An all-star production of Romeo and Juliet, retitled Romeo + Juliet, is heading to Broadway this fall with the presidential election very much in its sights—and an accompanying tagline: “The youth are fucked.”
The production will feature Emmy-winning Heartstopper star Kit Connor as Romeo and Golden Globe-winning West Side Story star Rachel Zegler as Juliet, with music by Jack Antonoff, who in February won his third consecutive Grammy Award for Producer of the Year. All three will be making their Broadway debuts.
In a statement, director Sam Gold said: “With the presidential election coming up in November, I felt like making a show this fall that celebrates youth and hope, and unleashes the anger young people feel about the world they are inheriting.”
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The dramatic framing for the show, according to its press release, will focus on a tragedy far larger than the ill-fated love affair of its lead characters. “The youth are fucked. Left to their own devices in their parents’ world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way.”
Tickets for the production will go on sale in May, with the name of the theatre and run dates to be announced at a later date.
