Romeo And Juliet

If you are just looking to pay a lot of money to see Orlando Bloom in person, then see this borefest of a show. I am not sure you can blame the actors as this seems to be just horribly directed. The dialogue has an extremely fast tempo… I would refer to it as Shakespeare on speed, the acting is average at best with most actors (other than Dexter’s evil brother from the first season) mumbling through their dialogue, and most importantly there is no chemistry between Romeo (Bloom) and Juliet (Rashad)…I mean none.
The idea behind the revival makes sense, but this is a dud from the opening bang (if you saw it, you know what I am referring to). Painful… don’t see it. (So bad that is is my first post on line of any performance… thought is was necessary to warn the public to stay away.)

I think my views are pretty on par with other reviews of this play, so I’ll keep it short.
Orlando performed wonderfully, and getting to meet him at the stage door afterward was an amazing experience (I’m such a fangirl).
Christian Camargo (Mercutio) was perfection. By far my favourite performance of the show. Just mind-​blowing. He was also very gracious at the stage door — a pleasure to meet him!
Condola was a lovely, innocent Juliet and I really enjoyed her performance.
The chemistry between Romeo & Juliet? Nothing. No chemistry at all. So that a bit of a bummer.

To watch Orlando Bloom as Romeo and Condola Rashad as Juliet is like watching Donald Trump
and Millania make out. It was hard to watch and during every scene that they were together, I kept hoping for Condola’s version of Juliet to match Orlando’s Romeo’s intensity.
Orlando Bloom is amazing in all aspects; handsome, romantic, forlorn, smitten and everything else we’ve come to expect from Romeo’s portrayed time and time again.
Condola’s Juliet is like a soda that has been left sitting; flat. Yes, she can say the lines (very poetically at times), but everything about this version of Juliet was lacking. There was no illogical beauty and grace and innocence that I’ve come to expect from Juliet’s.
To match Orlando’s intensity, level and artistry of acting, they should have thought of casting Kerry Washington, Zoe Saldana or Sanaa Lathan. (I have nothing against Condola as she is probably going to be someone to watch for in a few years-​remember Anne Hathaway (princess diaries) and then her performance in Les Miserables) — but their pairing just did not match up. It was like trying to jam a puzzle piece in the wrong spot and hoping it fits each time you jam it.
I felt like I was watching a high school play with 2 exceptional actors (Orlando Bloom and Twilights’ Christian Camargo). Yes a couple of the other cast members were fine, but Orlando and Christian leave everybody else’s performance in the dust! Caplet and the pried were also great.
I would give their performances a 5.
All that being said, everyone that has a chance to should try to watch Romeo and Juliet on stage. Shakespeare’s’ (or whoever really wrote it) Romeo and Juliet is quite romantic and poetic to hear aloud.

If I’d read the reviews, I probably would have never gone to see this play.
I am glad that I didn’t read the reviews.
I am also glad I had a chance to go to Theatre Talks event at the New York Public Library in Harlem to see Orlando and Condola discuss the play and their take on it.
Now I’m not a play snob in the least, but I do enjoy a good show.
I thought that this iteration of Romeo and Juliet was a good show.
Now to be clear, the reading of the lines for this show is STRAIGHT out of classic Shakespeare that we all came to know and love (or hate) in high school. So a lot of thou art, and such formalized Shakespearean English.
Several updates were made for this iteration of the play:
–The staging environment was set towards the modern day (cue bicycle and somewhat modern dress — House of Montague was street biker-​ish and House of Capulet was much more classically and formally dressed).
–The House of Montague were portrayed by Caucasians (aka Orlando), and the Capulets were portrayed by African Americans (aka Juliet).
–While the play read from classic Shakespeare, the cadence, intonation, and body language are adapted to modern social cues (especially with Lord Capulet, lol).
Romeo (Orlando), Mercutio (Christian), Capulet (Chuck), and Juliet (Condola) all played their parts well. While you might think the chemistry is a little off — consider in the historical description this is a love story between two teenagers (Juliet’s like 13 – 15 in the play and Romeo’s like 17 – 19). Also consider that in Shakespeare’s time, people didn’t live long and courting didn’t take very long — hence the kiss right after they meet.
Some nicely orchestrated fight scenes, a dance scene, and well placed background music help to create the right environment to keep you engaged.
I’m not going to go on and on defending their performance. I thought the show was a good performance, and I am glad I arranged a date night around the show.
If you’re looking for an nicely adapted (not outrageously adapted) and appropriately modernized version of the Shakespearean classic — I say check it out.
I’m glad I did.

