romeo and juliet soundtrack assignment

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3 Aligned Song Pairings for an Innovative Romeo and Juliet Activity

How do YOU introduce students to Romeo and Juliet? Are you looking for an engaging Romeo and Juliet activity to start, center, and end your unit? 

If you are like me–tired of fighting the never-ending battle of AirPods in my students’ ears–then, I have advice for you. Stop fighting it, and embrace it. Incorporate activities where students have the chance to analyze music. 

Using music will boost student engagement AND give you a much-needed break from pleading, “Put away your headphones!” It will also help demystify Shakespearean language and the stigma that all of his works are difficult, boring, or irrelevant to our students’ worlds.

Use the 3 contemporary song pairings below to incorporate music when teaching Romeo and Juliet. Each diverse song is used as a Romeo and Juliet activity to start, center, and end your unit.

These song selections will diversify your Romeo and Juliet unit, as will these inclusive text pairings. You can find other great ideas for teaching Romeo and Juliet here !

Pre-Reading Romeo and Juliet Activity

“rewrite the stars” by zendaya and zac efron (4:05).

Use this popular song as an effective Romeo and Juliet activity for introducing the concept of forbidden love. Before I begin teaching Romeo and Juliet, my students play the Introduction to Shakespeare Escape Room to get the Shakespearean basics. Then, they are introduced–visually–to the Montague and Capulet households. 

We discuss the idea of family feuds by examining companies that are “both alike in dignity.” 

✨ Coca-Cola versus Pepsi

✨ Netflix versus Hulu 

✨ Taco Bell versus Del Taco

✨ Nikes versus Adidas

✨ Sephora versus Ulta

I even have students come up with “feuding” companies of their own to analyze (they have TOO much fun with that part).

We discuss how each company has… 

⭐ A shared purpose or objective yet they are considered competitors 

⭐ A loyal fan base who will only ever purchase from their preferred company 

To conclude, I ask students to analyze the effects of having two companies that are both alike in dignity. I ask them to consider the effects on… 

⭐ the employees, 

⭐ the consumers, 

⭐ and the business itself.

Then, when I introduce them to the feuding Montagues and Capulets, it clicks! They understand… 

⭐ What it means for both families to be alike in dignity

⭐ That this feud will negatively impact everyone involved

⭐ That each family has a loyal “fan base” even if the characters are not blood-related

All that is left is to introduce them to the concept of forbidden love!

Cue ✨Zendaya and Zac Efron.✨

The music video for “Rewrite the Stars” shows students the fear of forbidden love as Romeo and Juliet experience. Have students analyze the lyrics AND the body language, props, staging, etc. of Zendaya’s and Efron’s characters to understand the tension forbidden love creates. 

Use it as an additional opportunity to teach the importance of stage directions and movement in plays and movies! If your students are acting out Romeo and Juliet (10/10 recommend), then this will be doubly useful to your students. 

The Secondary English Coffee Shop has easy-to-implement ideas (and FREE SHAKESPEAREAN LANGUAGE BOOKMARKS ) for teaching any Shakespeare play!

Mid-Unit Romeo and Juliet Activity: Creative Writing

“nothing is lost (you give me strength)” by the weeknd (4:23)*.

Since reading Shakespeare can feel overwhelming, I find it valuable to pause mid-way through our reading and engage in some creative writing to SHAKE things up. Did you see what I did there with the pun?

As another Romeo and Juliet activity, use this diverse song selection to practice characterization and citing textual evidence! I use this song to model Romeo’s willingness to wage a familial feud just to be with Juliet. Students cite and compare evidence from the speaker of the song and Romeo. 

We focus our analysis on the diction and tone throughout the lyrics and how—together—they communicate a fierce, undeniable dedication to another. Then, students analyze excerpts where Romeo similarly confesses his dedication to Juliet.

I pair this practice with this ready-to-go resource that teaches students how to integrate and paraphrase quotes specifically for Romeo and Juliet . Bonus! It comes with bell ringers to use as a daily Romeo and Juliet activity. 

