*NSYNC's Joey Fatone to Sing Backstreet Boys as Lance in & Juliet on Broadway

Joey Fatone, a Broadway veteran with boy-band credentials, will join the cast of & Juliet on Broadway. He will take on the role of Lance from January 21, 2025 through March 16 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. He takes over from Tony winner Paulo Szot, who took a leave from the show earlier this year and returned to the company on July 16.

“I’m excited that I’ll be joining the cast of & Juliet!” Fatone said. “I can’t wait to get out there and sing Max Martin’s amazing songs—his hits have shaped so much of pop music. And yes, I know I’ll even be singing a couple of Backstreet Boys songs. Even though my loyalty remains with NSYNC, they still have bangers. See you at the show!”

Fatone is best known as the baritone of the best-selling '90s boy band *NSYNC, whose gold record "It's Gonna Be Me" is featured in the score of & Juliet (though as Lance, Fatone will have to dwell among his historic rivals to perform the Backstreet Boys number "Shape of My Heart"). 

He made his Broadway debut in 2002 as Mark Cohen in the original Broadway production of Rent and returned to the stage in 2004 as Seymour in Jerry Zaks' Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors. On screen, he played Cousin Angelo in the hit 2002 film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, as well as its 2016 and 2023 sequels, and has hosted a number of TV shows including Food Network's Rewrapped,  NBC's The Singing Bee and Game Show Network's Common Knowledge, among others. 

The current cast of & Juliet features Maya Boyd as Juliet, Alison Luff as Anne Hathaway, Drew Gehling as Shakespeare, Michael Iván Carrier as May, Szot as Lance, Jeannette Bayardelle as Angélique and Liam Pearce as Romeo. Nathan Levy will join the company as François on November 19.

Featuring a score of pop hits by Grammy-winning songwriter and producer Max Martin, & Juliet reimagines Shakespeare's classic play if its title heroine had lived. The nine-time Tony-nominated production has a book by David West Read, direction by Luke Sheppard and choreography by Jennifer Weber.