‘& Juliet’ turns tragedy right into a Max Martin dance social gathering

Everybody can use an editor, and Shakespeare is not any exception. Fortuitously, he married one.

Uninterested in being cooped up with the youngsters in Stratford-upon-Avon, Anne (Teal Wicks), spouse of the good playwright, pops right down to London to see the primary efficiency of “Romeo and Juliet.” The brand new tragic ending that Shakespeare (Corey Mach) proudly previews to the corporate strikes her as fully wrongheaded.

“What if … Juliet doesn’t kill herself?” she proposes. As strong-willed as her husband, she doesn’t want to argue the purpose. She merely desires to place her thought to the check.

Behold the premise of “& Juliet,” the euphoric dance social gathering of a musical that updates Shakespeare with a dose of twenty first century feminine empowerment. The manufacturing, which opened Friday on the Ahmanson Theatre below the fizzy course of Luke Sheppard, reimagines a brand new post-Romeo life for Juliet whereas driving a magic carpet of chart-toppers from juggernaut Swedish producer Max Martin, who has spun gold with Katy Perry, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys, amongst different pop titans.

This good-time jukebox musical depends as a lot on its wit as on its catalog of pop hits. The present’s music and lyrics are credited to Max Martin and pals — which feels like a low-key cool desk on the Grammy Awards. The intelligent ebook by Emmy winner David West Learn (“Schitt’s Creek”) creates a world that may include the present’s musical riches with out having to shoehorn in songs within the shameless vogue of “Mamma Mia!”

Take, as an illustration, one of many early numbers, “I Need It That Method,” a pop ballad made well-known by the Backstreet Boys. Anne begins singing the track when Shakespeare initially resists her thought of giving Juliet again her life. She desires him to associate with her steered adjustments not as a result of she’s certain she’s proper however as a result of she desires him to belief her as an equal associate. The track is redeployed in a manner that has little bearing on the lyrics however someway feels coherent with the unique emotion.

Clearly, this can be a industrial musical and never a literary masterpiece on par with Shakespeare’s tragedy of ill-starred lovers. “& Juliet” would have hassle withstanding detailed scrutiny of its plot or probing interrogation of Juliet’s character arc. However Learn neatly establishes simply the fitting social gathering environment.

Juliet (a vibrant Rachel Webb), having survived the tragedy as soon as scripted for her, travels from Verona to Paris with an entourage to flee her mother and father, who need to ship her to a nunnery for having married Romeo behind their backs. Her clique consists of Angélique (Kathryn Allison), her nurse and confidant; Could (Nick Drake), her nonbinary bestie; and April, her beginner sidekick out for enjoyable who Anne performs in disguise. Shakespeare casts himself because the carriage driver, permitting him to tag alongside and hold tabs on the cockeyed course his play goes.

In Paris, the crew heads on to the Renaissance Ball, which has the feel and appear of a modern-day mega-club. Entry is barred to Juliet, however not as a result of she’s ridiculously underage. Her identify isn’t on the unique visitor checklist. So by way of the again door, Juliet and her touring companions sashay because the manufacturing erupts in “Blow,” the Kesha track that encourages everybody to get their drink on and let unfastened.

Rachel Webb and the North American Tour Firm of “& Juliet.”

(Matthew Murphy)

The dance setting — kinetically envisioned by scenic designer Soutra Gilmour, lighting designer Howard Hudson, sound designer Gareth Owen and video and projection designer Andrzej Goulding right into a Dionysian video paradise — supplies the all-purpose license for Martin’s music. It’s the environment and the power that matter most. Paloma Younger’s extravagant costumes increase the extent of decadent hedonism.

On this welcoming new context — think about “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” suffused with lady energy — there’s by no means something odd concerning the characters grinding and wailing like karaoke superstars. The ecstatic movement of Jennifer Weber’s choreography renders dramatic logic irrelevant.

However love is the secret, and each Juliet and Could fall for François (Mateus Leite Cardoso), a younger musician with a geeky humorousness who’s nonetheless determining his id. Could doesn’t count on romance to be a part of their destiny. Within the Spears track “I’m Not a Woman, Not But a Lady,” they provide highly effective expression to an internal confusion this musical romance is decided to kind out with an applicable associate.

Not like for the unique characters, a cheerful ending is now not off-limits. Shakespeare and Anne wrestle to get the higher hand of a plot that appears to have a thoughts of its personal. Shakespeare pulls a coup on the finish of the primary act that I received’t spoil besides to say that what’s good for the goose proves dramaturgically viable for the gander.

Teal Wicks, left, Rachel Webb, Nick Drake and Kathryn Allison within the North American Tour of “& Juliet.”

(Matthew Murphy)

This spirited competitors stays within the background, however their marital happiness issues to us. Mach’s Shakespeare has the cocky strut of a rapper-producer with an extended checklist of colossal hits. Wicks provides Anne the heartfelt complexity of certainly one of her husband’s shiny comedian heroines. There’s a high quality of clever feeling redolent of Rosalind in “As You Like It” in Wicks’ affecting characterization and luscious singing.

However the musical belongs to Juliet, and Webb has the vocal prowess to hijack the stage each time she’s hovering in track. If Juliet’s character continues to be a piece in progress, Webb endows her with a maturity past her years. She makes us grateful that the Capulet daughter is getting one other crack at life. When the large musical weapons are introduced out late within the second act (“Stronger,” “Roar”), she delivers them as emancipatory anthems, fueled by hard-won epiphanies.

Allison’s Angélique is simply as a lot a standout, renewing the bawdy earthiness of Shakespeare’s nurse with up to date sass and rousing singing. If the supporting forged of males doesn’t make as deep an impression, the festive comedian universe is nonetheless boldly dropped at life.

“& Juliet” bestows the choice ending everybody needs they might script for themselves — a second probability to get it proper. This feel-good musical is simply what the physician ordered in these far much less carefree occasions.