There may never have been a story of more woe than that of the original star crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet in fair Verona—but a chance meeting in a Texas coffee shop has now rewritten the romantic trajectories of some 30 present-day couples.
Two months ago, Public Theater’s resident director Saheem Ali, who has re-envisioned the tragedy through a politically-relevant, immigration-influenced lens for this season’s Shakespeare in the Park, went to the border town of Laredo to “see the wall with [his] own eyes” in order to represent it on stage.
Pausing to admire art made from dollar bills on the wall of a local café, artist Oscar Diaz and his partner Janelly Mendoza happened to walk right in at the same time. The couple showed Ali around, shared their life stories and insights, and elaborated on the heart-wrenching phenomenon of border marriages. “If two people fall in love from either side, they meet at the wall with a pastor and get married. I thought it was such a beautiful representation of what this story is trying to say about division and coming together,” Ali explained.
An idea was hatched. Why not flip the script and end the emotive play with a real life wedding instead? On Thursday, the official opening night, Diaz and Mendoza flew to Manhattan to be wed in front of an audience of 1,800 people at the Delacorte Theater.
“We loved the idea of celebrating our commitment in such a memorable setting,” Mendoza told Vogue. “We also felt it was important to show how art can unite people and bring communities together. Before the ceremony, we felt a mix of excitement and nerves—Oscar and I had never been in the public eye before. But during the ceremony, everything seemed to slow down, and we were completely focused on each other and the significance of the moment.”
The bride chose a long ivory silk dress—something that would make her feel “confident and comfortable,” while the groom nodded to his roots with a Western belt buckle and cowboy boots. “We wanted to incorporate personal touches that made the night feel uniquely ours,” Mendoza offered. A week before the ceremony, her parents were in Mexico City and coincidentally found a jewelry store that made Romeo and Juliet rings inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 picture. “They gifted them to us, and although we already had our wedding rings, we decided to wear those during the ceremony to make it even more special,” she shared.
Mainly through word of mouth, Ali has since enlisted a couple to declare their vows every night during the production’s run. (New York’s temperamental climate being what it is, of course there’s a plan B set-up backstage for the rainy nights too.) Both Francis Jue, who plays Friar Lawrence, and his understudy, became ordained officiants through the Universal Life Church to bring the extension of the plot to fruition.
