Photo Source: Rebecca Lewis-Whitso
The Capulets and Montagues hate each other because the families' drag-queen mothers (the amusing Jeremy Michael Lagunas and Matt Welsh, as Claire Capulet and Evelyn Montague) are running against each other for mayor of Verona, Iowa. But Romeo and Juliet initially hate each other too (though the out Romeo thinks Juliet is kind of hot). In a video, Romeo ironically croons a "Hey Bitch," one of the more amusing of the show's songs (the music is by Brian Kirchner), and the video goes viral. At a masquerade party—after a few lines of cocaine with her cousin Tybalt—Juliet ditches her boring fiancé, Paris, and starts making out with Romeo, who's disguised as a male. When Juliet finds out that "he" is a "she," she doesn't care much, and the two become soul mates. The plot plays out exactly the same, except that the ending has a bit of a twist.
Brigitte Choura and Lauren Hennessy fully commit to their roles as Juliet and Romeo, respectively. Choura has impressive dramatic chops, while Hennessy, who comes across as slightly typecast, steals the show's comic moments by using improv and audience interaction. I'd be interested to see her acting range, as she completely disappears into the Romeo character. However, humor can't keep this two-and-a-half-hour show moving, and the comic bits aren't worth sitting through the entire show.
Presented by Purple Rep with Leta Tremblay at the La MaMa ETC's Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66-68 E. 4th St., NYC. Aug. 12–27. Remaining performances: Sat., Aug. 20, noon; Sat., Aug. 27, 7:45 p.m. (866) 468-7619 or www.fringenyc.org.
