JC Chasez Leads Singalong of *NSYNC Hits at “& Juliet” Performance: 'First Time Singing on a Broadway Stage'
The singer performed 'Bye Bye Bye' and 'Tearin' Up My Heart' in New York City on Nov. 21
JC Chasez turned the Nov. 21 performance of the jukebox musical & Juliet into a mini *NSYNC concert.
In celebration of the show’s special theme night (audience members were encouraged to sing along to the soundtrack from hitmaker Max Martin) *NYSNC's Chasez, who is not a cast member, emerged from stage right and led the crowd at New York City’s Stephen Sondheim theater in a singalong of the boy band’s 2000 hit “Bye Bye Bye.”
After the show — which is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet featuring Martin’s modern classics like “Overprotected” (Britney Spears), “Break Free” (Ariana Grande), and, yes, *NSYNC hits like “It’s Gonna Be Me” — Chasez, 48, returned to the stage and joined the performers for another song.
“So, this show is just so much better with the singing, right?” Chasez said to screams from the audience. “How good is that? How amazing? Like, amazing.”
“I had one issue with the show. One issue with the show. This is actually my first time singing on a Broadway stage when I sang with you in the beginning, and I have the feeling I want to do it again,” Chasez teased to more applause.
He asked the & Juliet cast to join him and “sing a song that Max wrote that didn’t make the play that I think might’ve, should’ve made the play. Let’s go!”
Chasez and the cast then launched into an energetic rendition of “Tearin’ Up My Heart,” the 1998 dance-pop hit from *NSYNC’s self-titled debut album. (Other members of the boy band include Justin Timberlake, 43, Joey Fatone, 47, Chris Kirkpatrick, 53, and Lance Bass, 45.)
"I've had the pleasure of seeing & Juliet on a number of occasions and the energy in the room was always electric," Chasez said in a press release announcing his participation earlier in November. "I couldn’t be more excited to join in on the fun along with the fans to honor my good friend Max and to celebrate the show's two years on Broadway."
The appearance from Chasez — who recently released the musical concept album Playing With Fire, a reinterpretation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein — comes just weeks before his bandmate Fatone is set to join & Juliet in January.
“I’m excited that I’ll be joining the cast of & Juliet,” Fatone said in October when his casting was announced. “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.”
& Juliet is now playing at the Stephen Sondheim Theater in New York City.