Romeo and Juliet

by William Shakespeare
  
The Utah Shakespeare Festival 2023

Director, Betsy Mugavero
Scenic Designer, Jo Winiarski
Costume Designer, Bill Black
Lighting Designer, Robert Aguilar
Sound Designer/Composer, Joe Payne
Fight Director, Paul Dennhardt
Stage Manager, Martinique M. Barthel

“A timeless tale of “star-cross’d lovers,” Romeo and Juliet tells how two young people rise above their families’ hatred and find love. The price is tragic, and its lesson is what makes this one of Shakespeare’s best-known, most-loved, and more-enduring tragedies.”

We wanted to strengthen the link between the Elizabethan setting and modern young love and angst with the use of heavy metal cellos, and re-orchestrated pop songs. The inspiration and re-orchestrated/adapted touchstone was Apocalyptica, a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki. In the vein of David Bowie a la A Knight’s Tale, I re-orchestrated Kids by MGMT and used it as the lover’s first meeting and dance. A recuring theme was an adaptation of the intro to Lovely, by Billie Eilish and Khalid. We closed the show with a rendition of John Legend’s All of Me. The score was effectively simple and unified as a string quartet and percussion. Wonderfully acted piece, which made me cry every time. 

Music and Effect Sequences

_{Photos by Karl Hugh}