I'm actually the target audience for once here, so I'll give a comprehensive review! This was my show tonight as well, I rushed it and got front-row seats and it was pretty good and solid. I wrote some notes on my thoughts during intermission, so I'll summarize those since the second act was unbelievably short. I think the audience could've used a break a bit earlier, but I understand that the structure of the acts is not the standard 2 act in the first place.
If you like Bare: A Pop Opera, you will adore the music. I will say though, the show feels like it takes place in the "Rave" scene for a majority of the time, if anybody is familiar with that show.The whole pre-show experience was reminiscent of Cabaret's but on a more "club" style scale, and the costumes are very much BRAT-coded (charli xcx's new album, a hit of the summer. This album utilized green and black often, though silver was a part of the outfits, for those out of the loop).
I said this about Sunset last night but what is it with leads having no chemistry this season? Jeremy and Eva really drive it home over at Gatsby, whereas I felt as if Zegler's Juliet didn't have the best chemistry, which I hope can be fixed as they go through previews.
The ensemble is absolutely killing it from a choreography standpoint, and Act One makes great use of the vertical space within the theater! Anybody on an aisle got cast interaction, and if you were front row you could easily get the flowers from the stage, 2 people got a party invite, and I was given a slap bracelet at the beginning. The scenic design felt impressive, and it's by "dots" who also did Appropriate, so I think I just personally like their style
Tommy Dorfman (Nurse & Tybalt) stood out to me as a great actor in the ensemble. They killed it in all of their scenes, and I really thought their chemistry with the Capulet family was great. Sola Fadiran as both the Capulet parents was... a choice but I think it worked. It felt very confusing at times with how much they were double-cast as well. Gabby Beans has already been mentioned enough, so I'll say she did well too but wasn't a stand-out for me because her role was big anyway.
Gian Perez's singing and getting the crowd hyped was great, but it felt SO out of place at a specific point in Act Two. The inclusion of 4 sung songs and the amount of backing tracks made me wonder- do we know if this is being pitched as a musical or as a play? I feel like Stereophonic and this have a similar amount of music, but the lines on that one felt blurry for me too.
This show is definitely for a younger audience (I had a high school freshman sitting next to me, and a group of middle schoolers with their mothers entered in front of me), but I was able to enjoy all the references as well because I'm the direct target age (College, early 20's). I think an adult attending this would prefer to spend the night at Sunset Boulevard or Suffs over this, and the main draw I heard people talking about was Kit Connor. I'm not sure why- he's a solid actor but I didn't think he was particularly mindblowing in this or Heartstopper.
Now, onto my spoiler section...
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The use of the floating bed made it impossible to see. Same with the floor of the stage during the garden scene- you can't see the ground. Front row feels a partial view at times like that.
I loved how much the Ensemble sat with us, and Kit Connor's balcony scene utilized the space very well! Some of the directoral choices definitely left me the question of just... Why? The mix of vaping and smoking on the stage felt kind of bizarre, and it gave me a headache. And being in the front row during the fight scenes definitely feels hazardous even if they, of course, have fight calls before the show. It's so close to the audience I jumped back in my seat, I'd rather have them on the stage to fake brawl in case one of them accidentally rolls into my legs. But that's just me.
Overall, if you're Gen Z-coded and already like Bare (which is better than this show still, IMO), brat, immersive and dance-heavy shows, or just really love seeing Kit Connor, get your ticket before this becomes actually hard to see. If you're an adult over the age of 30 who has no clue what anything in the last sentence meant, your money is better spent on Sunset Boulevard or Stereophonic and you'll get more out of the experience.
P.S: I did stagedoor and enjoyed it, it felt more organized than Sunset's (which I literally walked away from, because I thought it was just never worth it for that level of chaos again), but the massive stagedoor crowd is massive and I once again don't recommend it unless you're a fan of one of the actors because it is very chaotic closer to the theater, further was super organized which was great!
Updated On: 10/3/24 at 01:26 AM
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