WHAT if Juliet had a life beyond Romeo..?
A lively new musical created by David West Read, Emmy-winning writer from hit comedy Schitt’s Creek, flips the script on the greatest love story ever told and asks: what would happen next if Juliet didn’t end it all over a boy?
The show – called & Juliet – ditches the famous ending and gives Shakespeare’s heroine a second chance at life and love – her way. Juliet’s new story unfolds through pop anthems including Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time, Katy Perry’s Roar and hits like It’s My Life and Can’t Stop the Feeling! by Max Martin, songwriter/producer of more chart-toppers than any other artist this century.
Gerardine Sacdalan as Juliet in the show (Image: Matt Crockett)
Since its premiere in 2019, & Juliet has won three Olivier Awards, moved to Broadway and become a global hit. This spring the show is at Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre, with Jay McGuiness stepping into the shoes of William Shakespeare. Jay shot to fame in boy band The Wanted, who reached No.1 with debut single All Time Low, but he has a song and dance background, taking dance classes in his teens. He competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 and was crowned the winner – his infamous Pulp Fiction jive is the show’s most watched routine ever, with more than eight million hits on YouTube, voted Strictly’s best ever dance by viewers.
Jay’s theatre career has soared, with lead roles in shows such as Big the Musical and 2:22- A Ghost Story. His debut fantasy novel Blood Flowers was published last year and the sequel is due this spring.
Jay, how does Shakespeare feature in & Juliet?
“Together with his wife, Shakespeare rewrites the story from Juliet’s perspective: it’s her story and she takes control of it. So you see Juliet decide that she’s still a young woman, has her life ahead of her and is able to make her own choices and not live by ones others have made for her. That’s the taking-off point.
Shakespeare and his wife oversee the story as it evolves. They argue back and forth about their ideas, Shakespeare tries to keep it true to his original script and his wife tries to introduce new characters and all kinds of hare-brained, but brilliantly funny, schemes. Shakespeare, I guess, uses Romeo as his little mascot and his wife Anne uses Juliet as hers.”
How is Shakespeare as portrayed?
“He’s a bit of an egomaniac. When he comes on stage he has to give it some welly and believe he’s the cat’s pyjamas. He’s a bit of a showman; he likes to show off his moves and his voice. I did that for years with the boys in The Wanted and in the musicals I’ve done since then.
I’d also say that Shakespeare is a bit of a relic from the past. He’s got an old-school view of things. Playing that sort of one-rotation-out-of-the-cool-club aspect is something I’m acutely familiar with because my boy band are currently part of pop history, not pop present,” he laughs. “So yes, I know how it feels to be a relic from the past.”
Are you a Shakespeare buff or a novice?
“I did Shakespeare to secondary school level and really enjoyed it. At school I was in The Tempest, I played Caliban. The Lord of the Rings movies were massive, so my Caliban was basically a rip-off of Gollum. I always appreciated Shakespeare. It was hard to get through the lingo and discover what he was actually saying underneath that, but once you do it’s just brilliant.”
What drew you to & Juliet?
“I’d done almost a year with 2:22 A Ghost Story and I loved being in my first straight play. This was an opportunity to go back on stage and sing and dance, which I hadn’t done for a long time. And the script made me laugh out loud. You don’t really know what to expect from the twists within the plot. It makes fun of theatre, I thought that was really clever. I also like the costume, so it’s a bit of a vanity thing.
“I saw Matt Cardle in the show and I was like ‘Yeah, I could wear that!’ I’m pretty happy to put on some trainers and a Tudor vest.”
What makes Max Martin’s music so special?
“It’s so recognisably him. He’s got a combination of really engaging beats which drive people to dance and on top of that his use of melody is so unique. Whether it’s Jon Bon Jovi, the Backstreet Boys or Robyn, when you listen to it you go ‘Oh, I can hear Max’s melodies in there’. His songs are complete earworms.”
“There are two I particularly like. One is a verbal spa with my wife and we do an actual tango. That was fun to learn. Then there’s a song sung by William – Jon Bon Jovi anthem It’s My Life. I danced the paso doble to it on Strictly, when I hear that song now I remember being dressed in black with my dance partner Aliona, taking myself very seriously, stomping around.
It makes me happy to think some people might come to the show and be like ‘I remember him doing this on Strictly!’”
Speaking of Strictly, have you kept up the dancing?
“Only when I’ve done musicals. Last time I danced was two years ago with White Christmas, that was Fred Astaire stuff. I’ll go to a pub and have a little dance now and again, but mainly it’s work-related.”
Does & Juliet speak to contemporary audiences?
“It does a really good job of talking about subjects of the moment but in a way that’s funny not preachy. Shakespeare is learning to think differently, he has to relinquish control to his wife, which in his day was unheard of.
There are themes about inclusivity, gay people, trans people, non-binary people, that force him to catch up with the modern world. The show does it in a way that’s hilarious. Shakespeare gets schooled.”
Was theatre part of your plan?
“When I started in musicals it was a return to home because before The Wanted I did three years of musical theatre in college in Nottingham. There was an advert in The Stage, I got the train down to London for the audition. Ten years later, when the band was on hiatus, I did Strictly and that put me back into musicals. My family are happy I’ve come back to it, because most people didn’t know it was part of my life as a teenager.”
How is the show different to being in a band?
“There are similarities, including working more closely with people than you would in a nine-to-five, but with theatre there’s maybe a little less pressure because it seems less personal. People just want to see if you’re a good William Shakespeare. I think I prefer that.”
What have been your favourite stage roles so far?
“I loved 2:22 because I was a cockney geezer who made the audience laugh. Big was wonderful. I have happy memories of learning the piano steps and working with Gary Wilmot and Matthew Kelly. Both were extremely generous to me as a guy coming from a boyband into the musical theatre world.”
* & Juliet is at the Alhambra Theatre from March 24-29. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk
