MUSICAL REIMAGINES A SHAKESPEARE CLASSIC Introducing: Broadway smash hit & Juliet ’s Filipino American cast members

by MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

AS Broadway fans, we are lucky to see one Filipino American cast member in a musical. We celebrate if we see more than one, like in the case of Miss Saigon, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, Aladdin, and just recently, Into the Woods.

One of the hottest tickets on Broadway today is & Juliet, an award-winning new musical that has been packing in the audiences at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43 Street) since it began performances last October, and celebrated its Broadway opening on November 17, 2022.

The musical boasts a diverse cast with 15 of the 25 company members making their Broadway debuts. There are four Filipino Americans –three of whom are marking their debuts: Brandon Antonio, Jasmine Rafael, and Alaina Vi Maderal and they are joined by Nico DeJesus, who is also the Assistant Dance Captain.

The musical is an exciting reimagination of Shakespeare’s classic love story and delves into what could have happened next if Juliet hadn’t ended it all over Romeo, and got a second chance at life and love – on her terms.

Featuring a book by David West Read, the Emmy Award-winning writer from “Schitt’s Creek,” music from legendary five-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producer Max Martin, direction by Luke Sheppard, and choreography by Emmy Awardwinner Jennifer Weber, & Juliet uses some of the most beloved pop songs of the last three decades to flip the script on the greatest and most tragic love story ever told.

& Juliet is a multigenerational story of selfdiscovery, empowerment, and love. This fresh retelling of Juliet’s new story bursts to life through a playlist of pop anthems as iconic as her name, all written by Max Martin and his collaborators, making this jukebox musical an instant pop favorite. Among the songs used in the musical are classics from Kelly Clarkson, Katy

Perry, Britney Spears, and Backstreet Boys including “Since U Been Gone,”

“Roar,” “Baby One More Time,” “Larger Than Life,”

“That’s The Way It Is,” “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” and many more.

& Juliet had its World Premiere in September 2019 at the Manchester

Opera House in England, before moving to London’s West End, where it began performances in November 2019 at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London and went on to win three Olivier Awards.

The Broadway-bound production debuted last summer at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, where it broke box office records and played to standing-room-only audiences. An Australian production of & Juliet will premiere this month at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre. It also broke box office records in the Stephen Sondheim Theater last month, making it a certified hit. The previous record has been held since 2014 by Beautiful – The Carole King Musical.

Their Journey to & Juliet Brandon Antonio did his due diligence the moment he found out that the show was going to have a Toronto run. This was around February 2020, a month before all the global pandemic lockdowns.

“So I started to do my research and I heard that & Juliet was a jukebox musical with songs by Max Martin and it’s a what-if story if Juliet lives at the end of Romeo and Juliet,” Antonio shared. “Max Martin is like the greatest songwriter of all time, I mean, those are all the songs that I grew up with, my favorite songs in the entire