BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM 

Something is really wrong with a revival of “Romeo and Juliet” when the best performance is by the actress who plays the Nurse.

Such is the case of the busy but dull new Broadway staging of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, which opened on Thursday at the Richard Rodgers Theater with movie swoony Orlando Bloom and the fast-rising Condola Rashad paired as those star-crossed lovers.

Following a pretty little prelude involving a bell and a fluttering dove, the action begins with a loud crashing noise that suggests the landing of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst.

Impressive fire effects soon are blazing away vertically and horizontally, signifying the flames of passion that Bloom and Rashad unfortunately do not generate as Romeo and Juliet.

This sad mess in more-or-less modern dress is directed by David Leveaux, whose typically flashy staging cannot smokescreen the disappointing performances by his leading players.

Entering astride a motorcycle, Orlando Bloom wears his skinny jeans youthfully as a scruffy, mostly self-absorbed Romeo. Too bad that Bloom wastes his pleasing voice in a monotonous delivery that shades only between soft and loud.  Condola Rashad sweetly illuminates Juliet’s innocence but does not evolve her endearing character any further.

After a long and hungry initial smooch, Bloom and Rashad’s Romeo and Juliet coupling goes nowhere special. Talented actors obviously out of their depth with Shakespeare, these poor kids need far more sensitive direction and coaching than they evidently got from Leveaux.

The supporting performances are patchy. Chuck Cooper blusters mightily as Juliet’s dad opposite Roslyn Ruff’s elegant, icy Lady Capulet. Christian Camargo’s Mercutio sports a Keith Richards-style swagger. Corey Hawkins’s Tybalt is furious to the point of appearing psychotic. Brent Carver’s Friar Laurence is strangely spooky.  Justin Guarini suitably invests Juliet’s unwanted suitor Paris with a priggish quality.

The production’s most rewarding portrayal comes from Jayne Houdyshell, whose gentle, lovable Nurse always shares a touching rapport with Juliet that contrasts against the girl’s rigid parents. The affection between Houdyshell and Rashad is more believable than Rashad’s sessions with Bloom.

The director’s concept makes the Montague family white and the Capulets black but does not explore those differences other than throwing a vaguely Caribbean party at the latter’s palace.  The cello and percussion music composed by David Van Tieghem (who performs the percussion from a stage box) offers some bombast and a nicely skittering underscoring that is helpful to the romantic interludes.

What else is notable about the show? The balcony scene is performed under bright lighting. The setting by Jesse Poleshuck looks like frescoed remnants from Leveaux’s revival of the musical “Nine.” The text has been so sharply whittled down that Paris never even shows up to be slain in Juliet’s tomb. Perhaps by that point in the show, Leveaux simply wanted to get the darned thing over with.

There is a hasty air – and not at all a good one – about this entire endeavor. Now that their show is finally open, let’s hope that Bloom and Rashad wisely use their Broadway time as the ultimate classroom experience to explore Shakespeare.

“Romeo and Juliet” continues through Jan. 12 at the Richard Rodgers Theater, 226 W. 46th St., New York. Call (800) 982-2787 or visit www.romeoandjulietbroadway.com.