& Juliet (Lyric Sydney) ★★★★★

Music by Max Martin. Arrangements by Bill Sherman. Book by David West Read. Lyric Sydney. Feb – June, 2024.

I’ve been thinking about jukebox musicals a lot of late. I’ve gone on the record saying how much I hate them, with very few exceptions (& Juliet is one of those exceptions, but I’ll get into that in a little bit). Whether it’s a musical biography (like Tina, or Jersey Boys, or MJ) or an original story woven around an artists catalogue (like Mamma Mia, or Jagged Little Pill, or The Girl from the North Country) or a film-turned-musical-with-a-soundtrack (like Cruel Intentions or Moulin Rouge!) there are more bad examples than good ones.

Some of this is my own utter snobbery. Jukebox musicals are like cover bands, they’re for the people in an RSL, not “the theatre”. As good as the performances are, and they almost always are excellent, the book is usually utter garbage, and the songs awkwardly retrofitted into moments that never quite work.

Which is why two of the more recent versions of the jukebox musical have really turned me around. & Juliet and Moulin Rouge! take very different routes in the evolution of the genre (oh god, are jukeboxes a genre on their own now?!) and both succeed for very different reasons. Moulin Rouge! gives itself over to the insanity of the “covers concert” vibes and remixes and speeds through songs faster than an ADHD kid on TikTok. While & Juliet takes the usual weak-point of a jukebox, the book, and elevates it into something worth watching all on its own without the tunes.

I’ve already reviewed & Juliet. Twice. So I won’t go over the basic details again, other than to say that this local cast are still fresh as ever (even after a lengthy run in Melbourne, Singapore and Perth before arriving in Sydney). Like Romeo, the show still has “a tight body, and a lot of feelings”. If anything it’s gotten more fun than it was in Melbourne.

As iconic as the songs in the show are, it’s the playful way they’re used that makes & Juliet rise above the competition. Lyrics remain unchanged for the most part, but the meaning is totally different. And the book, by David West Read, serves up sit-com style gags at a furious pace. Most comedic plays aren’t this hilarious, or this audacious, all without compromising the music. You still get the big voices you’re expecting, and big laughs as well.

For a show as rammed full of big pop hits and jokes as & Juliet is, it would be easy to gloss over the messages it delivers along the way. You could forgive the story for giving us the usual feminist mantras and some ‘box ticking’ queer affirmation, but there are nuances in dialogue that prove the show has not only the unexpected smarts and wit but also more genuine heart than you get from the corporate mega-musical.

& Juliet is pure joy in musical form and even after three viewings I can’t wait for more.