I am a huge fan Shakespeare… and it is such a treat to be able to go to plays and Broadway shows since I live in NYC. Not too long ago, I saw Jude Law do his version of Hamlet, and it was an enjoyable night. So what better way to experience an all time favorite such as Romeo and Juliet… of course with none other than the handsome and talented Orlando Bloom as Romeo!
I rushed over to the theater after work. Wow, unluckily for me and my family, it was simply pouring out and everyone got soaked waiting in line to get inside the Richard Rogers Theater which has undergone a bit of a make over in anticipation of this show’s opening — it looks great.
Although this play opens up as a «typical» Shakespearean play using old English, it is far from the traditional Romeo and Juliet. Sure, the language is archaic, but there are some modern twists to this story. The feud between the two families is more of a race feud in «present times», which is made evident with Orlando Bloom zooming around on a motorcycle on stage. Although there were only a few in the cast that I can say I enjoyed their performance throughout the play (like Romeo aka Orlando Bloom and Mercutio played by Christian Camargo)… there was a lot that I didn’t like. The chemistry between Romeo and Juliet was a little dull and had a lack of sizzle… I just didn’t feel the love from Juliet’s end. I also didn’t really feel the extreme hatred between the feuding families. It also was not obvious to me why they hated each others’ races… other than it being painfully obvious that one family is white and the other is black. Overall, I felt this play was mediocre with only a few redeeming qualities. Orlando Bloom brings a solid love struck Romeo with a tint of innocence to stage, and Christian Camargo’s Mercutio keeps the play moving with his comedic timing and is just overall interesting. The set is interesting for the small space that is available, and there is a somewhat modern feel to an old classic. If you have a free night and can get discounted tickets, it was a nice change to the usual work week. I’d go more for just seeing the modern changes to the play.

I have seen Wicked in SF and I didnt really know which Broadway show to watch in NY. I knew it had to be epic and something I at least had some idea what it was about. On our way to our place, I kept seeing Romeo and Juliet at the Richard Rogers Theater and I actually wanted to watch it but the first show happened to be in September. I was pretty bummed because a legit celebrity starred in it… ORLANDO BLOOM! I am not a huge fan but hey, its Orlando from Pirates. As I was researching online, I realized that there were preview shows and the only available one I could watch before I left was the next day (Sunday 3:30pm)! I knew I had to purchase them ASAP.
I found the tickets on Dynamic Tickets and dealing with that seemed like a breeze. I couldnt believe processing was $ 50 a ticket and meeting up for pick up was another $ 15. Purchased them over the phone and I would have to meet someone right in front of the theater an hour before to pick them up on Sunday. Sounded simple enough. I was glad to pick them up since I was staying at an apartment without a printer. I received an email with the tickets attached and was super confused. Dynamic Tickets told me to call a number Sunday morning to arrange a pick up at 2pm but why did I receive the tickets in the email. I called to clear things up and I guess they are closed on Sunday. Well, that is not my problem and I wanted to pick them up like what was originally agreed upon. They told me that I could go to a place to print them out but I didnt want to pay for that and inconvenience myself. I complained and finally after arranging with the theater, my tickets could be picked up from will call. The only silver lining was that there was a huge line to enter if you already had your tickets but since I had will call, I was able to go in the wayyyy shorter line and enter.
I got the mezzanine seats because I didnt care for close seats. I just wanted to be in the presence of Orlando. Our seats were prettty horrible. It wasnt even the front half of the mezz but the back. One of the ushers said that during the intermission, we could move forward since there were empty unsold seats. I definitely did that and got the first row of the first half of the mezz. I was able to see Orlando pretty well and I definitely got star struck haha.
The show follows the play fairly closely with all the old english. I sorta zoned out during the show because whether I read or hear it, I dont really care for the old english: X I honestly just went to this show because I recognized the play and I wanted to see Orlando. The show is definitely not as magical as Wicked and I would not watch it again. Justin Guarini who was the runner up for America Idol is in there too! Everyone waited outside to get a glimpse of the stars and Orlando took his sweet dandy time. I got a close up and was pretty stoked hehe.
**TIPS**
1) Buy tickets straight from ticketmaster. I bought mine from Dynamic Tickets and they jacked up their tickets by $ 25 (not including processing). The ticket before processing was $ 115 but the printout said $ 90 face value.
2) During intermission, move up and get a closer spot. You better rush down like a vulture and claim them like I did.
3) Enjoy Orlando :)