The Shakespearean jukebox musical & Juliet flips the script on the greatest love story ever told and asks: what would happen if Juliet didn’t end it all over Romeo? Get whisked away on a fabulous journey as she ditches her famous ending for a fresh beginning and a second chance at life and love—her way.
The smart and funny musical – which won three Olivier Awards for its West End run before making its North American premiere in Toronto – headlines Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts from March 17 to 22.
The musical features a playlist of pop anthems as iconic as Juliet, hit songs made popular by Robyn, Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, P!nk, Bon Jovi, Ariane Grande, Celine Dion and The Weeknd, all co-written by legendary Grammy-winning songwriter / producer Max Martin.
For a show about a famous heterosexual couple, the musical is also fabulously queer, celebrating gender nonconformity via Juliet’s non-binary BFF May, a landmark role played by the multi-talented Nico Ochoa who also identifies as non-binary in real life.
Curtains Up sat down for a candid Q&A with Ochoa who describes themself as “a cool refreshing glass of genderfluid.”
You began playing piano and violin when you were younger, but did you always want to be in musical theatre?
Nico Ochoa: I played piano for five years and violin for four years when I was in elementary school and middle school before I found theatre. I really thought I was just going to learn how to play a whole bunch of instruments like China Anne McClain in the Disney Channel series A.N.T. Farm. But as soon as I did my first musical, I knew that this is what I was going to dedicate my life to.
National tours are tough on the road. How is your first national tour?
I am enjoying the travel because I haven’t seen a lot of the United States or Canada. I didn’t even have a passport before booking the show! I am young and still growing into myself and becoming an adult, so this has been a wonderful journey.
Life on the road is also hard work. I have a regimen. I have a vocal steamer (which is a personal humidifier designed for the throat and vocal cords), and I steam at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. There are times when I must prioritize my rest.
Has being gender-nonconforming and non-binary affected your career in any way?
Actors are taught to make a good first impression during casting. You come into the room, hand the audition people your resume, give them your book and sing your song. Sometimes I have to code switch depending on what kind of role I’m going in for. What’s so beautiful about the role of May is I didn’t really have to put any walls up – I could just go with it, just be myself, which is really beautiful.
But I have other roles in my resume where I went into the room and code switched – maybe I puffed my chest out, or didn’t have my hair in a way that looked a little bit more feminine because the role that I was looking to be cast in is masculine, or vice versa. So being a non-binary person has affected my career. But I think I’m very lucky and grateful that a lot of the roles on my resume I was able to go in and be myself because of specifically what the directors at that time were looking for in those roles.
What is it like for you to portray May? It’s like May was written for you!
I remember the audition process like it happened yesterday. This experience has been life-changing. I cried many tears of joy when I got the role.
What is your favourite number in & Juliet?
May gets to be in the girl group number and the boy band number, Domino by Jessie J and Everybody by Backstreet Boys. I bounce between those two, but right now my favourite is the girl group number.
Why is & Juliet a must-see?
Many young people who come to see & Juliet tell us this is their first musical. It’s life-changing for many of them. And for theatre veterans, it’s a really funny script. You will laugh, and you will know the songs!
& Juliet headlines Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts from March 17 to 22. Running time: 2h40 including an intermission. Click here for tickets.
Performance schedule:
March 17 at 7:30 p.m.
March 18 at 7:30 p.m.
March 19 at 7:30 p.m.
March 20 at 7:30 p.m.
March 21 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
March 22 at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Production photos courtesy evenko and Broadway Across Canada.
