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Wild Hearts and Puppet Smarts: “Romeo & Zooliet” at the Saint Louis Zoo
by CB Adams
For decades, adults have tried—sometimes with desperate cheer—to make children fall in love with broccoli, Bach and blank verse. The results have been uneven. The arts, especially classical theater, are often introduced to kids with the same tone as that vintage Life cereal commercial: “Give it to Mikey. He hates everything.” Sometimes, parents hope to plant the classics like a hopeful seed, gently lulling children to sleep with Mozart for Children or bedtime stories of Shakespeare’s tales. So when something lands—when the kids lean in, laugh and ask questions—it feels less like a fluke and more like a small cultural breakthrough.
That marvel is precisely what’s unfolding at the Saint Louis Zoo this summer, where “Romeo & Zooliet,” a collaboration between the Saint Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, delivers a wild, winsome and wickedly smart retelling of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” This is not a dutiful educational staging or a cringy “youth theater” pastiche. It’s theater that earns its giggles and gasps on merit, not condescension, while also being the first-ever collaboration between the Zoo and a theater company.
The script, adapted by Jennifer Joan Thompson from Ian Lendler’s graphic novel, reimagines Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy through the charming and imaginative lens of the animals of the Saint Louis Zoo. The heart of the story—a forbidden bond crossing a bitter divide—remains intact but is translated into a yearning for friendship between Romeo, a cautious prairie dog from the peaceable herbivore Montague clan, and Juliet, a strong yet tender grizzly bear representing the proud carnivore Capulet family.
Thompson’s adaptation and Tom Ridgeley’s deft direction preserves Shakespeare’s trademark wit and dramatic tension while layering in playful animal puns and clever twists that invite laughter and engagement from all ages. Without such a well-crafted script, the production would lack its generation-spanning success; it effortlessly balances kid-friendly jokes, zoo humor and inside nods to Shakespeare aficionados. Notably, the tragic ending is softened for family audiences: instead of the fatal poison, Juliet enters hibernation, a gentle metaphor that maintains emotional resonance without heartbreak.
Though set within the Saint Louis Zoo, “Romeo & Zooliet” isn’t a promenade or walking production. Instead, the audience is seated on the historic outdoor hillside and the action unfolds on a central, thoughtfully designed stage area—framed by the Zoo’s natural surroundings. This setting does more than provide atmosphere; it reinforces the play’s animal allegiances and habitat-driven humor. But the real magic resides in the cast, who animate Michael Curry Design’s dazzling life-sized puppets—the same creative team behind Broadway’s “The Lion King”—with a fusion of technical precision and expressive vitality, allowing the creatures to fully inhabit both Shakespeare’s text and the zoological conceit.
The Montagues, reimagined as peace-loving herbivores and the Capulets, reworked as proud carnivores, set up a conflict that’s as comical as it is clever. Ricki Franklin’s Juliet, portrayed as a grizzly bear and Romeo’s best friend forever, brings warmth and loyalty to the role—sharing her most cherished toy with her prairie dog companion and embodying a bond as tender as it is steadfast. As Juliet says in the original play, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” Franklin’s performance captures the essence of friendship and love transcending all boundaries. Franklin and Jordan Moore as the titular herbivore-and-carnivore couple bring sweetness and emotional presence to their roles.
Their Romeo and Juliet are less tragic than endearingly awkward, their romance punctuated by adolescent optimism. Moore, in particular, is a comic revelation. His exaggerated physical meltdown upon learning he’s been “trans-fer-ed” to the Schenectady Zoo becomes a high point of the evening—an absurdist bit that builds hilarity with each roll across the stage, sending the audience into waves of laughter.
Jacob Schmidt turns in a show-stealing double performance as Mercutio the red panda and Friar John the lumbering tortoise. As Mercutio, he’s brash and full of flair; as the plodding turtle, he mines a deceptively simple gag for all it’s worth. The audience chuckles the first time Friar John inches across the stage—and then laughs harder each subsequent appearance. It’s timing, commitment and visual comedy working in perfect sync.
Other performances are equally strong. Olivia Scicolone, as Juliet’s nurse, deftly operates a hippo puppet with warmth and grounded humor. Ryan Omar Stack, tripling as the Prince, Paris and an oversized alligator, strikes a commanding presence. Jeff Cummings’ Friar Lawrence delivers both clarity and gravitas. Rae Davis imbues Tybalt, the loyal tiger cousin, with taut energy and force, and also plays an eagle and Peter And as Lady Capulet, Nisi Sturgis channels the fierce protectiveness of a lioness, stalking and shielding her daughter with maternal power that is part Cruella De Vil and part Aurora Greenway (“Terms of Endearment”).
The supporting puffins and penguins, played by Bryce Cleveland, Rian Amirikal Page, Genevieve Mazzoni and Sophia Stogsdill, offer scene-setting commentary from their on-stage “box seats.” Their playful asides and feathered commentary add lighthearted, meta-theatrical flair—part Greek chorus, part kid-friendly Statler and Waldorf (the famously grumpy balcony hecklers from “The Muppet Show”). They also serve a practical role, clarifying action and translating Shakespearean language to help younger audience members stay engaged. It’s a clever device that adds both comic rhythm and narrative clarity without condescending to the audience.
Beyond puppeteering, the cast toggles easily between modern dialogue and Shakespeare’s verse. They display a muscular physicality, comic precision and improvisational agility—demonstrated when the opening night was hit with two delays: a rain interruption and a sound system failure. Rather than derail the evening, the cast seized the moment, gathering unscripted laughs and keeping spirits buoyant. That resiliency speaks to both their professionalism and their connection to the audience.
Stephen Ptacek’s impressive sound design is ambitious and essential to the show’s vibrant atmosphere. The production relies on a complex blend of spoken lines, musical numbers and a variety of sound effects—including a festive party sequence—that help bring the story and characters vividly to life.
On opening night, microphone problems led to intermittent lapses in audio clarity, culminating in a technical delay. Director Ridgely addressed the audience with good humor, suggesting they move down closer to the stage while the cast prepared to perform the remainder of the show “a cappella.” The microphones soon resumed working and the performance continued as intended. Such are the joys and unpredictabilities of live, outdoor theater.
Yet even this didn’t diminish the production’s overall success. Ridgely’s vision is cohesive and nimble, and the influence of choreographer/movement coach Sam Gaitsch and fight choreographer Zev Steinrock shows in the actors’ physical inventiveness. Plus, Michael Curry Design has an well-earned reputation for designing and fabricating puppets for actors rather than just for spectacle.
“Romeo & Zooliet” is more than a novelty—it’s a thoughtful, inventive and deeply joyful work of family theater. It introduces Shakespeare not as homework, but as possibility: something playful, something weird, something alive. While I don’t typically review the audience, I couldn’t help but watch and listen to the kids around me—and most of them “got it.” A production with this target audience and this level of success deserves to be celebrated and supported. Give it to Mikey or Tamisha or Grandma Pat. They’ll love it.
“Romeo & Zooliet” continues at The St. Louis Zoo through August 17, 2025. Performances are Tuesday – Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. on the Zoo’s historic hill. For tickets and more information, visit their website.
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