Orlando Bloom To Star In Interracial Production of ‘Romeo & Juliet’

Orlando Bloom will make his Broadway debut this summer, starring opposite Tony-nominated actress Condola Rashad, in an interracial production William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

“There was nothing simple about that choice but I’m not about to turn a contemporary version of Shakespeare into a sociological or political point,” director David Leveaux told the New York Times of his decision to cast actors of different ethnicities. “We know there are families from one background or another who would reject their children getting together with someone from another group. Romeo and Juliet reject that notion. It is still the case that children try to oppose the cultural expectations thrust upon them, the rigidity of tribes, the rigidity of fundamentalism.”

The show will begin previews at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on August 24 with an official opening date of September 19.