Then, I let the creative writing fun begin. I ask students to create either a chorus or a brief scene that declares their undying love for SOMETHING (not someone).

The objective of their writing is to characterize their speaker as someone who will do anything for this “something.” This has to be my FAVORITE part of this Romeo and Juliet activity.

I provide them with a funny, personal example of how I would stop at nothing for a bowl of ramen. Warning: prepare for a lot of dedications to Hot Cheetos. Who can blame them?  

*One nuance worth mentioning is that this song is a part of a movie soundtrack. Students may struggle to make the shift from the song’s original application. I find it important to preface this to students. In doing so, they are better able to assess its new potential meanings.

After-Reading Romeo and Juliet Activity

“the story” by conan gray (4:05).

Before I begin teaching Romeo and Juliet, I ask myself: what lessons can the story of Romeo and Juliet teach? I want this answer to always be relevant and tangible for my students.

From my teaching experience, students universally–and unfortunately–connect to the idea of opposing forces. Therefore, I use “The Story” as a means for students to analyze the theme of individual versus society.  

Students can go on a scavenger hunt to find all the various “us versus them” examples in the song. Then, students will compare these issues to that of Romeo and Juliet. 

I also have asked students to reflect on a time when they themselves felt an “other” was against them. In case students are stuck, I provide them with some generic examples: 

⭐ An adult implementing a rule they do not agree with but have to follow (i.e., a curfew, dress code, etc.)

⭐ Folks not accepting others for whom they love 

I use this as an opportunity to be vulnerable with my students about my coming out journey and being disowned by my family. If you are comfortable sharing a moment where you battled an “individual versus society” issue, I encourage you to be vulnerable with them as well.

This turns into a larger writing assessment, followed by students playing the Romeo and Juliet Review Escape Room . 

Final Thoughts

I feel it is important that we do everything we can to diversify any Shakespeare unit (whether that is by choice or a part of your curriculum). 

In doing so through music, students positively see themselves represented (unlike most LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities in Shakespeare’s works–if they exist at all). Students are also given the opportunity to make relevant connections to their world and the reading.

Make music the center of your entire Romeo and Juliet unit by reading it set to pop songs ! This resource adapts Romeo and Juliet through the use of pop songs. The adaptable unit takes one month to complete (shorter or longer if need be).

It is wonderful for engaging all students and‌ supporting struggling learners. 

You can also find even more creative teaching ideas for Romeo and Juliet over at The Secondary English Coffee Shop!

If you implement a suggested Romeo and Juliet activity for the beginning, middle, and/or end of your unit, please share your feedback, successes, and questions with me!

Further Reading...

Dystopian Literature Circles in Secondary ELA

10 Gifts for English Teachers

3 Powerful Songs for Women’s History Month

7 more ya fantasy book recommendations, guiding students to success in an inclusive short story unit for secondary ela.

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Soundtrack Project

I.1—“ghost in this house” by allison krauss.

Below is a sample of the song.

Additionally, a video on YouTube is available as are the lyrics to the song

Example Paragraph

Both Romeo and the speaker in the song attempt to shut out the pain by shutting themselves in their own homes. For example, in discussing the situation with Benvolio, Montague explains that

Away from the light steals home [Romeo, ]my heavy son, And private in his chamber pens himself, Shuts up his windows, locks far daylight out And makes himself an artificial night: (I.1.128-131)

Romeo’s heartbreak has caused him to retreat entirely from society. He is unable to deal with everyday life, and in doing so, shows himself something of a slave to love. Emotion rules Romeo, and he has become something like a ghost in his own house. Similarly, Allison Krauss’s words echo something that Montague is thinking, but they are more aptly from Romeo’s point of view. Like Romeo, Krauss sings of “keep[ing] the lights down.” They are so emotionally devastated that even the light hurts their hearts. Retreat is the only answer for both of them. Finally, both the song and the play use metaphors of smoke as well. Romeo speaks of his unrequited love for Rosaline: “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs; / Being purged, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes.” (I.1.187, 8) Krauss speaks of a similar feeling: “I’m just a whisper of smoke / I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire / That once burned out of control” In her case, the love was returned but eventually died out. For Romeo, however, there is only the longing.

