& Juliet - Opera House MCR / Shaftesbury / U.K.Tour

Cast recording release brought forward to 10th November

I've been missing all the enthusiastic posts on here (about the Manchester experience, not the soundtrack/recording) for the last few days so presume it has ended its run there and is having a break before opening in London early next month. However, though I was looking forward to seeing it, I'm becoming increasingly concerned that lack of knowledge of the music and/or dislike of it will be an issue. I've never heard of ANY of the songs mentioned and when I listened to a few online they sounded very generic and forgettable. But maybe there are some better ones in the show itself or they come over more impressively when sung live. Or even fit the show so well that they're enjoyable in that context.

Could anyone who has seen it and was also unfamiliar with the music please say whether this affected their enjoyment?

I've just scrolled through the songlist, and they are all pretty well known songs from the last 20 years, some really iconic ones. Even if the titles don't sound familiar, I'm sure the tunes will.

Yup, I also deffo think you’ll know some of them. The earlier Britney and Backstreet Boys have been played everywhere!

Anyway, even if you didn’t know a single note, would still be enjoyable. Is simple pop melodies, nothing too hard work.

Also, it’s a show where music, story, performances, sets, lighting etc etc just come together really well. Music here isn’t stuff I’d otherwise listen to much, but is just one component. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

It’s just a fab feel good show :-)

I went into it thinking I only knew some of the songs but actually when they start I realised I knew about 99% of them. They are all songs that have had a lot of airplay over the last twenty or so years and there's no way you couldn't have heard them. And yes they do work in the context of the show whether you know them or not.
Interestingly I was looking back at the West End live performance and some of the earlier posters for the show and they both mentioned songs which weren't in it when it was in Manchester. Would be interested to find out why they were dropped.

Ah, another reason not to see it! I am exactly the sort of person who would be annoyed by this. I remember when seeing the Regent's Park Crazy For You production noting that it was anachronistic that the Sydney Opera House was referenced, when the production was set in the 30s & that wasn't built until the 70s. It must have been pointed out to the creative team as the reference was changed later in the run.


I'm not sure if I count as one of the older members, as I wasn't born in the late 70s, but I agree with your general point. I don't think I've listened to pop music deliberately since about the year 2000, although obviously one is subjected to a certain amount of unavoidable exposure with for instance shops playing music.

Before anyone asks why I'm therefore reading this thread, I was a fan of Cassidy Janson & Oliver Tompsett back in their Wicked days & would love to see them playing opposite each other again. I've been reading this thread to try to decide if I can put up with the show for the sake of seeing them. However having now watched the trailer that was recently posted I think the answer is no. The excerpts from their scenes that were included looked quite good but they seemed to be in a completely different piece from the other scenes shown, which did not look at all to my taste, & I doubt I'd be allowed to come into the auditorium just for their scenes & spend the pop song sections standing outside in the lobby!

I need to see this

Ok, after all the glowing reviews and after listening to the clips you posted I decided to book for December, front of the stalls.


I still doubt I will enjoy it, but hope otherwise. Problem won't be the songs (I'm sure I know quite a few when I hear them and the CD comes out before my visit anyway) or the anachronisms but probably the book...if this is similar to WWRY or BOOH (both shows I consciously avoided) then I will just sit and scratch my head, wondering how intelligent people can enjoy this cr**. But I still live in hope. Anyway, if I don't like it I will blame this board.

I saw this with a couple of my mates when I was back home visiting my fam a few weeks back, and really enjoyed it! Had great energy, lots of humour, and the audience seemed to love it! It’s not trying to be anything it isn’t which I like - sometimes I think shows take themselves too seriously but this definitely doesn’t!

I really don’t know how this show is gonna go in London! I hope it can succeed because there’s def a place for it. I think it will be received positively but the theatre is a large one so it’s going to need great word of mouth and a big marketing drive to really sell it I think. Most of the songs were super recognisable to me, but I wonder if some will be lost on the younger teen audience, but maybe that doesn’t matter, because they’re v catchy for the most part!

On the One Show in a few minutes