Everyone is going wild for these photos of Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo + Juliet will run from October 24 to February 16. (Getty)
Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler have made their Broadway debuts, in the latest revival of Romeo and Juliet, and you can see exclusive pics of their first performance below.
The show features Hearstopper star Conner and West Side Story‘s Zegler as the tragic lovers in the Shakespearean play that’s been given a modern twist by Tony-Award-winner Sam Gold.
The synopsis of the revival reads: “The youth are f***ed. Left to their own devices in their parents’ world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into brutal chaos that can only end one way.”
The original score was written by frequent Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff, and Gold has made sure the script is relevant to a modern audience just weeks away from the presidential election, by focusing on the themes of division and ideology.
Zegler previously told Vanity Fair that the play is all about “generational trauma” and that “there’s a deep importance to understand the world we are leaving behind for the next generation”.
She went on to say: “As someone who used to be the next generation and is now the generation, I cannot emphasise enough, as an American citizen, the importance of exercising your right to vote.”
Gold set up partnerships to encourage voter registration in the lead-up to the show.
Connor agreed, saying: “This production is exploring lots of things about what it is to be a young person today, like violence and sex, societal pressures and all that fun stuff.”
Although Connor is British, he helped with the registration drives, believing he had to do his “duty”.
He is best-known for playing Heartstopper‘s Nick Nelson, a bisexual boy who dating fellow grammar-school student Charlie Spring (Joe Locke). Connor is also bisexual.
Zegler made her mark as Maria in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, alongside Ansel Elgort, and has also starred in Shazam Fury of the Gods and Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She is due to appear as Snow White next year, in Disney’s live-action reboot.
With previews of Romeo and Juliet having started on Thursday (26 September), photos from the show have now been released, offering fans a glimpse of how the doomed lovers look. A trailer for the highly anticipated show has also been released.
Romeo + Juliet is due to open at The Circle in the Square theatre on 24 October and run until 16 February.
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