Notes and Thoughts

Notice that this is a Schaffer model paragraph, but I am using very simple sentences to highlight that. Additionally, notice that one element of the Schaffer model is inadequate or even missing: which element is it?

I don’t pick up the mail I don’t pick up the phone I don’t answer the door I’d just as soon be alone I don’t keep this place up I just keep the lights down I don’t live in these rooms I just rattle around

I’m just a ghost in this house I’m just a shadow upon these walls As quietly as a mouse I haunt these halls I’m just a whisper of smoke I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire That once burned out of control You took my body and soul I’m just a ghost in this house

I don’t care if it rains I don’t care if it’s clear I don’t mind staying in There’s another ghost here He sits down in your chair And he shines with your light And he lays down his head On your pillow at night

I’m just a ghost in this house I’m just a shadow upon these walls I’m living proof of the damage Heartbreak does I’m just a whisper of smoke I’m all that’s left of two hearts on fire That once burned out of control And took my body and soul I’m just a ghost in this house Oh, I’m just a ghost in this house

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Six of the best: musical settings of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

We choose the best musical settings of Shakespeare's legendary play Romeo and Juliet

BBC Music Magazine

1. Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet music

While the ‘Dance of the Knights’ may be more widely known as the theme from The Apprentice these days, there’s significantly more to Prokofiev ’s 1936 Romeo and Juliet ballet than Alan Sugar. Romeo i Dzhuletta is a dramatic score that strips all sentimentality from Shakespeare’s tale of young love - odd for a piece that was originally intended to have a happy ending.

• Six of the best... British Television Theme Tunes

In the end, Prokofiev - with a small amount of guidance from Communist party officials - decided that such plot meddling was an insult to Shakespeare and stuck with the miserable ending instead.

Galina Ulanova and Yury Zhdanov in Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet

• Six of the best American ballets
• Six of the best productions of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde

2. Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet music

Hector Berlioz ’s Roméo et Juliette was completed in 1839. A combination of symphony and opera, the piece remains essentially symphonic in construction - the orchestra deals with the drama of the plot, while the vocal parts are used comparatively sparingly until the finale, when they come out in force.

Berlioz was first moved to compose the piece in 1827 after attending a performance of Garrick’s Romeo and Juliet in London. Juliet was played by the actress Harriet Smithson, with whom Berlioz (who spoke barely any English) fell instantly and deeply in love - a pair of star cross'd lover indeed. They married in 1833 (until Berlioz started an affair and the marriage broke up).

• The best film soundtracks: our top picks
• An introduction to Debussy's Pélleas et Mélisande

3. Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet music

The love theme from Tchaikovsky ’s Fantasy Overture is one of the most recognisable and often borrowed ever, featuring in everything from The Jazz Singer to SpongeBob SquarePants .

Yet the Romeo and Juliet work received a decidedly lukewarm reception when it first premiered in 1870. A Viennese performance of 1876 was actually hissed by the audience.

Ever passionate, Tchaikovsky reworked the overture three times. A third and final version dating from 1880 is the one that is used today.

• What are the best pieces by Saint-Saëns?
• The best recordings of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

4. Gounod's Romeo and Juliet music

Despite a few teething problems (difficulties in sourcing an appropriate Romeo, and the composer’s last-minute re-composition of the entire final act), Roméo et Juliette proved to be one of Gounod’s most successful operas.

The opera remains largely true to the plot of the original, apart from the final scene in the tomb: in Gounod’s version, the doomed couple share a moment of consciousness long enough for a final duet, before Romeo succumbs to his poison and Juliet stabs herself. Cheery stuff.

• The best recordings of Respighi's Pines of Rome
• The best living female conductors

5. Bernstein West Side Story music

Leonard Bernstein ’s West Side Story is one of the most well-known modern musical reworkings of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet .

Librettist Stephen Sondheim transposed the action to a poor neighbourhood of 1950s New York, with the Polish-American Jets (Montagues) pitted against the Puerto Rican Sharks (Capulets) in a gritty emulation of real-life gang violence.

Dancing aside, the production’s commitment to realism was admirable: in the original 1957 Broadway production, the performers playing Jets and Sharks were kept apart backstage so they’d have no chance to socialise.

• Six of the best operatic demises
• Six of the best opera baddies

6. Rota's Romeo and Juliet music

The soundtrack for Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet received nearly as much critical praise as the film itself, receiving nominations for BAFTA and Golden Globe awards in 1968-9.

Although it incorporates a number of musical forms - songs, anthems, dances, and even a piece for a strolling trombone player - the most well-known element is undoubtedly the Love Theme (AKA ‘What Is a Youth’, AKA ‘A Time For Us’, AKA ‘Ai Giochi Addio’).

It’s a tune that has been variously described by critics as ‘brilliant’, ‘moving’, and ‘lush’ - and by the BBC Music Magazine team as ‘heart-rending’, ‘poignant’ and ‘saccharine’. Love it or hate it - it’s one hell of an earworm.

Christina Kenny

• Classical music inspired by Shakespeare

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Shakespeare Soundtrack Project

In my last blog post  “Don’t Just Read Shakespeare, Perform It!” , I encouraged other teachers to have students perform Shakespeare’s plays instead of simply reading them. I want students to enjoy Shakespeare, but I also want them to think about why the situations, themes, and characters in his plays have remained popular for hundreds of years.

Since we perform the play in class, students don’t have reading for homework. Instead, they complete an ongoing Shakespeare Soundtrack Project. Each night they take the scenes we’ve performed in class and pair each scene with a song. They have to write a paragraph analyzing how the song fits the scene. I encourage them to think about the following questions:

• Is there a theme present in the song that is also developed in the scene?
• Does the song describe a person who reminds you of a character in the scene?
• Are the emotions in that particular song reminiscent of the emotional state of the characters in the scene?
• Does the song mirror the action in the scene?
• Does the pacing of the song match the pacing in the scene?

Students must include quotes from both the play and the song (if there are lyrics) to support their analysis of how the song fits the scene. Instead of collecting their soundtracks on paper, I use my Schoology site and students post their analytical paragraphs to a shared discussion thread. This makes the activity more social and exciting because they can read and comment on each other’s song choices.

Below is a screenshot of our soundtrack project for the Prologue in Romeo and Juliet .

Most students love music, which makes this project a fun challenge for them. I love that they are analyzing the play and supporting their statements with textual evidence. It’s a win-win!

Click here to view a Google document with a description of the project and some fun extra-credit ideas. If you have a Gmail address, simply log into your account then click “File” at the top of this document. Select “Make a copy” and it will automatically save in your Google Drive.

18 Responses

I love this!! I am adapting it to use with Macbeth this week. I had been searching for a way for the students to connect the play to their lives, and this is going to be great. Thank you!

I’m so glad you can use it! I hope it works well with your students 😉

I love this idea! As far as posting to forums, how do you decide between Collaborize Classroom, Schoology, etc.?

I used Collaborize Classroom for years and just switched over to Schoology this year. I am really enjoying Schoology’s discussion functionality, and it has all the features of a learning management system if that’s what you are looking for.

This is great. I’m going to use it with A Midsummer Night’s Dream .

Oh good! I’m glad you can use it!

I love what you are doing! I’m so inspired by your creativity! My mind is reeling now how I can bring music to my second grade students to discover the theme of a song. We do fairytales soon so I’m thinking Disney songs are a good avenue. Excited! Thanks for the inspiration!

You’re so welcome, Jen!

My son is in 1st grade and my daughter is in 3rd. They both love music. I can imagine your students would enjoy thinking about main idea/theme in relation to songs. That’s a great idea!

