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'Romeo + Juliet' Music and Stagecraft | The BSB Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  if you have not seen Romeo and Juliet, if you are waiting for a pro shot, if you are...
• 0:05
  waiting to read it in ninth grade.
• 0:07
  I was gonna say algebra, but that's the wrong class, ninth grade English.
• 0:10
  Then you might wanna just keep scrolling on by, but if not, welcome to the discussion.
• 0:15
  RJ, we just got through part one, which technical difficulties aside, went pretty smoothly.
• 0:20
  We talked more than we thought we were going to about Romeo and Juliet.
• 0:25
  There were some soap boxes that we stood on talking about curriculum building and stuff, so we had a great time.
• 0:31
  Yeah, it fun.
• 0:33
  And of course we talked about the story of Romeo and Juliet.
• 0:36
  So for those who maybe missed part one, the Romeo and Juliet that starred Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler was a modern question mark retelling of Romeo and Juliet with everything in
• 0:49
  Old English, including the question marks in our head, because it felt like it was slightly disjointed with the story as everything, some things were updated.
• 1:00
  It was really hard to follow some of the characters, but something appealed to the people that brought them in.
• 1:05
  And I think that that is obviously what theater's supposed to do, right?
• 1:10
  Bring people in.
• 1:11
  helpful.
• 1:14
  So maybe that this maybe the story was old English Shakespeare But it did appeal to somebody So I guess I'm gonna start with you RJ and I kind of touched on the last time but
• 1:26
  who was this show appealing to?
• 1:28
  What was what who who was this aimed for?
• 1:31
  Mmm, the youngins, whoever likes giant teddy bears.
• 1:36
  That, why was that teddy bear, there was two of them.
• 1:40
  Why were there so many teddy bears and why were they so big?
• 1:42
  that's whoever knows the answer to that question, that's exactly who this show is for.
• 1:48
  If you know the answer to and or like very life-size teddy bears, this show is for you.
• 1:57
  I think we need to take a step back about the teddy bears.
• 2:00
  I think we need to go back to the lobby That we were in when we walk into the show you go down the escalator and it is like instantaneously a Rave is that a good way to put it but
• 2:12
  there was just teddy bears everywhere Like do were you getting rave vibes from that lobby?
• 2:17
  Yeah, it was like Underground Club, but Teddy Bears instead of, I mean there was a bar, but Teddy Bears.
• 2:27
  there was like teddy bears.
• 2:30
  There was teddy bears everywhere.
• 2:31
  Underground Club is a really great way to put it because it's right next door to the Gershwin, so we're right next to Wicked, but we're like, you go down escalator and you're
• 2:41
  like, you're in a basement.
• 2:42
  And then that base that the lobby opens up in the theater is down lower.
• 2:45
  Like you're just like in this like, it feels like what people probably described as a rave back in the day.
• 2:51
  Like that's the kind of club you went to and you were about to party your heart out.
• 2:55
  And, um,
• 2:56
  There was lots of pink, large teddy bears.
• 2:59
  Like there was one you could even take your picture with on a couch.
• 3:01
  I remember as I was going to the bathroom, there was that large teddy bear and there was a thing that it seemed like the youngins who were there knew about and I did not know about
• 3:11
  it.
• 3:13
  Yeah, we missed the teddy bear memo.
• 3:15
  I would have brought mine.
• 3:16
  I mean, then we could have just partied for real.
• 3:19
  I mean, yeah, they were all taking photos.
• 3:21
  I don't know, missed it.
• 3:23
  What do you think that like, so not cutting down on anybody's vision of the show, somebody had a vision for the show.
• 3:30
  What do you feel like the teddy bears had to say about Romeo and Juliet that like I clearly missed?
• 3:35
  I truly no idea.
• 3:36
  mean, like...
• 3:37
  Yeah, I just, what?
• 3:40
  I'm not...
• 3:42
  Because really they didn't play into the show itself at all.
• 3:46
  I mean, there's one part where he's like laying against it and leaning on it and it gets like tossed, but it wasn't like anything pivotal.
• 3:59
  Yeah, I think that that's a really good place to start when you walk into the theater It's a round That's that's the technical term, correct?
• 4:08
  It's a theater in the in round.
• 4:11
  So the theater's down in the center.
• 4:12
  We're all around the sides of it and all there is is a giant pink teddy bear sitting at one end of in the round or the theater and then there's a A buggy like a shopping buggy
• 4:27
  A shopping cart full of bears tipped over in the middle of the stage.
• 4:30
  That's it.
• 4:31
  That's all we get when you walk in there.
• 4:33
  And the bears in the shopping cart are of varying sizes.
• 4:38
  And I was so confused.
• 4:42
  I was just like, I don't know where this is going.
• 4:45
  You know what mean?
• 4:46
  Like, tell you what, it has nothing to do with Romeo and Juliet.
• 4:49
  Again, it goes with that modern retelling, but like, I feel like there was just like a piece that connection was missing for me.
• 4:56
  Yeah, I...
• 4:57
  even from even from other things that I've read, like, it literally was just to be modern, I think, which I guess teddy bears but like teddy bears aren't particularly.
• 5:10
  I mean, for
• 5:11
  that era maybe they were modern.
• 5:15
  But teddy bears have been around for a minute.
• 5:21
  Since Theodore Roosevelt, right?
• 5:23
  Like, isn't he the reason why it's called the teddy bear?
• 5:25
  It literally when I look it up, literally just says.
• 5:28
  The Gen Z inspired take uses teddy bears as a quirky and modern element to add to the aesthetic of the show.
• 5:38
  Okay, so if we're looking at the modern elements I think it's interesting because as we stated before as we stated in part one It is old english shakespeare.
• 5:47
  It is Shakespeare at its roundest.
• 5:51
  know.
• 5:53
  It is they're speaking in ways that like i've never heard it again, it sounds kind of like parseltongue But they're dressed in like sometimes looking they were dressed in like You
• 6:06
  know tank tops and like
• 6:09
  like army pants and Rachel Zegler's in like small dresses not but then like you have the teddy bears but you're speaking like there was like this like again that disconnect of
• 6:21
  like what you're seeing and what you're hearing which i've really noticed about this show
• 6:27
  Yeah, and maybe that's like maybe that was the draw is to almost completely make your senses be overloaded in the sense that you're in a space like if this show is geared
• 6:40
  towards Gen Z, which seemingly it is, then you're surrounded by all these things that are familiar.
• 6:49
  Like I almost and granted, I am not like a chic person.
• 6:53
  I don't go out.
• 6:54
  I especially don't go out to like
• 6:56
  high class modern like nightclubs or anything like that.
• 6:59
  But I'm just thinking like it's it is the aesthetic I would imagine of kind of like a bougie plush very high scale intimate nightclub wherever.
• 7:16
  I don't know about the teddy bears but maybe like
• 7:19
  that it replaced that with pillows, you know, and it's the same thing.
• 7:24
  And so like that level of comfort mixed with the total uncomfort of language that you have to really pay attention to.
• 7:36
  Right.
• 7:36
  And I think that again kind of speaks to the fact that you cannot passively watch the show.
• 7:41
  You have to be like an active participant in everything that's going on of the senses, of the take, of the language.
• 7:49
  And so you do have to engage with it differently.
• 7:51
  I don't think like you can just go in and be like, this is my popcorn show, you know, like this isn't like a, not that you don't engage with & Juliet that's what I'm saying, but
• 8:00
  like you have to engage differently.
• 8:01
  Like you actually have to stop and think, you have to stop and participate, you have to stop and...
• 8:06
  comprehend and you just can't join into the show and be a part of the show without having to like Constantly analyze it like there's like a level of critiquing and analyzing that
• 8:17
  you have to almost be doing the entire time that you're watching Romeo and Juliet on stage here At least it kind of that way
• 8:28
  Yeah, I mean, if you weren't paying attention for like a minute, you would be lost.
• 8:38
  for sure.
• 8:38
  And plus I think it also makes you question like when was this taking place?
• 8:44
  was this in Verona in the you know 1300s 1500s whenever it takes place like or is it the underground New York today?
• 8:56
  You know like I think that there's I get what they're aiming for but I don't get what they're aiming for.
• 9:05
  Again, am I old?
• 9:05
  Is that what this is coming down to?
• 9:13
  But seemingly it drew in audiences of all ages.
• 9:16
  Like when I looked across the room, like, yeah, there were young people, but I also saw, you know, middle-aged or even elderly folks.
• 9:26
  So I think that draws on the fact that once again, we all at some point read Romeo and Juliet.
• 9:34
  And so maybe if you're super into the story, the story itself is for you.
• 9:40
  And just like us, like we walked in thinking modern retelling, they could have walked in just thinking retelling, you know, without modern.
• 9:50
  So, because I think the, the publicity for the show was pretty vague overall.
• 9:57
  Like, uh, if you weren't paying attention, you could easily walk into that show and just think you're going to Romeo and Juliet probably until you reach the lobby and you're like,
• 10:09
  like we were like what's with the teddy bears and why is there like EDM music playing and like neon lights happening?
• 10:17
  let me ask you about those.
• 10:18
  So I think another thing of the draw when they were originally writing like kind of like advertising this We got Rachel Zegler got Kit Connor and the other name was Jack Antonoff
• 10:28
  and they had kind of teased Original music be written for this and stuff like that.
• 10:33
  So I was thinking musical I was thinking like this is a musical they're musically adapting Romeo and Juliet and we got what two songs There was a DJ What did the music do for you
• 10:43
  for this show?
• 10:44
  I mean
• 10:45
  Master of the House, absolutely beautiful because of Rachel Zegler singing it.
• 10:49
  She slayed that song.
• 10:51
  Fantastic.
• 10:54
  But again, I don't know what it did for the show.
• 10:57
  Yeah, I would say absolutely nothing.
• 11:01
  I enjoyed it.
• 11:03
  I thought it was very well done for exactly what it was, but as we know, based on the fact that they have literally taken it out when she's not singing it, it does absolutely
• 11:14
  nothing for the show itself.
• 11:16
  I think it is just a it was a publicity alteration to
• 11:25
  also play on her strengths, right?
• 11:27
  We know she's an incredible vocalist.
• 11:29
  So why wouldn't you add in their opportunities for her to sing?
• 11:34
  100 % I mean like that is definitely one of the draws is that Rachel Ziegler is a Professional she's a professional singer like No, no doubts about that.
• 11:44
  It's beautiful But you I forgot that they took that out when she's not in there because there was the huge scandal where they had people on stage who didn't know the parts
• 11:55
  because Rachel Ziegler and Kit Connor were out and they took out that song and I forgot that they took out that song because they took out one song and there's only two of them
• 12:03
  like
• 12:03
  That does speak to the fact that it doesn't add anything essential to the story.
• 12:09
  It just, it's just added fluff to draw people in.
• 12:13
  Yeah, and I mean, I'm sure there's arguments on both sides, but for me...
• 12:17
  The story is still the same, right?
• 12:19
  Like we still know how it, exactly is happening.
• 12:25
  It's just.
• 12:26
  you know, insert song here.
• 12:28
  Yep.
• 12:30
  So, you know, growing up, obviously, we probably thought of Romeo and Juliet as a romance, as most people do.
• 12:35
  But what did you take away with, like, the tone from this production of it?
• 12:41
  I mean, there's, there's a handful of fight-ish scenes, even if it wasn't physical fighting, a lot of like kind of spats, which I do remember happening.
• 12:54
  Um, I just don't remember it happening as much.
• 12:58
  So maybe it was the fact that it was physically in front of me was more of a remembrance of, um, yeah, like.
• 13:08
  these two families hated each other, this is what happened.
• 13:12
  Rather than everything else being around Romeo and Juliet.
• 13:18
  And the fact that it doesn't start that way.
• 13:20
  Like I totally forgot about him being interested in others and the whole purpose of going to the party, not being, you know, like the whole initial part of the plot.
