Interview: Romy Vuksan on Life as & Juliet’s Dance Captain

A long-running Broadway show is sort of like living creature: it needs to be fed and watered through the years so it can keep growing.

That’s where Romy Vuksan comes in.

Born and raised in Brisbane, Vuksan grew up in the Australian musical-theater ecosystem, where she appeared in shows like The Wedding Singer and West Side Story and Jagged Little Pill. In addition to playing named characters and serving as a swing or understudy, Vuksan also took on the role of dance captain, becoming a constant voice and liaison behind the scenes.

After performing and serving as dance captain in the Australian production of & Juliet, Vuksan was called to North America, where she was the assistant choreographer for the show’s first national tour, before joining the Broadway cast herself, and repeating her turn as dance captain.

After nearly 1,000 performances (in her own estimation), dozens of new cast members taught, and a journey that’s taken her from Down Under to the Big Apple, Vuksan now serves as one of the creative connectors between the company and the creative team. Here, she talks about her trajectory, what it’s like when no two days are the same, and why mentoring the next generation of performers has become the most meaningful part of the gig.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Do you have a firm count on how many times you’ve performed & Juliet so far across the world?
Performed? No, I stopped counting once I left Australia. I’d say I’m getting close to 1,000 by now. I’ve taught close to 80 people the show in the last year, and that says a lot.

Tell me about your journey with & Juliet. How does one become a dance captain in a long-running show like this?
I get this question often. I was always a choreographer’s assistant growing up. I would always help people. I just seemed to be the person that people would go to. Naturally, it became a progression. I’ve never not been a dance captain except for two productions earlier in my career.

I’d just been the dance captain on Jagged Little Pill in Australia. I went in and auditioned [for & Juliet] as per normal, and then I got a call from my agent asking if I’d consider dance captain. I know I can do an eight-show week, and while I love being an ensemble member, I do really enjoy the dance captain position. I get to experience both worlds; you are the creative bridge between the cast and creatives.

In Australia, you do six months to a year in Melbourne and Sydney, and then you’ll do maybe six-to-eight weeks in some of the other states, and that’s the contract. There never is a sit-down production in one state of any of these major musicals; they always tour. We finished in July 2024, and I reached out to Jen Weber, the choreographer, and said “I have loved doing the show, thank you so much for having me.” I was kind of her eyes and ears on the ground in Australia, keeping the integrity of the show.

They asked me to come and set up the first American tour as an assistant choreographer and I could not believe that. That was six weeks in New York, and then I got an email after that saying “Hypothetically, would you like to be the dance captain and swing on Broadway?” And I was like “What do you mean, hypothetically!?” So, I mounted the national tour and two days after it opened in Baltimore, I joined Broadway, and I put in 13 new people who were joining me at the same time.

What is the day-to-day like?
Most days, I start work about 12. I don’t just turn up for the show. Depending on who I’m teaching or if I’m putting someone new into the show, we have rehearsals for that. I then work with stage management to decide who goes on for what roles in certain circumstances and help manage the swing team and the off-stage covers. Then I get to sit down and schedule things for the week with the stage management team. I create the split tracks with stage management. You are the point person for the cast if they need anything, specifically choreographically, in my position, so they can come to me for anything, and then I’ll go to management or the creative team. I have to give notes to people. It’s quite hands-on.

How different is it to teach the show to one person, like Joey Fatone when he comes in to play Lance, as opposed to being the associate chorographer for the new Toronto company, where you have to teach the whole cast the show from scratch?
Teaching one person is a very different environment to putting an entire cast in, who are all learning the show together. Everyone learns differently. You have to decipher how people receive the information to get the best product on stage. I know that I can’t teach two people the same way. One person might really need to be going over it and over it, and then somebody else might be visual, so we sit down and watch things.

With Joey, the Lance track specifically only needs two weeks, in terms of how much they’re on stage. They’re only in two dance numbers, so it’s not too difficult. The minimum we try and have for an ensemble member is three weeks. We have to do continuity calls, which is getting them on stage with all the props and automation. We do that with the principals, as well. I had to put in a swing not that long ago, and they need to know the entire show from six different points of view, so that’s a very different process.

For me, I feel like I’m still learning. I’m in my fourth year now and I’ll make a mistake here and there. I’m not perfect. Before a show, I’m always going over my track. The last thing I want to do is go out there and accidentally go into somebody else’s position. I’ve been here for nearly a year-and-a-half, and I feel like I’ve only just found my feet a couple months ago.

What’s the best part of the job?
What I love the most about being dance captain is the mentoring aspect. We have a lot of younger artists coming through and it’s their first big-time production. I love creating the best possible experience for them so they can take everything they learn into their career. I always hope people feel like they can come to me if they have questions. I wear that quite heavily and I love it.