Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson fulfilled her childhood dream of performing on a Broadway stage with a special one-night-only performance in the musical comedy& Juliet.
Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by Democratic President Joe Biden and sworn into office on February 25, 2022. The Washington, D.C. native is the first Black woman and first former Federal Public Defender to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
While serving in the Supreme Court has been a lifelong goal, Jackson also dreamed of taking to the stage and entertaining audiences.
Her theatrical ambition was realized on Saturday night when she achieved another premiere accomplishment by being the 1st Supreme Court Justice on Broadway.
The social media account for & Juliet shared the memorable experience on X (formerly Twitter), which included rehearsal footage of her doing a table read, learning blocking, and vocalizing parts of the score.
& Juliet is a jukebox Broadway musical featuring songs by Swedish music maker Max Martin, known for penning iconic songs for Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, and Britney Spears.
The story, with themes of female empowerment and rewriting history, playfully presents a hypothetical scenario with the final moments of Shakespeare's tragic play Romeo and Juliet having an entirely different outcome for a new beginning.
Two short scenes were written specifically for Jackson's Broadway debut, who impressed the sold-out crowd and her fellow castmates with her performance.
Writer Victor Shi, who became the youngest elected delegate for Biden in 2020, sang Jackson's praises after watching & Juliet's video.
"This is the most epic video I’ve watched in so long. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson performed on broadway, while some of her Republican colleagues would’ve spent this time flying with billionaires. So cool. So refreshing. Justice Jackson is the best."
The internet agreed.
Afterwards, she reflected on the thrilling experience with CBS Morning after the show.
"I think that it means that anything is possible," said the Justice/Broadway star.
Jackson continued:
"Five years ago, I was a district court justice; nobody knew who I was. To have both of the pieces of my fondest dreams come true in this little bit of time has been extraordinary for me."
"I'm overwhelmed with the joy of this experience. I'm so grateful to the staff and crew of '& Juliet' for helping my dream come true. It was phenomenal."
She recalled what went through her mind as she waited in the wings that night.
"I was just like, 'Wow, this is really gonna happen.' And I was going through my lines," recalled Jackson.
Before her first rehearsal for & Juliet, Jackson interviewed with CBS's Vladimir Duthiers at the Civilian Hotel in New York and spoke about her passion for theater and Broadway ambitions.
Said Jackson:
"I just always loved theater. And I felt very comfortable on stage."
"You know, I was always performing from when I was really young. It just felt like the theater people were my people."
"My best friend was a girl named Sunny Schleifer, and the two of us would make up skits and dress up and do all of these things. When I got into high school, I did speech and debate. I had these two different loves, the law and theater."
The Justice also mentioned taking a drama class at Harvard and doing a scene with then up-and-coming Hollywood A-lister Matt Damon.
Jackson recalled what her drama professor said after finishing the scene, for which she had memorized her lines intently.
"Ketanji, you did such a good job. Matt…We'll talk," she said, laughing.
You can watch the full interview here.
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