This is such a fantastic idea! I’m a student teacher right now and will be teaching a 9th grade class in the spring. This would be a wonderful way to engage them with R&J by making the themes of the play relevant to their world. Thank you so much for all of your wonderfully creative ideas. Whenever I get stressed or overwhelmed with student teaching (which honestly is quite often), I scroll through your blog and the wealth of engaging and fun student-centered lessons/activities calms my nerves and helps me see ways that I can reach these kids and help them be successful. Will be purchasing your books soon!

Thank you for the wonderful comment. I’m so glad my blog has given you some ideas you can use and helped you manage the intensity of being a new teacher (or soon-to-be teacher). Starting out in this profession is hard. Those first few years are a bit of a blur and often new teachers are scrambling for ideas. If my blog and book can help you navigate that, I’m thrilled.

[…] their heads. I’ve tried a variety of techniques to hook my students from having them complete soundtrack projects for the plays to performing the scenes in class. These have helped to engage my students, but I […]

[…] with a discussion function like Schoology. For ELA teachers, I also really like Tucker’s Shakespeare Soundtrack Project, where students use the Schoology discussion board to create a soundtrack for the play and can […]

Terrific idea! My team used to do something similar with Farenheit 451. Didn’t think of pairing it with Romeo and Juliet, but it is perfect. Thanks for sharing!

Caitlin –

Do you also have a rubric for this assignment?

Thanks -Nancy

I assess them on two skills (1-4 scale): 1) Cites strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis and 2) examines complex ideas clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Hello Catlin,

I’m about 3 yrs late to this blog. I’m wondering if you’d be willing to share your pacing guide for R&J to help me with my own pacing for Macbeth (I’m teaching it for the first time this year). I love the ideas of having the students perform the play and create a soundtrack, but I definitely can’t see the bigger picture here regarding time.

Thanks for your inspiration,

Kevin Feramisco (@theteachingjedi)

My Shakespeare unit spans one grading period (6 weeks). I break students into acting troupes for each act and give each troupe a scene or part of a scene (if it is long). We spend one period that week reading, rehearsing, blocking. Then we spend the rest of the week performing and discussing the scenes.

My Shakespeare is an awesome resource for students to use as they read their scenes in preparation for their performances so they understand what they are reading.

Then they are responsible for creating a soundtrack for ONE of the scenes we covered that day. They select a song and analyze how it fits the scene and post their selections to our Schoology discussion space. I used to have them choose a song for every scene, but we sometimes get through 2-3 short scenes in a period which was too much.

I don’t have a rigid pacing guide since there are weeks when we get through more. I try to be flexible as we move through the text.

I hope that helps! Catlin

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Romeo and Juliet - Entire Play

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Last updated: Fri, Jul 31, 2015

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The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters “star-crossed lovers”—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.

Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when Romeo and his friends attend a party at Juliet’s house in disguise—the two fall in love and quickly decide that they want to be married.

A friar secretly marries them, hoping to end the feud. Romeo and his companions almost immediately encounter Juliet’s cousin Tybalt, who challenges Romeo. When Romeo refuses to fight, Romeo’s friend Mercutio accepts the challenge and is killed. Romeo then kills Tybalt and is banished. He spends that night with Juliet and then leaves for Mantua.

Juliet’s father forces her into a marriage with Count Paris. To avoid this marriage, Juliet takes a potion, given her by the friar, that makes her appear dead. The friar will send Romeo word to be at her family tomb when she awakes. The plan goes awry, and Romeo learns instead that she is dead. In the tomb, Romeo kills himself. Juliet wakes, sees his body, and commits suicide. Their deaths appear finally to end the feud.

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ROMEO & JULIET Comes to Actors' Shakespeare Project in May

Performances run May 10 - June 2, 2024 at the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion.

Actors’ Shakespeare Project has announced the final title in its 2023-24 Season, Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Directed by Marianna Bassham and presented in the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, Romeo & Juliet marks ASP’s first production of the Bard’s most well-known tragedy in over a decade.

Shakespeare’s most famous duo return in a flurry of forbidden love, exhilarating fight scenes, and (spoiler alert) tragic fate. Brought to life by ASP Resident Artist Marianna Bassham ’s expert direction, this dynamic and vivid take on Romeo & Juliet will thrill even those who fell asleep reading it in Sophomore English class. 

