TikTok sensation Charli D'Amelio made her Broadway debut in the ensemble role of Charmion in the hit jukebox musical & Juliet October 29. While D'Amelio jumped into the national spotlight due to her social media presence, she arrived on Broadway with a competition dance background to back her up—watch D'Amelio's interview with Playbill in the video above. 

D'Amelio started dancing when she was three years old, and she says the art form was especially close to her heart. "I always loved performing, and dancing was very special to me in a way that it wasn't just doing the dances, it was important to me as a person," she shares. "I always used dance as more communication than art sometimes, when I wanted to talk and I didn't know how. I just always have held dance so close to my heart, so being a part of this show and getting to showcase the dancing that I just love doing is so special to me." 

Broadway isn't the only place D'Amelio has showcased her skills—the 20-year-old won the 31st season of Dancing with the Stars in 2022 alongside Mark Ballas. Even with her success in the dance world and on social media, D'Amelio says this venture was unexpected. 

"When it comes to Broadway, I always looked at it as this thing that was so far away, and unachievable," D'Amelio confesses. "The fact that I'm here now, getting to be a part of not only Broadway, but such an amazing show where I really have felt at home with the entire cast and crew, I never imagined that I would be here...Now that I'm in it, I couldn't imagine it any other way." 

& Juliet welcomed several more new cast members to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre along with D'Amelio, including Alison Luff (The Who’s Tommy, Waitress) as Anne, Liam Pearce (How to Dance in Ohio, Empire Records) as Romeo, Gabe Amato as Gregory, Reese Britts as Sly, Nicholas Cooper as Lenox, Jhailyn Paige Farcon as Imogen, Elsa Keefe as Eleanor/Benvolio, Alejandro MullerDahlberg as Crosse, Cassie Silva as Lucy, and Darien “Daah” Van Rensalier as Augustine. Ensemble member Michael Iván Carrier also stepped into the role of May, while Nathan Levy (Aladdin, Dear Evan Hansen) will join the cast as François beginning November 19.

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Current cast members also include Maya Boyd (as Juliet), Tony Award winner Paulo Szot (as Lance), Drew Gehling (as Shakespeare), Romy Vuksan (as Viola), and Tony nominee Jeannette Bayardelle (as Angélique), along with Daniel Assetta, Makai Hernandez, Najah Hetsberger, Joomin Hwang, Khailah Johnson, Alaina Ví Maderal, Daniel J. Maldonado, and Ava Noble.

& Juliet, nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, flips the script on the William Shakespeare classic, imagining what would happen next if Juliet hadn’t ended it all over Romeo. Featuring a book by David West Read, the score includes a mix of tunes by Max Martin and more, including “Since U Been Gone,” “Roar,” “I Want It That Way,” and “Confident.”

The production also has direction by Luke Sheppard, choreography by Jennifer Weber, musical supervision, orchestrations, and arrangements by Bill Sherman, scenic design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Paloma Young, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Gareth Owen, video projection design by Andrzej Goulding, hair, wig, and makeup design by J. Jared Janas, and musical direction and additional orchestrations by Dominic Fallacaro.

U.S. casting is by Stephen Kopel and Carrie Gardner.

The international hit musical, which opened at the Sondheim November 17, 2022, was the first new musical of the 2022–2023 Broadway season to announce its recoupment.