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- [00:00]
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- [00:40]
Matt Tannini
If you head to the Dr. Phillips center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida between now and Sunday, January 11th to see the national tour of Anne Juliet Chances are that if you are of a certain age like I am, you are going to know practically every word to every song sung during the 2 hour and 40 minute musical. But no matter how much nostalgia the pop hits of the show's score brings up, I beg you, do not sing along. I experienced that firsthand on opening night on Tuesday and I hope that nobody else does the rest of the run.
- [01:09]
Musical Performer
The eye of the tiger A fighter dancing through the fire Cause I am a champion and you're gonna heal me Roar Louder, louder than a lion Cause I am a champ and you're gonna hear me roar.
- [01:35]
Matt Tannini
Welcome to this review episode of Broadway Radio. My name is Matt Tannini and as you heard I am talking about my experience having seen the national tour of and Juliet at the Dr. Phillips center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday, January 6th. Now this Broadway favorite was transferred from London to New York in 2022 is making its first stop in the City Beautiful as it will play a week long engagement as part of the 202526 Broadway subscri. The show features over two dozen songs written by Swedish record producer Max Martin and made famous by the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Kesha, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, p.nk and NSync. Which is especially appropriate this week because Orlando native Joey Fatone is joining the cast for a limited engagement reprising the role of Lance, which he played on Broadway last year thanks to it being the music icon's opening night. Before the show On Tuesday, the Dr. Phillips center was awash with an electricity that felt far more like pre concert anticipation from 2,700 devoted pop fans than a traditional sold out subscription theater audience. I have often thought that Orlando crowds are amongst the most appreciative I have ever been a part of, but this was at a whole new level Perhaps not coincidentally, the only thing that I can really compare it to was having seen a preview of Sunset Boulevard on Broadway starring one of Fatone's pop music contemporaries, Nicole Scherzinger. Well, I don't know if anything will ever equal the buzz I felt in the St. James Theater back in October of 2024, but this was probably as close as I have gotten in recent memory. Now, unsurprisingly, Fatone has not lost a beat. At 48, he has graduated from teen heartthrob to playing the fatherly role of Lance, but his charm, vocals and dancing ability are still at peak boy band levels. There is a moment when he does a stag jump center stage and I was honestly a little taken aback by how much air he got off the ground. I'm a few years younger than Joey, could not get half as high as he did trying to pull off that move. But even more impressive than that was just how funny Fatone is. He was always kind of the cutup of the NSYNC crew, but in this role he is staggeringly hilarious, not only making the most of the characters moments already found in the script, but throwing in some personal touches that the appreciative audience absolutely ate up. Now, while seeing a member of one of the most iconic pop acts of the past 30 years in a musical chock full of pop hits is fun, Fatone's Lance is a secondary character. At the center of the show is William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway. Yes, that was really her name. On opening night in Orlando, while Anne was played by one of the show's regular stars, Crystal Kellogg, understudy Daniel Trakt took to the stage as Shakespeare, and judging by the reaction he got from the rest of the cast during the curtain call, I would not be surprised if this was one of the first times that he's gone on. It could have even been his first because like the crowd, the rest of the and Juliet ensemble was giddy to give Trakt his due. The musical and Juliet opens on opening night of Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, and while Will is explaining the ending of the show to his players, Anne voices her disapproval of the famously bloody final act. Instead, she challenges her husband to come up with a resolution that is less senseless and gives at least a little bit of agency back to his young heroine, even though Will is not exactly inclined to change what he considers a masterpiece. As a compromise, the couple decides to work on the new ending together and we as the audience get get to watch a somewhat metaphysical representation of this writing exercise. I will say that seeing and Juliet in the same week as having watched Chloe Zhao's film adaptation of Maggie Oharrell's novel Hamnet, which also focuses on a fictionalized version of the Shakespeare's relationship, did give me a little bit of whiplash. But since the interpretations are so diametrically different, one a silly musical comedy and the other an Oscar bait period drama, they felt more like complementary variations on a theme than anything that would distract from the enjoyment of either. Now the strength of and Juliet has always been the cleverness of David West Read's book. The scribe, an Emmy and Golden Globe winning writer and executive producer on the comedy Schitt's Creek, has taken nearly 30 disparate songs and cobbled them into a mostly cohesive narrative within a script that is equal parts funny, winking and at times even sentimental. They say that laying the groundwork for a story in musical theater is the hardest thing to do, but the way that the show explains and gets into its kind of complicated plot is one of the smartest and most efficient examples of storytelling you will ever see. The conceit driving and Juliet does not exactly make logical sense, but within five minutes of the show's start, not only do you completely understand the journey ahead of you, but you are happily buckled in and enjoying the ride. With practically every new song, the audience's knowing laughs would pop up as they recognize the opening chords of a song and immediately, or in some cases after a few seconds, get how Reid had massaged the story to make that particular song's lyrics fit, there is actually a show long gag that doesn't pay off until nearly the end of the show. That