What would have happened if Juliet hadn’t died at the end of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? This irreverent jukebox musical (2019) answers that question, using the irresistible pop songs of Max Martin (the Swedish song-writing powerhouse behind smash hits for the likes of Britney Spears, N-SYNC and Ariana Grande) and a witty, pun-filled book by Schitt’s Creek producer David West Read. The original show scooped up three Olivier awards after it burst into the Manchester Opera House in 2019 (followed by successful transfers to the West End and Broadway), and this slimmed-down touring production with a brand-new cast reminds us all why.

Gerardine Sacdalan had big, award-winning shoes to fill in the title role; and she rises to the occasion with a committed performance that sports some powerful vocals. Jay McGuiness (former member of The Wanted) brings his boy band credentials to the role of Shakespeare, which he plays with an enthusiastic, boyish charm. Dr Ranj Singh (making his theatre debut here) was a surprising casting choice in the role of Lance, deploying a questionable French accent but mining his scenes with Sandra Marvin’s Angelique for fun, physical comedy. But it is Lara Denning as the beleaguered Anne Hathaway who ultimately steals the show here, bringing the entire musical to a standstill in the second act, with a passionate rendition of Celine Dion’s ‘That’s The Way It Is’ and infusing her role with an emotional depth and nuance that stand out amongst all the toe-tapping pop tunes.

Lovers of Six: The Musical (which has much of its visual DNA in this show) will have plenty to enjoy here: not least in Paloma Young’s fabulous costume design, which inventively weaves together Elizabethan ruffs and doublets with tracksuits and denim; while the new touring set by Soutra Gilmour loses none of the majesty of the West End original. This production also maintains the same exuberant, queer energy that made the original so uplifting and enjoyable. Britney Spears’ ‘I’m Not A Girl, Not Yet a Woman’ (sung plaintively by Jordan Broatch’s May) transforms into a moving ballad to non-binary identity; while ‘Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely’ becomes a hilarious graveside lament by Romeo’s all-gender army of former lovers. The corset-clad ensemble also throw themselves into Jennifer Weber’s choreography with infectious gusto.

Shakespeare purists and highbrow enthusiasts coming to this show for the first time might instinctively recoil at some of the post-modern, neon-pink silliness.  But they are quickly taken to task by a finger-wagging Anne, who points out the gender-bending anarchy and fun that underpinned much of Shakespeare’s work. She is right to do so: this is a show which clearly loves its Renaissance source material — with surprising moments of iambic pentameter, along with subtle nods to As You Like It and Hamlet peppered into the whip-smart script. The enthusiastic, millennial majority audience in the New Wimbledon Theatre absolutely devour it. An audible groan of pleasure emanates across the auditorium when Angelique launches into ‘Teenage Dream’.  And the ending of this musical, with Juliet belting out a revisionist rendition of Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’, plus a clap-along encore of ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’, has the entire audience upstanding and screaming with joyful approval.

Touring across the UK and Ireland July 2024 – June 2025.