ASP has been working with Boston-area youth and teachers during this production to explore the themes of youth violence and alienation in the play, and how they can still ring true in 2024.

“The joy of Romeo and Juliet is knowing that every single audience member who enters the theatre will have some level of familiarity with the characters and the story,” said ASP Artistic Director Christopher V. Edwards. “We’re really looking forward to bringing this production to life in a way that honors this play’s long and rich history, while refreshing some of the well-trodden passages and assumptions many productions can fall into.”

Romeo & Juliet stars Evan Taylor and Chloe McFarlane as the titular star-crossed lovers, as well as Artistic Director Christopher V. Edwards making his ASP acting debut as Lord Capulet.

ASP Resident Artist Company members Esme Allen, Jesse Hinson, and Paula Plum are also featured, with Fernando Barbosa, Michael Broadhurst , Peter DiMaggio, Sandra Seoane-Serí, Jules Talbot, and Nicolas Zuluaga rounding out the cast.

The design team will feature Saskia Martínez (scenic/props), Lisa Coleman (costumes), Deb Sullivan (lighting), Abe Joyner-Meyers (sound), and Olivia Dumaine (intimacy). Lisette van den Boogaard is Production Stage Manager, and Jolie Frazer-Madge is Assistant Stage Manager.

Romeo & Juliet will run for four weeks, from May 10 - June 2, 2024 at the Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02116).

Tickets are $59.50, with limited seating starting at $20. Student tickets are $25, available for any patron ages 25 and under. For more information, visit www.ActorsShakespeareProject.org .  

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Guest Essay

What Began as a War on Theater Won’t End There

By James Shapiro

Mr. Shapiro is the author of the forthcoming “The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War.”

Productions of plays in America’s high schools have been increasingly under attack. In 2023, Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” was rejected in Tennessee (since it deals with adultery); “August: Osage County,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Tracy Letts, was canceled in Iowa after rehearsals had begun (the community was deemed not ready for it); and in Kansas, students were not even allowed to study, let alone stage, “The Laramie Project ,” a play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard.

It should come as no surprise, then, that in the Educational Theater Association’s most recent survey, 85 percent of American theater teachers expressed concern about censorship . Even Shakespeare is at risk: In Florida, new laws led to the restriction of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to grades 10 through 12 and “Romeo and Juliet” could not be taught in full to avoid falling afoul of legislation targeting “sexual conduct.” Kill off young people’s exposure to theater, and you kill off a generation of playgoers, along with the empathy and camaraderie (already in short supply) that are intrinsic to theater. According to the latest report from the National Endowment for the Arts , from 2017 to 2022 the percentage of Americans who went even once a year to see a nonmusical play dropped by roughly half, from about 10 percent to less than 5 percent.

What begins as a war on theater never ends there.

The current attacks on theater in American schools have their origins in a struggle that took place in the late 1930s, when America’s political leadership believed that the arts, no less than industry and agriculture, were vital to the health of the Republic and deserving of its financial support. There was still an implicit understanding that theater and democracy — twinborn in ancient Greece, spheres where competing visions of society could be aired and debated — were mutually dependent. Funded by Congress as part of a Works Progress Administration relief bill and established in 1935, the Federal Theater Project by 1939 had staged over 1,000 productions in 29 states, seen free or for a pittance by 30 million spectators, or roughly one in four Americans, two-thirds of whom had never seen a play before.

It brought children’s plays on touring trucks to kids in crowded cities. It staged works in Spanish, Yiddish and Italian to reach immigrants. It established what it called Negro units from Hartford, Conn., to Seattle to support Black actors and playwrights. It staged Christmas plays and classics by Shakespeare and Euripides and nurtured young playwrights and directors, including Arthur Miller and Orson Welles. It brought free theater to asylums, orphanages, hospitals, prisons and veterans’ homes. It revived playgoing in rural states where the movies had all but ended it. Ten million listeners a week tuned in to its radio broadcasts. It established ties with hundreds of educational, fraternal, civic and religious groups, strengthening communal bonds.

