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About this event
Marking the film’s 30th anniversary, William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet Film in Concert brings its iconic imagery and defining 90s sound to European stages. Co-produced by GEA Live, Disney Concerts, and director Baz Luhrmann, this immersive live-to-film experience fuses cinema, theatre, rock, orchestra, and the movie’s original visuals. Following its world premiere on 29 September at the Sydney Opera House, the production arrives in Frankfurt. The film is shown in cinema scale with original dialogue, performed live in perfect sync by a twelve-piece ensemble of rock and orchestral musicians featuring vocals, synthesizers, and a DJ.
The soundtrack ranges from Des’ree’s love theme “Kissing You” to The Cardigans’ “Lovefool”, Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host”, and Garbage’s “#1 Crush”, alongside contributions from Everclear, Gavin Friday, One Inch Punch, Butthole Surfers, Kym Mazelle, Quindon Tarver & Libera, Mundy, Stina Nordenstam, and The Wannadies. Inspired by the Californian Verona Beach setting, the staging surrounds the audience with emblematic visuals: Montague and Capulet crests, candles, neon crosses, red drapes, flowers, and an altar-like DJ booth. William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet was released on 1 November 1996 as a contemporary reinterpretation of the 1596 stage classic, becoming a No. 1 success in the United States. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, the film shaped a pop-cultural understanding of Shakespeare’s tragedy for a new generation.
About William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet
A pop-cultural phenomenon on stage: William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet Film in Concert translates Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 statement piece into a timeless live format. The project interlocks the film’s iconic dialogue and imagery with a live sonic architecture of rock, orchestra, vocals, synthesizers, and DJ—meticulously synchronized to the narrative. Its musical signature is rooted in the defining 1990s soundtrack: alongside Des’ree’s “Kissing You”, key tracks include The Cardigans’ “Lovefool”, Radiohead’s “Talk Show Host”, and Garbage’s “#1 Crush”. Additional score by Nelle Hooper, Craig Armstrong, and Marius de Vries was released in 1997 as the second part of the official soundtrack.
Visually, the staging draws on the Californian Verona Beach: crests of the Montague and Capulet families, candles, neon crosses, red drapes, flowers, and an altar-like DJ booth frame the scene. The result is an immersive aesthetic that reframes Shakespeare’s classic for the present as a live experience.
Released in 1996 as a contemporary reimagining of the 1596 play, the film became a No. 1 success in the United States and earned multiple distinctions worldwide—including BAFTA accolades and an Academy Award nomination for Production Design. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as Romeo and Juliet, it remains a blueprint for merging classical storytelling with modern pop culture.
