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Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor will soon debut as Broadway actors as the new production of William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet kicked off rehearsals. According to People, the cast and production team gathered in New York City on Monday, August 12, for a meet-and-greet and design presentation. Photos of the day show Zegler, 23, and Connor, 20, laughing with company members and the creative team.
Performances for Romeo + Juliet will start on Thursday, September 26, at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The show will run for 16 weeks.
Ahead of rehearsals, Zegler and Connor shared matching posts on Instagram. The location was tagged as Verona, the Italian city that hosts the story of Romeo and Juliet, and the caption read as a heart and a dagger emoji. Connor’s image read the letter ‘R’, while Zegler’s read the letter ‘J’. Fans were freaking out in the comments section. “WAIT.. THERES NO WAY.. YOU AND RACHEL??! I’m so cooked” wrote a viewer. “Suddenly my name is Juliet,” wrote a second person on Connor’s post.
“Rachel playing Juliet and Maria is so ridiculously iconic,” wrote a viewer on Zegler’s post, naming some of the iconic and historic roles that Zegler has played throughout her short but incredibly impactful career.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Diane Paulus, who’s worked on previous Broadway adaptations, would be directing a stage adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
Rachel Zegler's career
Rachel Zegler’s incredible talent has been recognized by Hollywood as a whole, with her working with some of the biggest names in the industry ever since her film debut in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” Over the past few years, she’s starred in the “The Hunger Games” franchise, the DC Universe, and soon, as the first live-action “Snow White.”
A still of the film was released, showing Rachel as Snow White surrounded by the seven dwarves. Zegler sports a black bob almost identical to the original Disney character. The film will be directed by Marc Webb, who’s previously directed The Amazing Spider-Man films and 500 Days of Summer. It stars Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, Ansu Sabia as the Hunter, and Andrew Burnap as an original character named Jonathan.
Per previous statements, the new version of the film will focus less on Snow White’s romance and more on Snow White and her relationship with the Dwarves, particularly when it comes to being a leader. Zegler is the first Latina to play Snow White, a decision that received some online criticism due to the changes in the source material.