Romeo and Juliet: The Spectacle Musical

Author's Note

[Note: This is a reupload! No clue how this even got deleted in the first place, since I have no memory of even touching this, but luckily I have saved up to 98% of the material, including my old notes. This time I've taken this opportunity to polish up my lyrics and the script. My sincere apologies for the inconvenience. To receive timely updates, add this into your library or follow me @madnessmostdiscreet. Thank you for all the votes and comments!]

This is an English fan adaptation of Gérard Presgurvic's musical Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour, which premiered at the Palais de Congrès de Paris in 2001. It has since then become a worldwide success and a classic in its own right. It has been translated into 12 different languages thus far, including amateur productions. Apart from its gorgeous score, one of its strengths lies in the adaptation of Shakespeare's famous play, the new, fresh, multifaceted way of looking at the classic story and its famous characters. It is among the best musicals in recent years, and could probably bear comparison to another modern-day Romeo and Juliet musical adaptation, the Bernstein and Sondheim masterpiece, West Side Story.

I began translating the show on and off from spring 2009 and it ballooned into a script. It is not perfect by any means or measure, but at this point, after many years polishing my lyrics, I'm content to share them in their entirety here. I am completely unaffiliated with Gérard Presgurvic, Gérard Louvin, KERO, and anyone related to the musical. Copyright is reserved to those that hold it, and the rest is mine.

I based this version almost entirely on the original French production, whose songs I'll link to on each chapter. Those more familiar with the musical will recognize elements from the Austrian, Russian, Revival, Italian, and Hungarian productions. For those interested in reading about how I conceived my version, go to Notes on Adaptation.

Dialogue is indicated with a colon, lyrics and songtext without one. Where ambiguous, I usually state it outright. Only stage directions are in italics.

For those completely new to the musical, familiar with the Shakespeare play or not, who have come to us tonight by mistake or by chance, welcome: You're in Verona.