‘Romeo + Juliet’ review: N.J.’s Rachel Zegler makes Broadway debut with shining co-star

Rachel Zegler’s Broadway debut in “Romeo + Juliet” comes with much fanfare.
She grew up a musical theater kid in New Jersey before securing her ticket to the big time — a starring role in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” (2021) — while still in high school.
Since then, Zegler, who hails from Clifton, has continued to build much momentum as a movie star.
The actor starred in a DC film (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” 2023) and a “Hunger Games” film (”The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” 2023) and completed several more movies coming out this and next year, including Netflix’s animated film “Spellbound” (Nov. 22); A24′s disaster comedy “Y2K” (Dec. 6); “Paddington in Peru” (Jan. 17) and Disney’s “Snow White” (March 21).
Zegler won a Golden Globe for her gleaming screen debut as Maria in Spielberg’s take on “West Side Story.” The performance allowed her to show off her brilliant voice in a major way.
Stephen Sondheim himself called her a “nightingale,” one who went on to apply her musical talents to the role of Lucy Gray Baird, the songbird at the center of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” and to the new voice of the fairytale hero from Disney’s first animated feature.
So it would follow that anyone casting Zegler, 23, for the New York stage would also want to showcase her voice.
But in Zegler’s Broadway debut, the Sam Gold-directed adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” her breakout moments of song are few.
Zegler does rise to the occasion when the lights are on her and everything stops so she can sing.
These moments beg the question — what would the Jersey star be like in a full-fledged Broadway musical?
“Romeo + Juliet,” which opened Oct. 24, is not that musical, but it does have Zegler in familiar territory.
The musical “West Side Story” is, after all, famously based on “Romeo and Juliet.” There would be no Maria and Tony without Juliet and her Romeo.
So seeing Zegler in this role, in another white dress, in the middle of another rumble — in Verona instead of New York, via Manhattan’s Circle in the Square Theatre — is not exactly a huge departure from what we’ve seen of her work so far.
Still, the fact that she gets to do this on a Broadway stage is a well-deserved fulfillment of a childhood dream for the young performer. Hopefully it’s only the beginning of the actor’s stage career, which could use a meaty musical role. As in “West Side Story,” she’s expressive in that earnest way she has, but she tends to take it to another level when she gets to emote through song.
Zegler, who also won a People’s Choice Award for best action star for her “Hunger Games” performance, graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi, where she regularly wowed in school musicals.
Watching this latest rendition of Shakespeare’s tragedy of star-crossed lovers, it’s tempting to wonder:
What would a Baz Luhrmann “Romeo + Juliet” musical sound like with Zegler as Juliet?
Luhrmann directed the identically titled, wondrously flashy 1996 film adaptation of the Shakespeare play, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.
The film and Broadway play both set the story in modern times, but there is no stated connection between the two. And if you’re looking for a jolt of the modern that enlivens the play, the Luhrmann film, set in “Verona Beach,” does deliver.
In Zegler’s “Romeo + Juliet,” directed by Tony winner Gold (”An Enemy of the People,” “Fun Home”), she stars as Juliet alongside Kit Connor as Romeo (Ansel Elgort played Tony in Spielberg’s “West Side Story”).
Connor, 20, is an English actor known for his role in the Netflix series “Heartstopper,” which saw its third season released in October. He won the first Children’s and Family Emmy Award for lead actor for his performance. Connor also appeared in “Rocketman” and voices Brightbill in “The Wild Robot,” an animated film that debuted in theaters in September.
He brings an intensity to Romeo that makes him inherently believable as the Cupid-struck, heartsick teen.
There is no question that Connor is in it on that stage. This is also his Broadway debut, but his performance speaks well beyond his years.
Does “Romeo + Juliet” distinguish itself from the oh so many that came before?
The Bard is always relevant, always ripe for for interpretation. And there is pathos here — Connor’s performance sounds that note effectively enough — but it’s not so earth-shattering as it is in even Luhrmann’s update.
This is a blood feud, people get hurt, and there needs to be devastation. The play’s presentation, while kinetic, lingers more on a blue mood, and maybe a certain sense of futility, which can be devastating in its own right. Might some post-2016 and 2020 malaise be detectable?
Much has been much made of this “Romeo + Juliet” being a Gen Z-oriented show.
There’s some vaping, but TikTok? Not so much, unless you count actual dancing.
The set design, lighting and wardrobe channel the ’90s and 2000s, too.
A central prop at the start of the show — a shopping cart stuffed with teddy bears of various sizes — evokes rave culture. There’s also a large bag of gummy bears sitting on the stage, to start.
Then there’s the wide-leg jeans (Zegler’s Juliet has a little teddy bear chained to them), moody club lighting and thumping bass.
Keyboardist Sarah Goldstone is perched above the stage like a DJ.
The Tony-nominated collective Dots (Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Kimie Nishikawa and Andrew Moerdyk) created the scenic design, Isabella Byrd the lighting and Enver Chakartash the costumes.
The play rushes in with leaping and dancing and fast dialogue. For the monumental meeting of Juliet and Romeo, things slow down a bit (“My only love sprung from my only hate!”) as Connor gets a silver disco ball of an outfit and Zegler is clad in a gold dress to match.
Grammy-winning producer Jack Antonoff, who grew up in New Milford and Woodcliff Lake, supplied the music (it’s also his Broadway debut).
He produced Zegler’s melancholic ode to love and pain, “Man of the House,” which he wrote with Ryan Beatty.
The most memorable parts of the show’s design are the movement, choreographed by Tony winner Sonya Tayeh (”Moulin Rouge! The Musical”) — with “violence” by Drew Leary — and the set design that features Juliet’s bed suspended over the stage and a bright spread of flowers below.
When Romeo does a mighty jump from the stage and pull-up to reach the bed and kiss Juliet, Connor’s athletic stunt gets as much applause as the romantic gesture.
The restless jumping, tumbling and tussling of the supporting cast of wily Montagues and Capulets generates the youthful, chaotic energy that gives the core conflict some juice, while the props and design offer a dreamlike quality. Both set the mood for the emotional highs and lows of the teen saga, one that doesn’t just burden the shoulders of Romeo and Juliet.
In addition to Connor, Gabby Beans (a Tony nominee for “The Skin of Our Teeth”) is a clear standout from the cast.
Beans, who is both Mercutio and The Friar, is one of several actors who play multiple roles.
Not only does she change her voice in a single turn onstage, she also nimbly navigates the 1597 play’s Early Modern English while having fun with Shakespeare’s words.
There are, of course, some additions.
“I’m The Friar now,” she announces at one point in the play.
“Romeo + Juliet” is at Circle in the Square Theatre, 235 W. 50th St., New York, through Feb. 16; romeoandjulietnyc.com.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup.