& Juliet

Act One

The stage is set for the first performance of William Shakespeare’s new play, Romeo and Juliet. He welcomes the audience to the theatre and to his show (“Larger than Life”). We are then introduced to his wife, Anne Hathaway_, who has come to London on a rare visit from their home in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare begins to explain the plot of his play to her, but she immediately begins to pull apart his proposed ending. What if, Anne wonders, Juliet did not kill herself after all? Although Shakespeare initially rejects her amendments (“I Want It That Way”), he lets her continue with her new idea for the play. And so it begins! Across the stage, Juliet wakes up to find Romeo dead beside her (“...Baby One More Time”).

Juliet prepares to mourn Romeo at his funeral, but she soon discovers that he had had many, many other relationships with both men and women (“Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely”). Juliet’s parents decide that it would be best for their daughter to disappear to