It turned out that Americans were hungry for plays about issues that mattered to their lives, topics largely shunned by Hollywood and the commercial stage. So they flocked to see new plays about substandard housing and the plight of struggling farmers. One of the most remarkable Federal Theater ventures was a stage version of Sinclair Lewis’s novel “It Can’t Happen Here ,” in which a fascist is elected president of the United States. It opened on the same day, Oct. 27, 1936, in 18 cities across the country, and by the time it closed, more than 379,000 Americans had seen it. The cost of these thousand or so productions to taxpayers was roughly the price of building a single battleship.

The program’s popularity contributed to its undoing. Many of those in Congress who had voted to fund the Federal Theater became frightened by its reach and impact, its interracial casting, its challenge to the status quo — frightened, too, perhaps, by the prospect of Americans across racial, economic and political divides sitting cheek by jowl in packed playhouses.

Three years after the creation of the Federal Theater, Congress authorized the establishment of what would become the House Un-American Activities Committee, chaired by Martin Dies of Texas. It was to supposed to spend seven months investigating the rise of Nazism, fascism and communism in America and submit a report. The ambitious Mr. Dies, desperate to have his committee’s life extended, instead focused much of his attention on a more vulnerable target: the Federal Theater, accusing it of disseminating offensive and communistic and therefore un-American values. In the course of waging and winning this battle, he assembled a right-wing playbook so pervasive that it now seems timeless. He succeeded wildly: All Federal Theater productions were abruptly terminated in 1939, and the House Un-American Activities Committee lasted until 1975. With a nascent national theater now destroyed, targeting theater in schools was the inevitable next step for his successors, who — whether cynical politicians or school board members eager to police what offends their sensibilities — have all stolen a page from the Dies playbook.

It’s hard to imagine what America would be like today had support for the Federal Theater continued and Mr. Dies’s committee not been renewed. Counterfactual history is best left to novelists. But a more vibrant theatrical culture extending across the land might well have led to a more informed citizenry and, by extension, a less divided and more equitable and resilient democracy. What happened instead was that Mr. Dies begat Joseph McCarthy, who begat Roy Cohn, who begat Donald Trump.

Some of those familiar with this history haven’t given up. Right now, artists are preparing projects that on July 27 will open simultaneously in 18 U.S. cities and towns, much as “It Can’t Happen Here” did in 1936 . Under the rubric of Arts for EveryBody, the initiative is bringing together performers, audiences, community leaders and local officials. It is a small start and a promising one. So, too, is legislation coming before Congress, the STAGE Act of 2024, that would provide badly needed support for endangered nonprofit theaters across the land. Passing it should be a no-brainer, but there’s a likelihood that the Dies playbook will be used to defeat it. Until those in power in this country pivot from suppressing theater to investing in it, it’s not just the arts but also democracy itself that remains vulnerable.

James Shapiro teaches English at Columbia University and is the author of the forthcoming “ The Playbook: A Story of Theater, Democracy, and the Making of a Culture War .”

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Rachel Zegler to Make Broadway Debut in 'Romeo + Juliet' -- See the Tweet Manifesting This 6 Years Ago

Rachel Zegler is making her Broadway dreams come true! On Tuesday, it was announced that the West Side Story star and  Heartstopper 's Kit Connor will make their Broadway debuts in a modern adaptation of Shakespeare's classic  Romeo and Juliet . 

A press release for the production offers this official logline: "The youth are f**ked. Left to their own devices in their parents' world of violent ends, an impulsive pair of star-crossed lovers hurtle towards their inescapable fate. The intoxicating high of passion quickly descends into a brutal chaos that can only end one way."

Produced on Broadway by Seaview and stylized as  ROMEO + JULIET , the upcoming Broadway production will be directed by Tony Award winner Sam Gold with music by GRAMMY Award winner Jack Antonoff and choreography by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh.

"With the presidential election coming up in 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," Gold said in a statement alongside the press release. 

