Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler Announce Broadway Debut

Image Courtesy of @RomeoJulietNYC on Instagram

By Kristina Romano and Mariah Solis

Kit Conner and Rachel Zegler will both make their Broadway debut this fall in “Romeo + Juliet,” a modern musical adaptation of the Shakespearean classic. 

Although new to Broadway, many have seen Conner’s singing talent in Rocketman as a young Elton John. Most recently, he played Nick Nelson in Netflix’s Heartstopper, where he co-starred with recent Broadway breakout Joe Locke. 

Juliet will be played by Rachel Zegler, known for her role as Lucy Gray in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) as well as the leading character Maria in the movie musical West Side Story (2021). 

The music of the show will be written by Jack Antonoff, known for producing and writing music with Taylor Swift. Antonoff’s involvement hints towards a contemporary soundtrack that will resonate with modern audiences while keeping true to the plot’s classical themes. Sonoya Tayeh, who is especially known for her choreographing “Moulin Rouge,” lends her talents to the show as their movement coordinator. 

Tony Award winner Sam Gold is set to direct the musical and shared his vision for the production in a recent statement.

“With the presidential election coming up this November, I felt like making a show this fall that celebrates youth and hope, and unleashes the anger young people feel about the world they are inheriting,” said Gold. 

As of now, the musical’s marketing tagline is “The Youth Are F*cked,” which suggests a modern and edgy twist on the classic. 

Before the official announcement, both stars posted similar cryptic teasers on Instagram hinting at a potential collaboration, with Conner’s post including “R +” in the graphic and Zegler’s showing “+ J ” to symbolize the two characters. Additionally, both had “Vernona ” as the set location of the post and a heart and dagger emoji combination in the caption, however, they did not tag each other. 

With overlapping fanbases for the stars, many quickly connected the two posts and speculated its connection to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, although fans were conflicted on whether or not it would be a TV series, movie, or stage adaptation. This prompted several fans to share their theories on social media platforms. 

On April 16, the official Instagram page for the musical went live alongside the website. Shortly after, a shared post between Conner, Zegler, and @romeojulietnyc officially announced Kit Conner as Romeo and Rachel Zegler as Juliet. Moreover, it confirmed the show to be a Broadway production in New York City for a limited engagement starting fall of 2024. Tickets for this highly anticipated adaptation are set to go on sale this May.

For more information on this new “Romeo + Juliet production,” visit romeoandjulietnyc.com.