Charli D’Amelio and Broadway: Disaster or Earned?

Whenever I buy Broadway tickets, I always look at the cast before I go. Normally, I wouldn’t know many of the names of those performing with the exception of a few big Broadway stars — like when I saw Ben Platt in Parade (my friend won a contest and I saw him for $40) or when I saw Jordan Fisher in Hadestown (my favorite Broadway musical to this day). Still, I don’t go to Broadway for the celebrities, but to watch a show with a hardworking and passionate cast. So you can imagine my slight discomfort and shock when I heard that TikTok star Charli D’Amelio was joining the cast of & Juliet on Broadway. 

For those of you who have not heard of this musical, & Juliet is a continuation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet except that Juliet doesn’t die in the end; instead, she wakes up and continues living her life. The show capitalizes on Juliet making her own decisions while using popular songs like “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson and “I Want It That Way” by NSYNC.