Interview: Meet the Broadway Debuts of ROMEO + JULIET

The newly reimagined Broadway production of Romeo + Juliet is currently running at at the Circle in the  Square Theatre. The company features 11 Broadway debuts!  

BroadwayWorld spoke with members of the company and asked what it means to them to be making their Broadway debut in Romeo + Juliet.

See their responses below!

Rachel Zegler (Juliet)

It is my biggest dream come true. Sam is my favorite theatre director of all time. Kit is my favorite human now. But it is an absolute dream come true just have the stars align in such a way. And this is my home, New York is my home, and to be working here is awesome. I think Sam's goal was to fill seats with young people, and have them leave with an understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare, and for theatre in general. It seems like we've been successful so far, so I'm very excited for the next 20 weeks, and hopefully more and more people. 

Kit Connor (Romeo)

I'm really excited! It's an interesting thing because I didn't realize going into this job how long previews were on Broadway, especially for a play like this. It felt like we opened a long time ago, but the show has been evolving and improving so much. So, I think that I'm really excited for people to finally see what we've come up with.

Tommy Dorfman (Tybalt/TheNurse)

Making my Broadway Debut playing both “The Nurse” and “Tybalt” in Sam Gold’s Romeo + Juliet is the greatest gift of my artistic career thus far. I am eternally grateful for this opportunity and am immensely inspired by my fellow company members and the work they’re putting into this show and their characters. I love Broadway. I love this play.

DANIEL BRAVO HERNÁNDEZ (Abraham/Friar John)

Making my Broadway debut with Romeo + Juliet still feels unreal. A couple years ago, I attended a computer science high school three blocks away from Circle in the Square. I walked past the theater for years, and now I enter it every day with the same busted bookbag-- I love it! For years I joked about having a close relationship with Billy (my nickname for Shakespeare) and this show gives me the opportunity to showcase his work with some of the most talented and creative minds I've ever met. I know he wrote for the common people and as a common person myself, my goal is to give it back to the common people. I truly believe this show is a revolution-- evidence that Shakespeare's words belong to everyone and can be said by anyone. Soy un latino, hijo de inmigrantes, sin ninguna conexión al mundo de los famosos, yo llegué y voy a seguir. Aquí los espero.

Taheen Modak (Benvolio/Apothecary)

It’s so surreal being here in NYC making my Broadway Debut. Two months ago, I was back home in London, on a Zoom call with the creative team for ROMEO + JULIET, when director Sam Gold asked me how I’d feel about coming to Broadway… 

I’m working with creative and artistic giants, starting with Taylor Williams, without whom this opportunity would never have found its way to me. Thank you, Taylor! This cast has talent in abundance, and I feel so humbled coming in everyday to try and tell this beautifully tragic story to an audience that seems so eager to watch this old Shakespearean play in a new and daring way. Hopefully, we're giving that to them. 

GíAN PÉREZ (Samson/Paris/Peter)

Circle in the Square is the only Broadway theatre I’ve ever dreamed about performing in. Doing a spiritually punk production of Romeo + Juliet with such a daring creative team in that theatre as my Broadway debut is beyond my imagination. As an artist, it’s fulfilling to know we can do such risky work at such a large scale and audiences will be receptive. 

Missy Malek (Understudy)

Being cast in Romeo + Juliet served as a reminder to me of how what’s meant for you won’t pass you by. I feel most comfortable and in my element when doing Shakespeare - something about the language and range of emotion just resonates with me. On top of that, I’m specifically drawn to characters with a sense of wildness to them (I previously performed in the role ‘Ophelia’), and clearly Sam picked up on that, because I’m the alternate for the roles of Friar, Juliet and Mercutio (the most wild, neurotic and intense characters in the play!).

 It is not common for British actors to get jobs on shows like this on Broadway, and it very much felt like a long shot, but I had a certain faith when auditioning that I could offer something unique to the production. It shows that, even if something seems unrealistic, if you put the work in and believe in yourself, amazing things can happen! I’ve also been really appreciative of the way Sam has given the understudies a lot of artistic liberty to bring their own interpretation of the character to the role: he doesn’t want mimicry of another actors interpretation, which I don’t think I would do a good job of.

Timothy Oh (Understudy)

I found out I got my callback whilst working a 9-hour catering shift and I silently screamed and jumped for joy before running trays of chicken dinners and silverware out for guests for hours. And that was just the callback... The thing that really makes me proud is that at every level of the audition process, I was so unfiltered and undeniably myself. I wore cutoffs and tank tops, gym shorts, Nikes, a pearl necklace and silver chain and played around and let no part of me hide. I even practiced introducing myself with honest joy and excitement instead of the typical "I'm good, how are you?" So that I could be just a little bit more relaxed in that callback. And now, well now, I'm in a company of actors and creators I think the world of and am doing the thing I dreamed of when I had the slightest acknowledgement of a hope that I could maybe act as a career 4 years ago.

Daniel Velez (Understudy)

I remember being in 10th grade watching Charlie Rose interview Sam Gold with Oscar Isaac and wondering what it must’ve been like to be in that Hamlet rehearsal room, so to be making my Broadway and professional debut with this colossal team is the biggest gift. Every single person in this company is teaching me so much every day. I’m a student of them all. To absorb as much as I can from this brilliant team is a major goal with this first project of mine. Immensely grateful. 

Nihar Duvvuri (Balthazar)

It is definitely a dream of mine come true, but it is also very scary because this my first time being in a truly public work. I’m mostly feeling very grateful to the team of people that created this show - it feels so young and hungry and really captures something about our generation’s pain. Also, this cast is filled with wonderful humans and I’ve loved getting to know them all so much! Looking forward to spending 4 more months with them."

Jasai Chase-Owens (Gregory/Servingman)

Making my Broadway Debut in Romeo + Juliet is a humbling experience. It is privilege to be amongst a tenacious cast and creative team, and serves as reminder of the blessings I have had in life. My first play was A Midsummer Nights Dream at a community theater I ended up at on a whim one day after school. Located on east 4th street Downtown Art was free, and somewhere to go after school, and performing Shakespeare in that loft space was the start of the road that led me to be at Circle in the Square. NYC is my home, its communities raised me, and I hope to share what they’ve given within the community of this play and Broadway.