Brendan O’Leary and Torée Alexandre play the title characters in Romeo and Juliet at Orlando Shakes.
In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare asked, “What’s in a name?” For this story, we asked, “What’s in two names?” If those two names are Brendan O’Leary and Torée Alexandre—who play the title characters in the Bard’s immortal tragic love story—the answer is “talent to spare.”
See for yourself when Orlando Shakes presents Romeo and Juliet, which will run January 14 to February 8. For O’Leary, though, stepping into Romeo’s world feels both humbling and electrifying. “Sometimes I’ll be going over lines and think I’m not worthy to perform these—they’re so beautiful,” he says.
Raised in Franklin, Michigan, O’Leary played hockey before he discovered theater and attended a performing arts camp sponsored by the Interlochen (Michigan) Center for the Arts. He ultimately attended the University of Minnesota, where his craft was shaped by rigorous training at the Guthrie Theater.
O’Leary’s approach to Romeo is rooted not in reinvention, but in sincerity. “People love to root for love,” he says. “And even though it ends in tragedy, their love brings peace.”
Juliet, meanwhile, comes to life through the luminous presence of Alexandre, a first-generation American with Jamaican and Haitian roots who has lived in New York, New Jersey, England and South Florida.
Encouraged by her mother, a movie buff, Alexandre knew that storytelling was powerful. The defining moment for her came in high school, when a calculus teacher pushed her toward mathematics.
“I realized I had to decide for myself what I wanted to do,” she says. “I decided to follow my heart.” Alexandre trained at Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach and earned her BFA from Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
She loves dance, particularly the joyful physicality of house dance—a style she says keeps her connected to movement, culture and community. For Alexandre, Juliet’s love story remains relevant because it dares to hope despite everything.
“It’s timeless and universal,” she says. “It tinkers on the fine line between happily ever after and tragedy, and for a moment, there is a chance their love could survive.”
Both actors hope audiences will leave moved, reflective and openhearted. “Love is the answer,” says Alexandre. O’Leary agrees, adding, “If the audience believes in Romeo and Juliet’s love—and wishes for a different ending—I’ll have done my job.”
Orlando Shakes is located at 812 Rollins Street, Orlando, in Loch Haven Cultural Park. For more information, call 407.645.0145 or visit orlandoshakes.org.
