenter. But, it’s all punctuated by epic punch-the-air celebratory musical numbers and a fun-filled story.
Choreographed by Jennifer Weber, chart-topping hits from the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and more explode into life with Shakespearean street dance and troupe synchronicity. Each sequence is a delectable sherbet fizz. Bodies, dressed in cotton candy-coloured corsets and sugary sleeves (costumes by Paloma Young), move under club lighting in purples and pinks (designed by Howard Hudson).
As Juliet (bonafide star Gerardine Sacdalan), her BFF May (a sweet Jordan Broach), Nurse (Sandra Marvin, hilarious), and an undercover Hathaway (Lara Denning, with pipes for days) flee Verona to Paris, they discover new and missed romantic connections. Soutra Gilmour's set features graffitied flowers and paint-splattered brick walls, a video wall (by Andrzej Goulding) adds an extra dimension, while extra subtle surprises dot the set - including a Shakespeare and Company book bike.
In the title role, Sacdalan gives pop princesses, past and present, a run for their money. She's a firecracker of a performer. Backed up by the stadium-filling band, directed by Marcus Carter-Adams.
The budget hasn't only been blown on confetti - which there is in abundance - there are rides on LED-lit moons high above the city of love, a carousel horse carriage, and a boy-band concert (made up of Jay McGuinness, Lee Latchford-Evans, Kyle Cox, Liam Morris and Broach).
It has been said that & Juliet is larger than life, and oops, I did it again.
Is this still available in Leeds please love the music