What's in the name?
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will temporarily ditch the Supreme Court's black robes and drama to make his Broadway debut Saturday night in the musical “And Juliet,” a quirky reinterpretation of William Shakespeare's classic “Romeo and Juliet.” Indeed, he left his mark on history.
Jackson told senators during his 2022 confirmation that he could not define it. What is a woman because she is not a biologistplayed Queen Mab, described in the production poster as a “she” character, during a brief Broadway appearance on Saturday.
The 54-year-old Supreme Court justice had a one-time walk-on role in the sold-out musical, which premiered in 2019. The musical included two scenes created specifically to help him fulfill his lifelong dream of making it to Broadway.
“I also think it’s really important to remind people that judges are people too, that we have dreams, and that we are public servants,” Jackson reflected.CBS Morning'' he said before the performance.
“I think this moment really made me realize that anything is possible.”
“& Juliet” explores the world of “Romeo and Juliet” where Juliet did not commit suicide after discovering her doomed lover Romeo dead by suicide at the end of the tragic play.
From there, Juliette heads to Paris in search of love once again as a non-binary person, but later finds herself embroiled in a love triangle.
A video posted to the social media account Musical X showed Jackson on stage shouting “female empowerment”. “disease!”
The production team also released behind-the-scenes videos of Jackson crossing lines and practicing choreography.
“I did it! I got to go to Broadway,” Jackson exulted at the end.
While preparing for his Broadway debut, Jackson told CBS News“I really feel like I’m good at what I’m capable of.”
“I have always loved theater and have always felt very comfortable on stage,” she reflected. “I was always performing from an early age. I felt like theater people were my people.”
The liberal Supreme Court justice praised the play as a “great story about female empowerment and a woman's ability to do what she wants to do,” and said there was plenty of “fun” along the way.
Last Thursday, the high court concluded its final oral arguments of the year and will begin hearings again next month.
Jackson was a theater buff from an early age, taking drama classes with actor Matt Damon at Harvard University.
In her memoir Lovely One, which hit bookshelves earlier this year, Ms. Jackson writes that she enrolled at the Ivy League school to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming “the first black female judge on a Broadway stage.” I looked back on the process.
“As a Miami girl from a modest family and an unashamed theater lover, I dreamed of one day rising to the highest court in the land, and I said so in one of my supplemental application essays. ”, he writes in the book.
Ms. Jackson broke out into song several times while on tour to promote her book, and last fall she showed off her “unabashed love of theater” by belting out some lines from “Schoolhouse Rock” and other plays. showed.
Following his cameo appearance, Jackson interacted with some audience members.
Jackson was nominated by President Biden to replace former Justice Stephen Breyer and will be appointed to the high court in 2022. She is one of three liberal justices on the Superior Court.
