& Juliet

& Juliet plays The Straz Center on Monday, November 2, as part of the Bank of America Broadway at Straz Center season. It's a jukebox musical that asks a pretty simple question: what would have happened if Juliet hadn't chosen to die with Romeo?

From there, it takes the story in a completely different direction. The show is written by Emmy-winning Canadian writer David West Read, who worked on Schitt's Creek, and it's built around pop hits by Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin. If that name doesn't ring a bell, you've still heard his work—in 2024, he surpassed George Martin as the producer with the most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The music is the engine of the whole thing, and it's an upbeat show that leans into those pop songs rather than trying to hide them.

There's a meta layer to the plot, too. Shakespeare is reimagined as a pop star a couple of years past his prime, and it's his wife, Anne Hathaway, who eggs him on to imagine Juliet continuing to live. That's the spark that sets the rest of the story in motion, so you get the original tragedy running alongside a version where things go differently.

The production is part of the Bank of America Broadway at Straz Center season, and it's playing at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N Macinnes Pl, Tampa, FL 33602.