Romeo and Juliet It débuted on Broadway in 1957 and in the West End in 1958 and became a popular film in 1961. This version updated the setting to mid-20th-century New York City and the warring families to ethnic gangs. Other musical adaptations include Terrence Mann's 1999 rock musical "William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet", co-written with Jerome Korman, Gérard Presgurvic's 2001 "Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour" and Riccardo Cocciante's 2007 "Giulietta & Romeo". "Romeo and Juliet" had a profound influence on subsequent literature. Before then, romance had not even been viewed as a worthy topic for tragedy. In Harold Bloom's
Romeo and Juliet Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet. Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliet's father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. After the ball, in what is now called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchard and overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself