On May 22, 2024, the cast of the newest edition of Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, announced the dates of the play, and that they would be starring in the play. The play is being shown at Circle in the Square Theatre, which is located in New York City.
Romeo & Juliet’s first preview was on September 26, 2024 and their opening night was on October 24, 2024. The play’s closing date is February 16, 2025.
Romeo & Juliet is around 2 hours and 45 minutes with a 15 minute intermission, which gives time for fans to get up, refresh, and let the cast prepare for the next act.
The director of the play is Tony award winner Sam Gold. Music by Grammy award winner Jack Antanoff and movement by Tony award winner Sonya Tayeh. This version of Romeo and Juliet is very modern and very unique. Their adaptation of the play is more twenty-first century and different from the other versions.
The cast of this play is Golden Globe Award winner, Rachel Zegler as Juliet, Kit Connor’s “Heartstopper” as Romeo, Gabby Beans as Mercutio/The Friar, Daniel Bravo Hernandez as Abraham, Jasai Chase-Owens as Gregory, Tommy Dorfman as The Nurse/Tybalt, Nihar Duvvuri as Balthzar, Sola Fadiran as Capulet/Lady Capulet, Taheen Modak as Benvolio, and Gian Perez as Samson/Paris/Peter. This is Zeglers and Connors broadway debuts.
Throughout the show, all of the actors are on the stage and having a good time and when the show begins, the cast are very interactive with the crowd, running up and down the aisles as they are performing, making the audience turn their heads and keeping them on their toes.
Vincent Montero, (senior) says “It was really good. It was really funny, especially the nurse! The chemistry between Rachel and Kit was good. Zeglers singing was really good, she has an angelic voice. I liked how campy it was”.
The stage is round and during the show, it flips to a bed of flowers. Juliet’s bed descends down from the ceiling, and this is when Romeo and Juliet have their iconic kiss. Connor (Romeo) jumps and hangs onto Zeglers (Juliets) bed and pulls himself up to kiss her, to recreate the iconic balcony kiss scene.
Zegler performs a song called “Man Of The House” with the back up vocals of the rest of the cast, it sounds very angelic. Zegler recently just released this song as a single, and fans are very excited.
When the show is over and fans exit, they gather around a barricade and wait for the stars of the show to leave the stage doors so fans can get their playbills signed. The cast talks with the crowd of fans, thanks them for coming and for their support. The cast try their best to get to every single fan waiting to meet them and get something signed. This show is a hit and a must-see for theater and Shakespeare fans.