★★★★½
I’m not exactly a regular at The Empire in Toowoomba, but when & Juliet comes calling, common sense really does go out the window. For a show I’ve already seen in London’s West End, Sydney and Melbourne, there was no chance I was going to let it pop up within ninety minutes of home and not make the trip up the range.
At this point, my relationship with this musical is either commitment or a complete lack of self-control. When Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy gets reborn through the ingenious mind of Max Martin, though, resisting it feels less like restraint and more like a bad life choice.
The premise is simple, yet ridiculous in the best way. Instead of Juliet copping the usual tragic ending, this version asks, what if she just… didn’t? What follows is two-and-a-bit hours of Shakespearean puns, 90s and early 2000s bangers, and a story about endings not being defined by tragedy, but by choice.
That is what makes & Juliet such a crowd-pleaser. Under all the glitter, gags and nostalgic hits, there is a genuinely lovely message about agency, second chances, and refusing to let somebody else write your story for you.
As one of my all-time favourite musicals, I walked into The Empire with expectations sitting somewhere between high and unfairly high. It’s a show I know very well, so it would have been easy for this production to feel like a lesser cousin. It did not.
Was it as polished as the West End version? Of course not. Very little is. But what The Empire and director Tim Hill have created here gets about as close as you could realistically hope for. The scale feels big, the energy never drops, and from the second it kicks off, the whole theatre seems to buzz with the kind of excitement this show demands.
Hill clearly understands that & Juliet only works if you fully commit to the bit. You cannot half-do a musical this knowingly ridiculous. It’s a show that needs colour, confidence, chaos, and a cast willing to throw themselves headfirst into the madness… And this is exactly what we get.
The set is bold, the costumes glamorous, and the ensemble seems to multiply every time you blink. By the end, The Empire was absolutely ringing.
I knew pretty quickly this show was in good hands when I saw Luke Kennedy’s name attached as Music Supervisor. He is one of those names that immediately makes you relax a little because you know the vocal standard is not going to be an issue.
Sure enough, the score is in very safe hands. There is nothing subtle about a show built on songs by Britney, Katy Perry, The Backstreet Boys and P!nk, and thankfully, this production never tries to play them small.
Massive accolades must be given to Tess Hill’s choreography, which well and truly stands out as one of the highlights. The routines she emboldened are sharp, energetic and well-thought-out.
Even in some moments where the songs feel a touch disjointed, the movement on stage keeps everything glued together. The big ensemble numbers have real impact, but even in smaller moments, it never feels like filler. It is always pushing the story, the joke or the emotion forward.
The technical team as a whole deserve a lot of praise as well, because this is not a small show to pull off. Debra Nairn’s costumes are glamorous, bold and exactly the right amount of extra.
Ben Hunt’s lighting design does a lot of heavy lifting, too, especially in helping shift between the two sides of the story and giving the big pop numbers the concert-style lift they need.
Aaron Hannant’s audio design is, for the most part, excellent. The odd mic cue did get missed here and there, and there were a few moments where the balance felt slightly off, but on the whole the sound is pumping, and the 90s are very much alive inside The Empire.
Jake Lodder’s video design is also practical and engaging, used in a way that supports rather than distracts. I also love the bravery of trying to do live-video crosses; however, as someone who works in live broadcast, the audio delay really got me and unfortunately, worked against the visual boldness of the technique.
Of course, as fun as all the visual and technical elements are, & Juliet lives or dies on its cast, and this company absolutely delivers.
Kate Hudson-James, making her mainstage debut after graduating from Griffith University’s Queensland Academy of Excellence in Musical Theatre last year, announces herself in a very big way here.
As one of the most iconic characters in Shakespeare’s arsenal, the role of Juliet always comes with certain expectations. As such, it is incredibly exciting to see Hudson-James step into those shoes and, come hell or high water, make the role her own. She has a voice that just won’t quit, and she is one to watch for the future, for sure.
Chris Thomson as Will Shakespeare is another standout, bringing excellent comic timing to all of the script’s snappy wordplay. Claire Sutton’s Anne Hathaway is a ball of infectious energy and one of the most instantly enjoyable performances of the night, with That’s The Way It Is a particular highlight.
Meg Mackenzie had what was always going to be one of the trickier jobs of the night, especially with my last Angelique benchmark being Casey Donovan. But she more than holds her own. Her comic timing is superb, her vocals excellent, and she brings a warmth to the role that I wasn’t expecting.
I honestly don’t have the word count to go into every cast member in detail. Which, to be fair, is always a good problem for a production to have.
But a quick shoutout to the remainder of the named cast in Luca Blyth as May, Orlando Vella as Francois, Lachlan Dodd as Romeo and Nicholas Doyle as Lance, who all bring something strong and distinct to the table.
They are backed by an ensemble of 17 who work incredibly hard from start to finish.
By the final bows, The Empire’s & Juliet proves exactly why people keep falling for this story. It’s silly, smart, heartfelt and just self-aware enough to get away with all of its glorious nonsense.
For a regional theatre to tackle something this big, this pop-heavy and this relentlessly high-energy is ambitious enough. To pull it off with this much confidence, polish, and joy is something else entirely.
I made the trip up the range already knowing I loved the show. What I did not expect was to leave quite so impressed by just how well The Empire has managed to capture its sparkle. It may not have the budget or machinery of the mega-productions I have seen before, but it has the thing that matters most: a cast and creative team going all in.
Funny, flashy and packed with heart, & Juliet provides the kind of night out that sends you home grinning like an idiot. And quietly adding the soundtrack back into your regular rotation.
& Juliet runs to 22 March at The Empire Theatre, 54-56 Neil Street Toowoomba 4350.
Tickets: https://tickets.empiretheatre.com.au/event/-juliet-gmt6nx
Website: https://empiretheatre.com.au/whats-on/&-juliet
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/empire_theatre/
Photo credits: Justin Nicholas
