Debra Campbell

I can sum up this review in 5 blaring words – DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!

I was so excited to see that CLOC were producing Victoria’s non-professional premiere of ‘&Juliet’ in 2025 and it’s playing now 10-25 October at The National Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne.

No-one does it like CLOC, their shows are, on every aspect, simply A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! CLOC Musical Theatre is one of Victoria’s largest and most successful non-professional music theatre companies. See this show and you will know exactly why.

Ticket link: https://nationaltheatre.org.au/juliet/

I haven’t seen &Juliet before and had no idea what to expect other than I knew it was based around the story of Romeo & Juliet in reverse, i.e. what if Juliet had lived?

I did know it was a ‘jukebox’ musical and they are usually not my faves over the traditional type, but this flawless production was definitely an exception and I confirm it’s the BEST thing I’ve seen this year (of course my daughter has been in shows and I have to say they were the best to her …Sssshhhh).

Firstly, the sets! The sets! How does CLOC do these mind-blowing sets? From moving towers and staircases to rotating platforms, fountains and drop down whimsical wedding drapes, every single set scene is nothing short of professional at the highest level. Plus the lighting is nothing like one would normally expect in an amateur production; it’s on cue, on time and each strobe hits every beat adding to the electrifying performances – especially in the dance numbers choreographed by Felicity Bender – SUPERB!

My favourite songs are hard to note as there were so many I found myself singing along to, but Demi’s ‘Confident’ and Britney’s ‘Oops! I Did It Again’ were punching strong and I was almost jumping out of my seat to hear the Backstreet Boys’ ‘Everybody’ in the hilarious boy band scene. This is no guess of amalgamations – every song is a carefully selected match for uniting the narrative.

Playing the lead, ‘Juliet’, is the beautiful Guada Banez, whom I also saw play the lead of Fran in Strictly Ballroom last year so I knew she’d easily steal the show in parts. Her voice is magic, her acting is second to none and she is one very versatile dancer! A teacher by day, had she pursued theatre as a profession I am sure we’d be seeing her grace the big city majors. However, this show is as good as any major production I’ve seen in the past decade and Guada rocks the role of Juliet.

Playing ‘Romeo’ is the entertaining Tim Maguire, having performed from a young age in New Zealand and then graduating from NASDA, he doesn’t muck around either and brings full energy and commitment to every word, note and movement. When he surprises us all half way through the show belting out from the side stairs behind us, my daughter beside me (who lives for theatre) is gobsmacked for the plot twist. We cheer and know this is special; this is one we won’t be forgetting.

Making us laugh and look forward to the next time they take over the stage was Shaun Kingma as ‘Lance’ and Sarahlouise Younger as ‘Angelique’, both were out-of-this-world with their talent playing off each other and drawing the audience in to their funny, cheeky and provocative tell tales, both past and present. CLOC could not have possibly cast anyone better for these roles.

Will Woods as ‘Francois’ was excellent and Mak Russell Gill playing his secret love interest ‘May’ gave this pair some showstopping, heartfelt and breakwave moments addressing some critical issues you would never have seen in actual Romeo & Juliet times, but today such is the norm in relationships equality as it should be and these two sent that message loud and clear. Will and Mak can both be very proud of their ability to courageously give those characters their true voices.

‘William Shakespeare’ is played by Sam Anderson and how does one play ‘Shakespeare!’??? (what an honour) Sam nailed it – I loved his very convincing accent, rattling off his famous quotes and his to-and-fro comedy and love spats with Sharon Willis playing his wife ‘Anne’ with just as much fun and feeling. Both extraordinary vocalists, and both in their first CLOC show, they deserved the enthusiastic standing ovation singing together Can’t Stop the Feeling; ‘Dance Dance Dance’ as part of the finale – the audience were up bopping!

Cannot finish this review without mentioning the incredible costuming! It is with great imagination that one can take a tale from so long ago including their puffed sleeves, frilled collars, armour and petticoats and mix it up with hip hop vibes, detailed hair and make-up, bright sequins and modern fabrics to bring &Juliet to where it is today on a stage in 2025. Each cap, jacket, pants and top were carefully sparkled-up just right to make the stage light up without being over empowering to the characters wearing the crazy put together of wardrobe items. ps. Give me Juliet’s pink sparkly high heeled boots any day.

Ensemble were all top class throughout and we loved the in-character walk arounds as people were sitting in their seats prior to the start of the show – especially the ‘let’s do this’ huddle on stage before commencing (my daughter leaned in and advised me that’s usually done in most shows backstage, so that was lovely to see them share that moment on stage with us).

No wonder this show is selling well, we didn’t want to go at the end, we wanted to stay and see it again and I will be … already booked my tickets with a friend for final night… Woo Hoo!! I very rarely go and see shows twice.

Thank you so much to Director Kari McNamara, Choreographer Felicity Bender and Musical Director Dan Heskett for giving myself and my daughter one of the best nights out we’ve ever enjoyed together at any theatre. And if going by what the audience were saying after the show, I’m sure everyone there on opening night was in complete agreeance – this is a no brainer, GO SEE NOW!

CAST and CREATIVES too….thank you:

JULIET – Guada Banez
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE – Sam Anderson
ANNE – Sharon Wills
LANCE – Shaun Kingma
ANGELIQUE – Saralouise Younger
MAY – Mark Russell Gill
ROMEO – Tim Maguire
FRANCOIS – Will Woods

Featured Ensemble – Melanie Ott (Lady Capulet), Sujanthan Satkunarajah (Lord Capulet)
Ensemble – Cecilia Cao, Emily Kay, Charley Conway, Tiaana Quest, Sam Dyer, Kayt Trickey, Teresa Giansiracusa, David Vien, Colin Hartley, Ashley Wilsnach, Will Huang.

Orchestra – Dan Heskett, Amber Simm, Dave Banen, Shane Cole-Hayhow, Angus McKean, Angel Duan, Daisy Wong, Eugenie Lyons, Deb McLeod. Deps – Bryn Bowen, Adrian Close, Joyce Chahine, Peter Pham Nguyen.

Assistant Director: Bec Ginsberg
Stage Manager: Gemma Hedger
Technical Director: Grant Alley Oam
Set Designer: Mike Fletcher
Sound Designer: Marcello Lo Ricco
Lighting Designer: Andrei Chlebnikowski
Hair & Make-up: David Clausen-Wisken
Costume Designer / Co-ordinators: Victoria Horne, Melinda Peebles
Props Co-ordinator: Pam Christie Birkett

&Juliet music by Max Martin & Friends, Book by David West Read
Licensed exclusively by Music Theatre International (Australasia)

For more information to be involved in future CLOC Musical Theatre productions see: https://www.cloc.org.au/
Up next will be their May 2026 show: ‘THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME’ – auditions open soon.

Venue: The National Theatre in St Kilda is easy to get to by tram stopping straight outside the door but there is also plenty of parking around including paid parking at the Acland Court shopping centre just a short walk away which I use frequently.

To book tickets to & Juliet, please visit https://www.cloc.org.au/juliet.html.

Photographer: Ben Fon

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