Video: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Broadway Debut in & JULIET

United States Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made her Broadway debut in & Juliet, making a special appearance in the performance on Saturday, December 14 at 8 pm, with a one-night-only walk-on role. Immediately following the show, audience members were invited to stay for a talkback with the Justice.  Check out a video from the special evening here! 

Jackson released a memoir in September, titled Lovely One, in which she expressed her love of theater while applying to Harvard. In the memoir, she said, “I, a Miami girl from a modest background with an unabashed love of theater, dreamed of one day ascending to the highest court in the land—and I had said so in one of my supplemental application essays. I expressed that I wished to attend Harvard as I believed it might help me “to fulfill my fantasy of becoming the first Black, female Supreme Court justice to appear on a Broadway stage.” 

The current Broadway company of & Juliet includes Maya Boyd as ‘Juliet,’ Tony Award-winner Paulo Szot as ‘Lance,’ Alison Luff as ‘Anne,’ Drew Gehling as ‘Shakespeare,’ Liam Pearce as ‘Romeo,’ Michael Iván Carrier as ‘May,’ Jeannette Bayardelle as 'Angélique,’ and Nathan Levy as ‘François’. Gabe Amato, Daniel Assetta, Reese Britts, Nicholas Cooper, Charli D’Amelio, Jhailyn Paige Farcon, Makai Hernandez, Najah Hetsberger, Joomin Hwang, Khailah Johnson, Elsa Keefe, Alaina Ví Maderal, Daniel J. Maldonado, Alejandro Mullerdahlberg, Ava Noble, Cassie Silva, Darien Van Rensalier, and Romy Vuksan complete the cast for the show’s third year on Broadway.

The full creative team for the Broadway production of & Juliet includes David West Read (Book), Max Martin & Friends (Music & Lyrics), Luke Sheppard (Direction), Jennifer Weber (Choreography), Bill Sherman (Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements), Soutra Gilmour (Scenic Design), Paloma Young (Costume Design), Howard Hudson (Lighting Design), Gareth Owen (Sound Design), Andrzej Goulding  (Video & Projection Design) and J. Jared Janas (Hair, Wig & Makeup Design), and Dominic Fallacaro (Music Director, Co-Orchestrations and Arrangements). US Casting is by Stephen Kopel and Carrie Gardner, CSA. Eva Price is Executive Producer.

About Justice Katanji Brown Jackson

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami, Florida. She received her undergraduate and law degrees, both with honors, from Harvard University, then served as a law clerk for three federal judges, including Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson subsequently practiced law in the private sector, worked as an attorney and later as Vice Chair and Commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and served as an assistant federal public defender. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021, Jackson made history in 2022 when President Joseph Biden nominated her as an Associate Justice. The first Black woman ever confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, she took her seat on June 30, 2022.