Juliet & Romeo

Pop Ballads, Period Costumes, and the Most Emotionally Intense Key Change Since Les Mis

Juliet & Romeo is what happens when Shakespeare meets Spotify. It’s a bold reimagining of the classic tragedy—except with pop music, elaborate choreography, and Rebel Wilson showing up just to make sure nobody forgets this is, in fact, a musical.

This version flips the title and the ending. Yes, you read that right: they live. No tomb, no poison, no dagger, no tragic final gasp—just a sweeping duet and a vaguely empowering montage that seems to say, “Love wins. Death can suck it.”

Juliet, played by Clara Rugaard, is all eyeliner, elegance, and emotional belting. Romeo, played by Jamie Ward, looks like a sentient candle commercial and sings every line like he’s one heartbreak away from joining a boy band. Together, they dance through Verona like it’s a Renaissance-themed TikTok set, exchanging Shakespearean side-eye in between verses of lyrics like “Why do they call it falling in love / When all it does is break you?”

Critics are split. Some say it’s charming and bold. Others say it’s what happens when someone lets an AI rewrite West Side Story after binge-watching Glee. The songs are catchy in that “Was that real or did I dream it?” kind of way, and there’s a moment where Juliet delivers a soliloquy while standing on a balcony framed by a full gospel choir and a literal shooting star. Somewhere in the afterlife, Shakespeare is either weeping with joy or writing a sonnet titled Thou Hast Ruined Mine Plot Twist.

The sets are lush, the costumes are stunning, and the emotional stakes are set to 11, even if the actual sword fighting looks like an aggressive dance-off at a Renaissance Fair. It’s loud. It’s sincere. It’s deeply allergic to subtlety.

And while the original story was about the tragedy of fate and impulsive youth, this version is about self-empowerment, second chances, and holding a high note long enough to prove a point.

I give Juliet & Romeo 4 out of 5 glitter-dusted declarations of love, with a bonus point for every critic who left the theater unsure whether they were moved, confused, or suddenly in love with the concept of mood lighting.