always tickles me and makes me giggle at the vision that it took to seed in throughout the entire script. So while the humor levels of most musical comedies can be hit or miss sometimes, and Juliet's book is one of the funniest in recent Broadway memory. As Will and Anne are reimagining what happens in fair Verona where they lay their scene, the first decision made is that Juliet in fact will not kill herself after realizing that Romeo had killed himself when he didn't realize that Juliet was only faking having killed herself. In the tour, the title character is played by Fabiola Carabella Quijada, who despite just graduating from high school last spring, has already made a name for herself in musical theater circles. She's a three time nominee and two time finalist at the prestigious Jimmy Awards, which are the high school equivalent of the Tonys. Having won last year for playing Sandra Bloom in Big Fish at Tyler Legacy High School in Texas. Interestingly enough, as a junior, she was nominated for playing Nostradamus in another musical comedy that skewers the creation of a Shakespearean play, Something Wrong Now? Kihara's youth imbues her portrayal with an authenticity that is often tough to replicate on stage, but she doesn't always feel as grounded and settled into this particular world as some of her more experienced co stars. Her vibrancy and energy are contagious. She also brings an absolutely exquisitely crystalline, clear voice to some of the most iconic power ballads of her lifetime. While still 18 or 19, however old she is, it is very clear that she has a very promising future in musical theater ahead of her. That vocal clarity was actually especially appreciated on Tuesday night because the performance was beset with audio issues that delayed the start of the performance until 7:48pm Even though the curtain was published to go up at 7:30. While there weren't a ton of noticeable issues after the show got going, I will say that it did feel like at least some of the sound check might have been negated because especially when multiple characters were singing in harmony, it didn't feel like the balance was exactly right. So hopefully in future performances throughout the run of the show that will be cleaned up. Moving forward as Will and Anne rewrite Juliet's story, the young Capulet is joined by her best friend May, played by Nico Ochoa, and her nurse, played by Katherine Allison, who has a surprising history with Fatone's Lance. Also along for the ride is Lance's son Francois, played by Noah Marlowe. Alice and Infatone are a delight to see play off of each other, both of them doing variations on somewhat silly accents, and their comedic connection pairs well with that of Kellogg and on Tuesday night, tract. While the whole show is a feast of jokes, puns, references and innuendos, some subtle and some anything but, Will and Anne drive the action with spurts and stops of narration, asides, humor, teasing and ducking in and out of the story to influence which directions the characters turn. Being able to balance both being a part of the story as well as someone on the outside explaining the story is a lot more difficult than it looks, and both Kellogg and Trakt handle it expertly and they both brought top notch vocals to the stage on Tuesday night. And as a tip, anytime either Will or Anne are on stage but are not the center of attention, keep at least one eye on them because they seem to never not be causing some type of chaos or comedy. Obviously, Kellogg felt a little bit more comfortable in the role and the songs than Tracked did, but that is to be expected given the fact that she has had much more time in the role than he has. Having seen the show twice on Broadway, Angeliette has never been exactly my favorite show of this recent jukebox musical comedy vintage, but it has fit fairly nicely in the middle. It is certainly not my favorite rip Once Upon a One More Time. Nor is it my least favorite Looking at you, Moulin Rouge. But no matter how funny Reed's book is, no matter how inventive Luke Shepard's direction is, no matter how eye popping Jennifer Weber's choreography is, or no matter how incomprehensibly talented the cast is, I can't shake the feeling that I'm actually watching a show that Mr. Shue directed in order to get new directions ready for regionals. The gleeification of Max Martin's catalog is not unique to Ann Juliet. Trying to shoehorn pop hits not only into a musical theater narrative but but onto musical theater voices and orchestrations generally does not serve the songs nor the singers well, and although some very clever cuts to make the standard repetitive pop song choruses fit into theatrical storytelling helps, it is just a bit of a bridge too far for me to get on board with conservatory trained soprano trying to dirty up her sound enough to sound authentic singing a song made famous by the gravel voiced Ke$ha. Nonetheless, if you want to see a group of wildly talented performers roar as they sing some of your favorite songs in larger than life musical, then get to the Dr. Phillips center of the Performing Arts before Sunday, January 11th when we have to say bye bye bye to the national tour of aunt Juliet featuring Dr. Phillips High School alum Joey Fatone. If late 90s and early aughts, pop music and silly banter are up your alley, chances are good that you will leave the theater smiling so much that you will have to tell your friends that I can't feel my face, I.
- [11:42]
Musical Performer
Can'T feel my face when I got.
- [11:44]
Matt Tannini
You and that the show is fucking perfect. And even with my minor reservations about and Juliet still intact, I will be back with my family to see it again on Sunday. So I will have to admit that oops, I did it again.
- [11:58]
Musical Performer
I think I did it again.
- [12:01]
Matt Tannini
The national tour of Angeliet will have stops in Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Fort Myers and Tampa following its run here in Orlando between now and mid February. In the show notes I'll have information on where you can purchase tickets to to see the show here in Orlando. But act fast, as the already tough ticket was made even more scarce by the addition of Joey Fatone to the cast. All right, that's all I have for you today. Thanks for listening to Broadway radio. This has been Matt Tiamani. I will talk to you soon, and I'll see you at the theater.
- [12:46]
Musical Performer
Hey.