• 13:33
  I was like, oh yeah, it is political.
• 13:38
  It is kind of, it's fighty.
• 13:41
  Sure.
• 13:42
  I think I was really drawn this time around to the political nature specifically of Juliet and her parents.
• 13:50
  Which for some reason when I've engaged with this the first time around or like when I was in ninth grade never struck me about like how almost abusive her parents are.
• 14:01
  And I think that it really started to dawn on me when we saw & Juliet.
• 14:05
  of being like, her parents are actually awful.
• 14:07
  And I liked that they did play this up with her father kind of being that drunk, kind of being more of the...
• 14:13
  You're gonna ruin everything for us kind of thing like putting a lot of pressure on her Into having to play into the political politics of what's happening in Verona And so
• 14:23
  again, I don't know again.
• 14:24
  I haven't read this in years So don't know if I've missed that just because I was so young if that's not in there quite so much but there was more of that like the More of the
• 14:32
  emphasis on the politics of happening in the Verona and how the families themselves Play into it and how they impact these children because they're basically children falling in
• 14:41
  love
• 14:43
  I that was an interesting kind of addition or focus that I never really noticed before.
• 14:49
  Yeah, like I mean the whole basically, you know, arranged marriages and basically we're telling you how to live your life.
• 14:56
  Every part of your, like we have so many expectations for you.
• 15:00
  You really don't have a life of your own on one side of it, which is also very interesting when you think about.
• 15:09
  It tracks though, unfortunately.
• 15:11
  the girl, like we're...
• 15:13
  the girls being told, here's every step that you're going to make.
• 15:18
  Meanwhile, Romeo and his bros are just like out on the streets doing whatever the hell they wanna do.
• 15:24
  100 % Just being just being the absolute menace to society that they are
• 15:31
  Pretty much starting fights.
• 15:36
  So I do want to speak about the staging because there was some things about the staging that I thought was pretty cool And I'm gonna start somewhere really simple I guess because
• 15:45
  it's maybe the kind of the least impressiveness out of all the things that they could have done But I don't know why I loved the bed So Juliet has a bed that comes down from the
• 15:56
  ceiling and in fact at one point she's standing on it singing master of the house but it's
• 16:31
  What are your thoughts on that bed?
• 16:33
  Yeah, well, initially when it came down, I was curious because I had obviously seen, you know, a few shots of the fact that the bed did come from the ceiling.
• 16:42
  the fact that they use cables and not any type of like reinforced like I was anticipating it being like a lift, like a reverse lift where it was motorized, which of course it was
• 16:53
  motorized.
• 16:54
  But I mean, like with steel or metal or something.
• 16:58
  Obviously that
• 17:01
  takes up more of a viewpoint though, which is I think why they used cable because it could be thin and so you're with it being an around you're blocking less people's view with that
• 17:12
  center cable.
• 17:13
  But then obviously there's a weight limit and they both on it.
• 17:19
  They both are on it at one point or another.
• 17:23
  Obviously the cable is thick enough that it's fine.
• 17:29
  The ability for it to swing and shake is way more.
• 17:37
  Freaked me out.
• 17:38
  Yeah, I was like, wow, that's bold.
• 17:42
  And it's a choice.
• 17:43
  And obviously, it's limited movement once they're on there and it's in the air.
• 17:49
  But it was interesting.
• 17:51
  The whole scape, too, of being in the catwalks and literally doing lines and scenes from up there, that I had never experienced.
• 18:03
  That was entirely new.
• 18:06
  I, the purpose also though was lost on me.
• 18:13
  Like I wasn't, I understand that you only have a very, very small, I mean that stage was probably, I'm not even sure.
• 18:24
  It was not big by any means.
• 18:28
  And it was a literal circle.
• 18:31
  So I understand wanting to find space to have other scenes so that you feel like you're in a different place.
• 18:41
  But depending on where you're sitting in the audience, like you completely lose whatever is going on.
• 18:50
  And so that entire scene, I have no idea.
• 18:53
  I have no idea what was said.
