Romeo + Juliet review: New Jersey’s Rachel Zegler makes her Broadway debut with a brilliant co-star

Rachel ZeglerBroadway debut in “Romeo + Juliet“Passed with great fanfare.

She grew up in musical theater in New Jersey before she got her ticket to the big time – the lead role in West Side Story by Steven Spielberg (2021) – while still in high school.

Since then, Zegler, originally from Cliftoncontinues to gain momentum as a movie star.

The actor starred in the DC film (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods“, 2023) and “The Hunger Gamesmovie (“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes“, 2023) and has completed several more films to be released this year and next, including the Netflix animated film “Enchanted(November 22); A24 disaster comedy”2000(December 6); “Paddington in Peru(January 17) and DisneySnow White(March 21).

Zegler won Golden Globe for her brilliant screen debut in the role Maria in Spielberg’s take on “West Side Story.The performance allowed her to show off her brilliant voice mostly.

Stephen Sondheim he called her “nightingale“, who later applied her musical talents to the role Lucy Gray Bairdsongbird in the center “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes“, and to a new voice fairy tale character from Disneyfirst animated film.

It follows that anyone who casts 23-year-old Zegler on a New York stage will also want to showcase her voice.

But Zegler Broadway debut, Sam Gold– director’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s work “Romeo and Juliet“her bright song moments are few.

Zegler rises to the occasion when the lights come on her and everything stops so she can sing.

These moments beg the question: What would Jersey’s star be like in a full-fledged Broadway musical?

“Romeo + Juliet,” which opened Oct. 24, isn’t all that musical, but Zegler hits familiar territory.

Musical “West Side StoryAfter all, it is famously based on Romeo and Juliet. There wouldn’t be Maria and Tony without Juliet and her Romeo.

So to see Zegler in this role, in another white dress, in the midst of yet another uproar – in Verona, not New York, on the Manhattan Circle at the Square Theater – is not such a big departure from what we’ve seen in her work , so far away.

However, the fact that she manages to make it on the Broadway stage is a well-deserved fulfillment of a childhood dream for the young performer. Let’s hope this is just the beginning of the actor’s stage career, who could use a meaningful musical role. Just like in West Side Story, she expresses her sincerity, but tends to take it to another level when she manages to express emotion through song.

Zegler, who also won People’s Choice Award for the best action star for the play “The Hunger Games”, graduated Immaculate Conception High School V Lodiwhere she regularly surprised school musicals.

Looking at this latest interpretation of Shakespeare’s tragedy about star-crossed lovers, one is tempted to ask the question:

To Baz Luhrmann “Romeo + Juliet” musical sound like Zegler’s as Juliet?

Luhrmann directed a surprisingly bright film of the same name. 1996 film adaptation Shakespeare’s plays starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

Both the film and the Broadway play set the story in modern times, but there is no obvious connection between them. And if you’re looking for a splash of modernity that brings the play to life, Luhrmann’s film, set on Verona Beach, is for you.

In Zegler’s Romeo + Juliet, directed by Tony Winter. Gold (“Enemy of the People”, “Fun Home”), she plays Juliet along with Keith Connor as Romeo (Ansel Elgort played Tony in Spielberg’s West Side Story).

Connor, 20, is an English actor, known for his role in the Netflix series “Heartstopper“, the third season of which was released in October. For his performance, he won the first Children’s and Family Emmy Award for Lead Actor. Connor also appeared in “Rocketmanand voices Brightbill in “Wild robot“, an animated film that debuted in theaters in September.

He brings an energy to Romeo that makes him inherently believable as the Cupid-stricken, grieving teenager.

There is no doubt that Connor in this at this stage. This is also his Broadway debut, but his performance extends well beyond his years.

Is Romeo + Juliet different from many others that have come before?

The Bard is always relevant, always ready for interpretation. There’s pathos here too – Connor’s performance sounds impressive enough – but it’s not as stunning as even Luhrmann’s update.

This is a blood feud, people suffer, and there must be destruction. The play’s presentation, although dynamic, lingers more on the sombre mood and perhaps a certain sense of futility, which in itself can be destructive. Could some ailments be detected after 2016 and 2020?

Much has been made to ensure that Romeo + Juliet is a Gen Z-focused series.

There’s a bit of vaping, but TikTok? Not much, except for actual dancing.

The set, lighting and wardrobe are also very 90s and 2000s.

The central prop at the start of the show, a shopping cart filled with teddy bears of various sizes, evokes rave culture. For starters, there is also a large bag of gummy bears on the stage.

There are also wide-leg jeans (Zegler’s Juliet has a small teddy bear chained to it), moody club lighting and powerful bass.

Keyboardist Sarah Goldstone sits above the stage like a DJ.

Tony Award-nominated ensemble Points (Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Kimie Nishikawa and Andrew Murdick) created the scenic design. Isabella Bird lighting and Enver Chakartas costumes.

The performance begins with jumping, dancing and quick dialogues. In the monumental meeting between Juliet and Romeo, things slow down a bit (“My only love came from my only hate!”) as Connor receives a silver disco ball in his suit and Zegler wears a matching gold dress.

Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoffraised in New Milford and Woodcliff Lake, wrote the score (also his Broadway debut).

He created Zegler’s melancholic ode to love and pain.”Man at home“, which he wrote with Ryan Beatty.

The most memorable part of the show’s design is the moves choreographed by the Tony winner. Sonia Taye (“Moulin Rouge! The Musical”) – with “violence” Drew Leary – and a set in which Juliet’s bed is suspended above the stage, with brightly colored flowers below.

When Romeo leaps off the stage and pulls himself up to reach the bed and kiss Juliet, Connor’s athletic stunt earns as much applause as the romantic gesture.

The restless leaps, tumbles and struggles of the supporting cast, the treacherous Montagues and Capulets, generate a youthful, chaotic energy that spices up the main conflict, while the props and designs create a dreamlike quality. Both set the mood for the emotional highs and lows of a teenage saga that doesn’t just weigh on the shoulders of Romeo and Juliet.

Besides Connor, Gabby Beans (Tony Award nominee for The Skin of Our Teeth) is a clear standout among the cast.

Beans, who is both Mercutio and the Friar, is one of several actors playing multiple roles.

Not only does she change her voice in one turn on stage, but she deftly navigates the early modern English of the 1597 play while having fun with Shakespeare’s words.

There are, of course, some additions.

“Now I’m a Monk,” she announces at one point in the play.

“Romeo + Juliet» is located in Theater “Circle on the Square”235 W. 50th St., New York, through February 16; romeoandjulietnyc.com.

Thanks for reading. Please consider supporting NewJersey.com with subscription.

Amy Kuperinski can be reached at: [email protected] and followed @AmyKup.