Jukebox musical ‘& Juliet’ will return to Toronto as Mirvish announces new Canadian run

“& Juliet,” the bubbly jukebox musical that rewrites the ending of Shakespeare’s most famous romantic tragedy, will receive an encore in Toronto next year. 
The coming-of-age musical comedy is set to return to the city in December 2025 for an open-ended run at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The new Canadian production, announced by Mirvish on Monday, comes after ”& Juliet” marked its North American premiere at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre in the summer of 2022, selling out its eight-week, pre-Broadway engagement. 
Penned by Canadian writer and playwright David West Read, who won an Emmy Award in 2020 for “Schitt’s Creek,” the show proposes what could have happened if Juliet didn’t kill herself at the end of “Romeo and Juliet.” 
Its feel-good, “what if” storyline features a bevy of pop standards by the Swedish songwriter Max Martin, known for his chart-topping collaborations with music icons such as Britney Spears, Céline Dion and the Katy Perry. 
”& Juliet” debuted at the Manchester Opera House in 2019, before transferring to London’s West End later that year. Though it received mixed reviews from critics, the production ran for more than three years before closing in 2023. 
Mirvish initially intended to mount the show as part of its 2020-21 season, but the pandemic ultimately foiled that transfer. 
When ”& Juliet” eventually premiered in Toronto the following season, it became one of the city’s first major theatrical hits coming out of the COVID-19 shutdown, drawing comparisons to the original Canadian production of “Mamma Mia!,” another jukebox musical that originated in the U.K. and made its North American premiere in Toronto.
The original Mirvish run of ”& Juliet,” which featured a cast of mostly American and Canadian performers, won positive notices from Canadian critics. In her review for the Toronto Star, Karen Fricker described the musical as “fun to the point of exhausting,” adding that it “fully commits to the task of entertainment.” 
Despite selling out, that 2022 production could not extend its Toronto engagement as it was already scheduled to transfer to Broadway. But the musical’s strong reception soon prompted Mirvish to start planning a local, sit-down production of the show. 
Casting and exact dates have yet to be announced. But like other non-touring productions mounted by Mirvish, the upcoming run is expected to feature a cast mostly — if not entirely — comprised of Canadian actors. 
The new production will be led by the musical’s original creative team, including director Luke Sheppard and choreographer Jennifer Weber. 
Sheppard, who hails from Britain, has become a mainstay on Mirvish stages in recent years. In 2023, he directed the ill-fated North American premiere of “In Dreams” at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre. The musical, featuring songs made famous by the late American rock star Roy Orbison, was also written by Read. In January, Sheppard will again return to Toronto to direct “Just For One Day,” a jukebox show about the Live Aid movement. 
Mirvish’s upcoming production of ”& Juliet” will join several other replica productions of the musical running around the world. A North American tour recently launched earlier this fall, while a production in Hamburg, Germany is set to open this week. The musical is also touring across the U.K. and continues to run on Broadway.