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Press photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman – Kit Connor (Romeo)
As I had long wanted to go to New York, I thought it was time to take advantage, when I decided that I wanted to see Romeo + Juliet at Broadway before it ended.
The hype around the show has been big on social media. Especially for Kit Connor’s now world-famous ”pull up” scene, and his participation has attracted the attention of his fans. Of course, this also applies to the fans of his co-star, Rachel Zegler, and it is not a small fan base they gather together.
The whole thing begins with a pre-show while the audience finds their seats. In small groups, the actors step out onto the stage. A few of them kicks around with stuffed animals, someone runs around the stage, there is cawing and jumping around, completely meaningless in my eyes. Kit comes in and sits down in an armchair to the cheers of the audience. He sorts some cards in front of him, which are later used for a card game with some cast members.
When everyone is seated, Gabby Beans opens up and the show takes off. And it moves quickly. The dialogue is fast. The actors change characters every now and then, and they use the whole room (and I mean _the_whole_room) to move in. There are even bridges in the ceiling and ladders on pillars in the room. They move in the aisles between the rows and they pop up everywhere. There is so much to take in at once and I often feel
a little lost. It is hard to know where my eyes should be in the room.
Press photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman – Tommy Dorfman (Tybalt/The Nurse) and Kit Connor (Romeo)
I miss out on some jokes and points, probably because of the language and then I still consider myself pretty good in English.
The set design can be described as minimalist at best. A pile of stuffed animals, most of them in a shopping cart, an inflatable chaise longue and a bed that is lowered from the ceiling. But the way they use it, it doesn’t feel as little as it looks.
What I hadn’t expected is that they also interact with the audience. A chair is borrowed, Kit talks to the person next to him at some point and people are pointed out and involved, in a funny way.
The stage costumes often look like someone went bananas at a second-hand store and I don’t know if it’s a culture clash but some of the garments are incomprehensible to me. On the other hand, I would give a lot for both Sola Fadrian’s sequined coat and singing voice…
There are several fantastic singers in the ensemble where of course Rachel Zegler needs to be lifted high. To have so much voice in this small body, it’s hard to understand to me.
When the show comes to an end and we have seen both the ”pull up” scene (what’s even more impressive than Kit doing a pull up is that when he does it he has already hung in his arms for probably a minute and managed to talk in the meantime) fights, solos, a stage floor that opens up and becomes a flower bed, and several deaths, I’m still relatively confused about several parts, but the experience is still really good.
I also happen to win the opportunity to buy a reasonably priced standing ticket to the performance the next day, in their digital lottery. That performance not only fills in the gaps that I have from day 1, but also gives me an upgraded seat as a chair is empty at the start of the show and I experience the performance with my toes against the edge of the stage!
Day 2 it is easier to keep focus in the right place, I barely notice the movements around me or on the ceiling and it is easier to be part of the dialogue.
Press photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman – Rachel Zegler (Juliet)
When we leave the theatre to try the “Stage door” experience (I will come back to this shortly) I can summarize my experience by saying that I am incredibly impressed by how well they use the few stage decor they have to the max and how good they are to show when one person changes character to another, Gabby Beans is truly a star at this!
And almost the entire ensemble is great singers! There are also several who stand out as good dancers. Kit and Rachel shine brightest as expected, but there are more cast members here that I think we will see and hear a lot more of in the future. In addition to the already mentioned Gabby and Sola, we of course have Tommy Dorfman who offers laugh after laugh with her sharp timing and great charm.
What is “Stage door” then? We do have similar things where fans hang around outside waiting for artists/actors to leave the venue, but here at Broadway it seems really big in a way I haven’t seen before.
As soon as the bows and applause start, people start moving in the venue. Now you have to be quick to the entrance where fences have been placed. Today’s visitors can stand and wait here and hope that castmembers from the performance will come out and sign. There is also a small section where others who haven’t been to the show can queue up and hope they’re lucky.
Everything is run by fantastic staff from the theatre. It is clear instructions, relatively calm and an expectant atmosphere.
At my first night we were lucky, Kit came out and signed autographs, exchanged a few words here and there, and were photographed. Day 2, lovely Tommy did the same.
So I really feel that I have had a taste of the real Broadway experience after these day
Press photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman – Rachel Zegler (Juliet) + Kit Connor (Romeo)