• 18:55
  I have no idea what was happening.
• 18:57
  I mean there was definitely a scene like they were like right above us and I did not know what they were talking and I could not figure out I was like, what are you doing up there?
• 19:06
  Why are you doing it up there?
• 19:08
  And I wasn't, I was not paying attention to anything they were saying in that moment.
• 19:12
  Yeah, like in theory, it's cool.
• 19:18
  I think if the rafters had just been a little bit lower, but they were so tight to the ceiling and there was so much other, obviously there's duct work and other stairs and
• 19:33
  catwalks that the only part of them that I could see was like a leg or an arm.
• 19:41
  And that's because they were intentionally dangling it off of there.
• 19:49
  I mean, speaking of you, like you said, them using their space, like they are using the entire, like they're running down the stairs that we walk down.
• 19:57
  They're running around the stage that we have to walk to get out in and out of this theater.
• 20:03
  think the other impressive thing about it was what the Field the flowers that open from was really cool Like the center of the floor for people who weren't there it opens up and
• 20:13
  there's a whole bunch of flowers I'd also argue I didn't understand the point of that.
• 20:17
  It felt like I was trying to give it a whimsical thing but it felt more like you know, like when you watch a movie and you see people from like Woodstock smoking and like that
• 20:27
  was kind of what was going for but
• 20:30
  Again, it was lost on me.
• 20:31
  Like I was like I get what you're doing.
• 20:33
  But what?
• 20:33
  What is this doing?
• 20:34
  Like why are we doing this?
• 20:37
  Um, but it was kind of cool to see come out and I was like what is going on?
• 20:40
  That's kind of cool.
• 20:41
  But then I just that was it like it was kind of like a Really cool impressive looking thing and then I was done with it
• 20:46
  Yeah, like after that very one specific scene, I was surprised that it didn't, I mean, it eventually did close up again, but it, I thought it would have been closed up a lot
• 20:57
  sooner.
• 20:58
  Um, cause once again, we're, losing time and space.
• 21:05
  feel like we weren't sure where we were because you know, if part of, if one scene happens,
• 21:13
  with the flowers and then one scene, another scene happens with the flowers but it's not the same place, like where are we?
• 21:21
  100 % 100 % How would you rate this production of Romeo and Juliet?
• 21:28
  Oh boy...
• 21:29
  Um...
• 21:30
  gonna be harsh.
• 21:31
  I'm gonna get a bit probably a D.
• 21:33
  Yeah, I'm probably right there with you.
• 21:36
  I just, it's not for me.
• 21:39
  yes i'm not sure who it's for um i wouldn't go see this again like i will be honest with it if it was not for Kit Connor I probably would not have singers to begin with but i
• 21:50
  would not go see this again there's to me there's not a lot of rewatchability unless you really love Romeo and Juliet and you have to really love romio and juliette
• 21:58
  Agreed.
• 21:59
  Yeah, if you're a Shakespeare nerd, this is probably your thing, which you would have already known.
• 22:06
  and you would have seen it probably or if it tours in a city near you I hope that they have a really big star to draw you into it because boy actually I don't think they could
• 22:18
  tour this show I'm just gonna say that I don't think this is a show that could tour I don't think it could
• 22:23
  it has to be in black box.
• 22:24
  It couldn't do a national tour because you need a theater in the round.
• 22:28
  Like it's built that way.
• 22:30
  You'd have to completely restage it.
• 22:33
  And for the reasons that we just spoke about, like the catwalk scenes, if you don't have a catwalk, which a lot of places do not, you have to restage that entire sequence.
• 22:45
  So yeah, I can't imagine that this production would go on tour.
• 22:51
  So unfortunately, you're probably not going to see this anytime soon unless your local black box theater decides to put it on and then by all means enjoy So we are running out
• 22:59
  of time.
• 23:00
  So thank you for joining us on our part two discussion of Romeo and Juliet.
• 23:05
  I almost said Titanique because that's what came to mind Thank you so much for joining us here in our box seats until next curtain call.
• 23:13
  Take care