RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, the musical & Juliet makes its debut at Bass Performance Hall for a limited engagement. The Broadway smash mixes – or perhaps remixes – Shakespeare with pop hits from the ’90s and aughts for a new take on an old story. With a book by Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read and songs by hitmaker Max Martin (Britney, Katy, Backstreet Boys), Romeo and Juliet gets a redux with this modern take on the famed love story.
The focus shifts away from the two literary lovebirds of yore. Here, it’s all Juliet who’s found a new beau in François, the sensitive aristocrat who is being pressured to marry. Juliet and François hit it off, but the show’s meta characters of Anne Hathaway and her husband, William Shakespeare, rewrite the story and François discovers his attraction to Juliet’s bestie May, played by Nico Ochoa. So May and François have their own blossoming romance.
Noah Marlowe plays François in his first national tour with & Juliet. While he gets to belt out songs by Katy Perry and Adam Lambert, Marlowe has discovered the tender parts of his role and romance.
“What’s amazing about him is his emotional journey. We know he loves May and it’s not explicit, but May is nonbinary which makes this even more special,” he said. “But he wants his father to be proud of him and so he has this internal battle.”
& Juliet runs Nov. 12-16.
Marlowe also felt a specific responsibility to this role.
“I don’t identify as queer and so when I learned more about this storyline, I wanted to make sure I was going to take care of François whether he is or isn’t,” the 24-year-old actor said. “I do realize how important this story is to tell in 2025 and it really is so precious and delicate and I want to do it justice.”
Marlowe may not come to the role with any queer perspective, but he does come with a mindful one. While working on Book of Mormon on Broadway prior to this tour, Marlowe finished his college degree – in political science.
His first degree plan was for theater, but upon changing colleges, he didn’t want to start over because there was no theater degree program at Fordham University. Going the poli-sci route would keep his graduation timeline on track — plus, his mother is a professor which allowed him to get in and finish even with a pivot.
But it all worked out.
“I am very passionate about social justice and advocacy. I follow in my mother’s footsteps with that and ultimately, I want to combine that somehow with performing,” he said.
He finds that there can be a connection between those worlds and in his way, he sees & Juliet doing as such.
“We get to tell this beautiful story in today’s climate and it empowers us to go into these cities that one might think wouldn’t accept something like that,” he said. “& Juliet is one of these shows that can prove that LGBTQ voices will not be silenced. I’m so honored to be part of that,”
And so far, during this tour, he’s only seen and felt nothing but appreciation.
“We’ve gotten the most beautiful responses to our show and everyone who comes up to us is so grateful. Plus, we have these great pop songs that people probably know already so they can come in and access the show easily for an amazing time,” he said.
For tickets, visit BassHall.com.