New cast members announced for &Juliet musical

The producers of & Juliet Max Martin musical playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre have just announced three new cast members will be joining West End hit. They are Nicolas Colicos, who will play Lance, Billy Nevers as Francois and Joe Foster who will be May. The new three have their first performances on Monday 26 September

Nicolas Colicos’ theatre credits include Bones in the original cast of Sister Act at the London Palladium, Francz Liebkind in The Producers in the West End and Bill in the original cast of Mamma Mia. His film and TV work includes Kingsman II, Superman IV and Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Billy Nevers was in the original ensemble of & Juliet, and is thrilled to be to returning in the role of Francois. His other work includes Legally Blonde at Regents Park Open Air Theatre and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican and Regents Park.

Joe Foster recently appeared in Legally Blonde at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Hex at the National Theatre and Rent at Hope Mill Theatre.

Cast changes for &Juliet

The full ensemble and company for &Juliet at the Shaftesbury Theatre has been announced this morning.

Julius D'Silva (Made In Dagenham) will  join the cast as Lance, opposite the recently revealed Keala Settle as Nurse. The new ensemble includes Ebony Clarke, Bessy Ewa, Collette Guitart, Cassandra Lee, Nathan Louis-Fernand, Zara Macintosh, Carl Man, Christian Maynard, Rachel Moran, Owen Saward, Aaron Shales, Benjamin Terry and Suki Wong, who join Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Alex Tranter, Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson who continue with the show.

David Bedella (Lance) and Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo) will play their final performances on 26 March, with Julius D'Silva and Tom Francis taking over their respective roles from 29th March

Keala Settle to join cast of &Juliet

 

Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman, Waitress, Rent: Live, Les Misérables and Hands on a Hardbody) will make her West End debut and join the Award-winning musical & Juliet from 29th March-18th June. She will be performing the role of Nurse (taking over from Melanie La Barrie). Joining her will be Miriam-Teak Lee as Juliet with  Cassidy Janson as Anne Hathaway, Oliver Tompsett as William Shakespeare, Tim Mahendran as Francois and Alex Thomas-Smith as May.

David Bedella (Lance) and Jordan Luke Gage (Romeo) will play their final performances on 26 March,with replacements to be announced.

The ensemble currently includes Roshani Abbey, Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Billy Nevers, Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Kirstie Skivington, Alex Tranter, Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson. &Juliet is now booking to 24 September 2022

Directed by Luke Sheppard, the musical has choreography by Jennifer Weber, set design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Paloma Young, musical supervision, orchestration and arrangement by Bill Sherman, lighting by Howard Hudson, sound by Gareth Owen, video design by Andrzej Goulding, musical direction and additional arrangements by Dominic Fallacaro and casting by Stuart Burt.

Keala is also performing in Concert at the Cadogan Hall on 13th February

Cassidy Janson and Oliver Tompsett join Miriam-Teak Lee in new Shakespearean-inspired musical &Juliet

Updated 8th February: with tickets now on presale for  Manchester and London more casting news has been announced: Cassidy Janson, will play Anne Hathaway with Oliver Tompsett cast as her husband William Shakespeare Melanie La Barrie is the  Nurse,  Jordan-Luke Gage is Romeo with Tim Mehendran and ensemble members Arun Blair-Mangat,   Jocasta Almgill, Josh Baker, Alishia-Marie Blake, Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Danielle Fiamanya, Kieran Lai, Nathan Lorainey-Dineen, Jaye Marshall, Grace Mouat, Antoine Murray-Straughan,Kerri Norville, Christopher Parkinson, Dillon Scott-Lewis, Kirstie Skivington and Alex Tranter.
 

Cassidy Janson who played Carole King in Beautiful, said that in & Juliet, Hathaway starts writing Juliet’s story as if she hadn’t died. She said ‘There are little twists and turns in the re-telling, and it’s very comedy based,’ taking Juliet off on adventures that see her to Paris. Janson will  sing the big Max Martin ballad That’s The Way It Is (a hit for Celine Dion) plus  a couple of duets

 Miriam-Teak Lee is to star in & Juliet:   a new Shakespearean-inspired musical  featuring the songs of Swedish-born songwriter and producer Max Martin.  The musical fantasises about Juliet’s life if she hadn’t taken poison with  Romeo and starts previews at the Shaftesbury Theatre on November 2nd  with a  try-out  run at the Opera House, Manchester, from September 10th - October 12th.

Martin is behind a list of chart-topping singles including Baby One More Time for Britney Spears; Love Me Like You Do for Ellie Goulding; Send My Love by Adele and It’s My Life for Bon Jovi which are due to  be performed in & Juliet.

The show, written by David West Read, will feature Shakespeare and wife Anne Hathaway among the characters. Director  Luke Sheppard, the 32-year-old (who directed Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit  In The Heights) told Baz Bamigboye. Romeo is not a big part of Act 1. Juliet’s only had one lover, so what does a young girl get up to? She leaves Verona and goes to Paris in search of adventure. Her nurse is part of that journey. Martin’s song catalogue felt like an actual way of extending the show’s narrative.

Miriam-Teak Lee's credits include  Drew McOnie’s production of On The Town, she was part of the original cast of Hamilton at the Victoria Palace when she  understudied the three Schuyler sisters (Angelica, Eliza and Peggy), and during her 12-month run got to perform all of them.