Zegler celebrated the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a post she wrote in 2016 that manifested her eventual Broadway debut.

"ok but when can i be on broadway," the post from 2016 reads. Zegler reposted the tweet, responding with several crying emojis. 

"never beating the broadway debut allegations," she wrote in another post on X. 

Tickets for ROMEO + JULIET are slated to go on sale next month. More information including theater, dates, design team and additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Zegler has another highly anticipated project fans are eager to get more information on. Disney fans got their first peek at the  Hunger Games  star in the upcoming live-action  Snow White  adaptation last October, with the news that the film has been pushed back from its planned March 2024 release date to March 21, 2025.

Zegler was  spotted on the  Snow White  set  in May 2022, wearing the OG Disney princess' iconic outfit -- and looking almost perfectly accurate to the beloved 1937 animated original.

The first official look at the film, which also stars  Gal Gadot  as the Evil Queen, features Zegler in the classic Snow White look, with an above-the-shoulder bob, curled just slightly, in a yellow skirt and blue top, with red-and-white details on the sleeves and chest.

The upcoming adaptation is directed by  Amazing Spider-Man  and  (500) Days of Summer  director Marc Webb, with a script by  Greta Gerwig  and Erin Cressida Wilson. Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who previously wrote the lyrics for two new songs for Disney's 2019 remake of  Aladdin , also wrote new songs for the film.

Gadot  shared her excitement  about taking on the role of the Evil Queen in the upcoming adaptation of the classic fairy tale with ET at the premiere of her 2021 Netflix movie,  Red Notice .

"I'm excited about the fact that this is, like, an iconic character. I'm excited to create an iconic villain character in my own voice," Gadot raved. "I'm very, very, very excited and looking forward to playing the Evil Queen...Mirror, mirror on the wall. Can't wait!"

However, not everyone is as thrilled with the upcoming film.  Peter Dinklage  didn't mince words when he  spoke out against the upcoming film  during an interview on  Marc Maron 's  WTF  podcast , in January 2022.

"I was a little taken aback when they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White," said the actor, who has a form of dwarfism. "You're still telling the story of  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . Take a step back and look at what you're doing here. It makes no sense to me. You're progressive in one way and you're still making that f**king backwards story about seven dwarfs living in a cave together, what the f**k are you doing, man?"

A spokesperson for Disney  told ET in a statement at the time  that "to avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters and have been consulting with members of the dwarfism community." The spokesperson added they were looking forward to "sharing more as the film heads into production after a lengthy development period."

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Maya Boyd Taking Over ‘& Juliet’ Title Role on Broadway — Just as Soon as She Graduates College (EXCLUSIVE)

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Maya Boyd will take over the title role in Broadway ‘s “& Juliet.”

She joins the cast directly from the company of “Merrily We Roll Along,” where she made her Broadway debut earlier this year while simultaneously completing her senior year at the University of Michigan. But there’s something Boyd has to take care of before she assumes the lead in the new show. She’ll take a break from rehearsals to return to Ann Arbor, Mich. to graduate from college.

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“& Juliet” imagines what would happen next if Juliet hadn’t ended it all over Romeo, and instead got a second chance at life and love. Nominated for nine Tony Awards including best musical, the production features a playlist of pop music’s hitmaker, Max Martin, including “Since U Been Gone,” “Roar,” “I Want It That Way,” “Confident” and more.

The full creative team for the Broadway production   includes David West Read (book), Max Martin & Friends (music and lyrics), Luke Sheppard (direction), Jennifer Weber (dhoreography), Bill Sherman (musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements), Soutra Gilmour (scenic design), Paloma Young (costume design), Howard Hudson (lighting design), Gareth Owen (sound design), Andrzej Goulding (video and projection design), J. Jared Janas (hair, wig and makeup design), Dominic Fallacaro (orchestrations) and Haley Bennett (music director).

U.S. casting is by Stephen Kopel and Carrie Gardner, CSA. The show was produced on Broadway by Martin, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Jenny Petersson, Martin Dodd and Eva Price.

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