Kit Connor, Rachel Zegler to star in Sam Gold-directed ROMEO + JULIET on Broadway, Fall 2024

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:03pm

Starting a new thread since this is likely not related to Diane Paulus’s A.R.T. production after all. Got a tip that this actually is a production coming directly to Broadway, and that it’s being directed by (yawn) Sam Gold.

Battle of the avant-garde deconstructed R&J’s, I guess.

EDIT - Confirmed. Previews starting September 26th, with an official opening of October 24th, at the Circle in the Square Theatre: https://romeoandjulietnyc.com/

Updated On: 5/22/24 at 02:03 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:12pm

Does Sam Gold have some kind of lease at Circle in the square? 

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:15pm

Are we sure it isn't the ART production? Given the rumors of Zegler being attached to both Evita and Gatsby, both productions in their last seasons, and the (albeit stereotype) pink color palette of ART's initial Romeo & Juliet announcement: Experience Romeo and Juliet this September at A.R.T. when Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Diane Paulus reunite for the first time since Jagged L... | Instagram

But then it could eventually transfer...?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:17pm

This may be another instance of a production being sniped by another that is simply able to get to Broadway faster. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:22pm

You've seen Jaime Lloyd do Ibsen/Herzog. You've seen Sam Gold Ibsen/Herzog. Now get ready for them to fight to the death doing Shakespeare. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:22pm

A combination of factors lead me to believe Kit and Rachel aren’t connected to the A.R.T. production:

1. Reps for A.R.T. told BWW that no announcement was forthcoming, which is a strange thing to say if your two leads just loosely announced it in tandem on their own social media pages; and
2. I was told explicitly that they were coming to Broadway in a production directed by Sam Gold.

Now, my source could be lying or just misinformed, but crazier things have happened. I personally find it absurd that we now have (potentially) three fairly-to-very high profile productions of this extremely overdone Shakespeare play duking it out for space on Broadway, but these are weird times.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:26pm

It may be heresy to say but I think R&J onstage is… not super compelling. For me, it’s easily one of the weakest of the most commonly produced Shakespeare plays. I’ve yet to see a production that fully clicks the way I’ve seen Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Lear, Richard III, or Midsummer often do. 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:30pm

I agree with Kad, on this. 
 

If we’re choosing between Sam Gold and Jamie Lloyd, I’d choose Gold. At least with him you have the possibility of…anything. With Lloyd you know exactly what it’ll be. No sets, no shoes, tshirts/jeans and cameras for some reason. And at this point to quote Miranda Priestly… “Groundbreaking.”

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:32pm

Jordan Catalano said: "
If we’re choosing between Sam Gold and Jamie Lloyd..."

(((shudder))) Talk about a no-win scenario.

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:36pm

Sam Gold did give us Enemy of the People, Dolls House pt 2, Fun Home… all of which I loved. So he’s got some good stuff in his resume. 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:43pm

True, yet his last (only) two Shakespearean productions on Broadway were so awful (admittedly IMO) the thought of him doing a third honestly made me groan when I saw ColorTheHours048's post.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:49pm

Oh, 100%. When he’s bad, he’s baaaaaaaaaaaad. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:50pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Sam Gold did give us Enemy of the People, Dolls House pt 2, Fun Home… all of which I loved. So he’s got some good stuff in his resume."

Didn’t Joe Mantello do most of the heavy lifting with Fun Home?

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 2:56pm

Sam Gold is one of the most wildly inconsistent directors working today, so there’s no way to predict how this will go if it pans out. He doesn’t have a distinct directing style I’ve ever been able to decipher and his work with actors seems more related to their innate talent than his own ability to conjure a good performance.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 3:08pm

Gold's Othello at NYTW was stellar and his Hamlet at the Public was fine (but did give us Oscar Isaac in tighty whities).

[Kad]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 3:15pm

Call_me_jorge said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Sam Gold did give us Enemy of the People, Dolls House pt 2, Fun Home… all of which I loved. So he’s got some good stuff in his resume."

Didn’t Joe Mantello do most of the heavy lifting with Fun Home?"

Mantello was involved with the show very, very early on (he was announced for it back in 2009 right when Kron and Tesori started work) but at some point he departed and Gold was involved once it was entering on-its-feet workshop development in 2012. He was heavily involved in developing the show at that point, so it's definitely not fair to say Mantello did the heavy lifting. As far as I'm aware, Mantello never directed it even at a formal reading level.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 3:22pm

Oh, I was under the impression Mantello “ghost-directed” the show. Must be conflating the story it with another show.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 4:11pm

His work on Fun Home was spectacular especially given how different the Public version was to the in the round Broadway version to the totally different tour version. 

[lopside]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 4:14pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "Sam Gold is one of the most wildly inconsistent directors working today, so there’s no way to predict how this will go if it pans out. He doesn’t have a distinct directing style I’ve ever been able to decipher and his work with actors seems more related to their innate talent than his own ability to conjure a good performance."

He's quite toned down on Enemy of the People. Maybe he just wanted to put the trust in his wife's adaptation and play it mostly straight.

[Feidlimid]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 4:17pm

I'd argue that Jamie Lloyd did alter things a little with The Effect (and it seemed more dynamic than say a Doll's House, and I felt that way having only watched the streamed version)

[inception]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 4:23pm

I would want to rush my production to stage too if I knew somebody else had one planned with a bigger star.

Updated On: 4/15/24 at 04:23 PM

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 9:56pm

I really don't care to see Rachel Zegler in anything.

[msmp]

Posted: 4/15/24 at 11:03pm

South Fl Marc said: "I really don't care to see Rachel Zegler in anything."

This was my biggest reason for yawning when I saw the rumor pop up. Nothing so far makes me want to pay what will undoubtedly be astronomical prices.

Total respect for anyone looking forward to it, but I just do *not* get her appeal.

[theatergoer3]

Posted: 4/16/24 at 7:18am

Credit to TheaterBoard for finding this - https://www.instagram.com/romeojulietnyc?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Followed by both Zegler and Connor.

TikTok Oracle also says music will be by Jack Antonoff. 

Updated On: 4/16/24 at 07:18 AM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 4/16/24 at 7:57am

Website is live. https://romeoandjulietnyc.com/