Munich audiences welcome playful Romeo and Juliet musical

Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer’s light-hearted musical version of Romeo and Juliet won over audiences at its Munich premiere, BR’s Peter Jungblut reports. The touring production, Romeo & Julia – Liebe ist alles, brings a pop-infused, upbeat tone to Shakespeare’s tragedy at the Deutsches Theater München, a theatre in Munich.

The show, which premiered in Berlin in March 2023, keeps the story’s tragic outcome but puts less emphasis on drama than on young people falling in love, fighting and partying. Its songs aim for singalong energy, and the audience appeared in high spirits despite the lovers handling poison and a knife at the start.

Jungblut writes that the approach may surprise people who know the story chiefly as a tragedy. The cast wears Renaissance-inspired outfits, while the production focuses on the characters’ youthful emotions and conflicts with the adult world.

The musical’s emotional rock rhythms and earnest lyrics do not always sit comfortably together, the review says. Mats Visser as Romeo and Laura Schatz as Julia seem hesitant in their first encounter, and Jonathan Huor’s choreography can feel wooden. The balcony scene, meanwhile, leans towards slapstick.

Still, Jungblut describes the interpretation as refreshingly carefree and closer to the mood of today’s young audiences than more conventional classic productions. The musical continues at the Deutsches Theater München until November 22, 2026, before moving to other stops including Zurich, Frankfurt and Duisburg.