Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television judge. After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager.
Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson under her birth name in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations and she subsequently began working with producers Glen Ballard, Dr. Luke, and Max Martin.
After adopting the stage name Katy Perry and being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, she signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981), occasionally known by his initials JT, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer.
Raised in Tennessee, he appeared on the television shows Star Search and The All-New Mickey Mouse Club as a child. In the late 1990s, Timberlake rose to prominence as one of the two lead vocalists and youngest member of NSYNC, which eventually became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Timberlake began to adopt a more mature image as an artist with the release of his debut solo album, the R&B-focused Justified (2002), which yielded the successful singles "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body", and earned his first two Grammy Awards.
‘& Juliet’ Broadway Review: Hit-Maker Max Martin’s Jukebox Musical Roars For The Balcony
deadline.comWhat if Juliet had lived? What if she had not given her 14-year-old life for a wild boy she barely knew? What if she had not let brash youthful narcissism deformed by the patriarchy and male violence overtake her better judgement and lived a full, happy, maybe even quiet life well into whatever passed for adulthood in 14th Century Verona.
Directed by Luke Sheppard and choreographed by Jennifer Weber, & Juliet, the new jukebox musical of songs written by super-producer Max Martin (“and friends,” as the credits read), with a book by Schitt’s Creek writer David West Read, posits an answer to all those questions, though “quiet” never quite enters the equation.
No, had Juliet lived, this musical, opening tonight on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, suggests she and her pals would spend a great deal of their time belting ballads of empowerment and lecturing all within earshot about pride, identity and other important takeaways of the 21st Century.
Perhaps, we’re left thinking, these kids really do have a future – maybe they’ll grow up and be in the much better Six. It’s not that & Juliet is unenjoyable – it isn’t.
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