& Juliet announces casting update – with Jay McGuinness playing Shakespeare

A casting update has bee revealed for the first-ever UK and Ireland tour of hit musical & Juliet.

The show, directed by Luke Sheppard, offers a twist on the classic love story, asking what might have happened if Juliet hadn’t chosen the tragic ending over Romeo. It is set to a pop-infused soundtrack featuring iconic hits penned by Max Martin, such as Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” and Katy Perry’s “Roar”.

Check out the trailer below:

The Wanted band member and 2015 Strictly Come Dancing winner Jay McGuiness will star as Shakespeare during the second leg of the tour from Bristol to Nottingham. Ranj Singh will continue as Lance for certain venues next year including Wimbledon, Dublin, Bradford, Birmingham, Sheffield and Cardiff. The roles of Shakespeare and Lance at all other venues will be announced.

McGuiness said “I love these songs; Max Martin has written hit after hit. I’ve really missed singing and dancing as the last thing I did was a play, so I’m excited to get back into it. And I love the & Juliet costumes, especially Shakespeare’s!”

The remaining touring cast is led by Gerardine Sacdalan as Juliet, Lara Denning as Anne, Sandra Marvin as Angelique, Jack Danson as Romeo, Kyle Cox as Francois and Jordan Broatch as May.

Also in the cast are Harriet Caplan-Dean as Eleanor, Alexander Kranz as Lennox, Andilé Mabhena as Augustine / dance team, Liam Morris as Richard, Psalms-Nissi Myers-Reid as Lucy/Alternate Juliet, Michael Nelson as Henry, Toni Paise as Violet, Katie Ramshaw as Nell / Lady C, Rosie Singha as Judith, Aaron Shales as Gregory / dance team, Nia Stephen as Imogen and Samuel Wilson-Freeman as Fletcher / resident director and dance captain.

After its successful run at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End from 2019 to 2023 and its current Broadway residency at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, the touring production opened at Manchester’s Opera House and is now underway.

With a book by David West Read, the show has choreography by Jennifer Weber and set design by Soutra Gilmour. The musical’s tunes are crafted by Martin and his collaborators, while costume design is by Paloma Young, and musical supervision, orchestration, and arrangements by Bill Sherman.

The production also features lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Gareth Owen, video and projection design by Andrzej Goulding, hair, wig and makeup design by Suzy Barrett, musical direction, additional arrangements and orchestrations by Dominic Fallacaro, and casting direction by Stuart Burt.

& Juliet, which won a wealth of WhatsOnStage and Olivier Awards and picked up a five-star write-up, has already achieved global success, with an upcoming US tour scheduled to begin in September 2024, alongside a variety of international productions.

The tour is currently concluding its 2024 tour dates at Leeds Grand, where it runs to 30 November. Into 2025, the show will then stop at Bristol Hippodrome (14 to 25 January), New Wimbledon Theatre (27 January to 1 February), His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen (4 to 8 February), Curve Leicester (17 to 22 February), Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin (25 February to 8 March), Woking New Victoria (11 to 15 March), Bradford Alhambra (24 to 29 March), Milton Keynes Theatre (31 March to 12 April), Nottingham Theatre Royal (14 to 19 April), Birmingham Hippodrome (21 April to 3 May), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (5 to 10 May), Stoke Regent (12 tto 17 May), Sheffield Lyceum (20 to 31 May), Newcastle Theatre Royal (2 to 7 June), Truro Hall for Cornwall (10 to 14 June) and Cardiff Millenium Centre (16 to 28 June).

Tickets for select venues are on sale below.