Jack Antonoff to Make Broadway Debut With Music for 'Romeo + Juliet'

Producer and Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff is writing the music for a reimagined and updated version of Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet for a Broadway opening this autumn. This will be his stage debut.

Directed by Tony winner Sam Gold (Fun Home) with movement by fellow Tony winner Sonya Tayeh (Moulin Rouge!), the musical stars Rachel Zelger (Steven Spielberg's West Side Story) and Kit Connor (Netflix's Heartstopper). Given a thoroughly 21st century tagline -- "the youth are f--ked" -- the musical's synopsis continues with: "Left to their own devices in their parents' world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way."

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Antonoff has seemingly been everywhere in the music industry over the last few months, winning his third Producer of the Year Grammy in February and sharing in the many accolades with Taylor Swift for Midnights. He produced the music soundtrack for the AppleTV+ period drama The New Look, which consists of covers of popular songs from the early and mid-20th century, enlisting the services of Lana Del Rey (who will have an Antonoff-produced country album Lasso release in September), the 1975, Nick Cave and his own band Bleachers.

Bleachers released their self-titled fourth album on March 8, but Antonoff made more headlines on April 12 when he popped into Del Rey's Coachella set, as he played piano next to a holographic projection of Del Rey for a run-through of the pair's "Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have -- But I Have It" and took the stage for his own band's set the next night.

With regards to the revitalization of Shakespeare's play in London, a West End production was met with a torrent of online abuse directed at actress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers. Following the announcement of the cast on March 28, which includes Tom Holland, an immediate and vitriol barrage of abuse began over the internet with regards to the actress' ethnicity.

The Jamie Lloyd Company, creators of the production, issued a sternly-worded statement condemning the "barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company."

"We are working with a remarkable group of artists. We insist that they are free to create work without facing online harassment. We will continue to support and protect everyone in our company at all costs. Any abuse will not be tolerated and will be reported."

The statement continued: "Bullying and harassment have no place online, in our industry or in our wider communities. Our rehearsal room is full of joy, compassion, and kindness. We celebrate the extraordinary talent of our incredible collaborators."

Both the Broadway (set to open in the fall of 2024 at a theater to be announced) and West End versions are expected to be a limited-run and the anticipation is that the West End production (already sold-out), taking place at the Duke of York’s Theatre from May 23 to Aug. 3 will make a jump to the U.S. before the end of the year.