Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song

This musical retooling of the ill-fated love story began life as a concept album by ex Screaming Meemee members Peter van der Fluit and Michael McNeill. In 2010 they sent 38 songs to director Tim van Dammen, who decided to retell Shakespeare's classic romance as "a sort of trash opera — like an updated John Waters type thing". A caravan park is the canvas for a cast of beautiful young things, pop, rap, knives and beer crates. NZ Herald's Dominic Corry praised the film for its "emotionally-assured grasp of what makes this famous story so enduring".

This is not a conventional musical with a cast breaking into hummable choruses when the text fails. It's an opera using hip hop, rock, pop, ballad and gospel styles to seamlessly tell one of the greatest stories.

– Composers Peter van der Fluit and Michael McNeill

Key Cast & Crew

Peter van der Fluit

Producer, Composer, Writer

Tim van Dammen

Director, Producer, Writer

Michael O'Neill

Producer, Composer, Writer

Alistair Carruthers

Producer

William Shakespeare

Writer

Dallas Barnett

As: Montegue