While you see Joey Fatone rocking his physique to “Everyone (Backstreet’s Again)” within the hit Broadway musical “& Juliet,” you may assume that you’ve been transported to an alternate boy band universe.
However sure, that’s the *NSYNC crooner singing the signature bop by the Backstreet Boys within the reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” — the place the heroine decides not kill to herself after discovering her beloved beau lifeless.
As Lance Du Bois — a man-in-tights function he might be taking part in by means of March 16 on the Stephen Sondheim Theatre — Fatone additionally performs one other Backstreet fave, “Form of My Coronary heart.”
“It’s gonna be fascinating for those that are followers of Backstreet and followers of *NSYNC to return see that,” he informed The Publish.
Fatone, 48, additionally sings Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” and Ariana Grande’s “Break Free” within the musical set to the tunes of Swedish hitmaker Max Martin — from Britney Spears’ “… Child One Extra Time” to Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Cease the Feeling!”
Martin additionally lent his golden pen to *NSYNC classics reminiscent of “Tearin’ Up My Coronary heart” and “It’s Gonna Be Me.” Though the latter monitor is featured in “& Juliet,” it’s not one in every of Fatone’s numbers.
“The primary tune we ever truly did with Max was ‘I Need You Again,’” mentioned Fatone of *NSYNC’s debut single. “He will get it, you recognize? And he has an awesome workforce of people who get … what makes a success and what has the hook.”
After “I Need You Again” was launched within the US in 1998, *NSYNC received an unwitting increase from the Backstreet Boys when, later that 12 months, the “I Need It That Means” group turned down a proposal to seem on the “Disney Channel in Live performance” collection.
“They have been exhausted,” mentioned Fatone. “Impulsively, Johnny [Wright, who managed both boy bands] was like, ‘Effectively, these guys from *NSYNC, they’re model new … you wish to give them a shot to do the present?’ And so they mentioned, ‘Sure.’
“And guess what — we waltzed proper in there and blew up. So thanks, Backstreet.”
However the two quintets weren’t as in sync as you may assume.
“They’d much more ballads. It was a bit bit extra refined,” mentioned Fatone. “We’re identified extra for our uptempos. And I believe we danced much more than they did.”
Though a lot was made from a rivalry between the 2 teams again within the day, there is no such thing as a dangerous blood between them. In actual fact, Fatone and Backstreet’s AJ McLean teamed up for the A Legendary Night time tour through which they crooned to one another’s tunes.
“This was form of a thanks to our followers,” mentioned Fatone of the tour, which he and McLean hope to renew with extra reveals late this 12 months. “We put a few reveals out for A Legendary Night time, and it offered out quick.”
For now, although, the New York native is targeted on his return to Broadway after 21 years in “& Juliet,” after beforehand showing in “Hire” in 2002 and “Little Store of Horrors” from 2003 to 2004.
“It was once the younger characters,” mentioned Fatone. “Now I’m taking part in the dad components.”