*NSYNC’s Joey Fatone Takes First Broadway Bow in & Juliet (Where Yes, He Sings Backstreet Boys Songs)

Joey Fatone is officially back on the boards!

After two decades away from Broadway, the singer and actor returned to the stage on Tuesday, Jan. 21, taking his first bow in the hit musical & Juliet. He’s playing a nine-week engagement in the show, replacing original Broadway cast member Paulo Szot in the role of Lance through March 16.

Photographers captured the *NSYNC singer at the curtain call, where he was gifted a bouquet of flowers from members of the company. He later greeted eager fans at the stage door, signing autographs and posing for pictures.

A video shared to & Juliet‘s Instagram account showed more footage of the milestone evening, including clips of Fatone celebrating backstage with AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys.

The two have developed a friendship over the years, coming a long way from the days their boy bands were rivals. They even traveled the country together last year in a joint headline tour in which they reminisced about their time in the spotlight and performed a variety of their hits together.

McLean has history with & Juliet, too. In May, he hosted a singalong performance of the musical, surprising the audience at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York City with an encore performance of “Everybody” with the show’s Du Bois Band.

Fittingly, & Juliet features songs by prolific producer and songwriter Max Martin, the man behind *NSYNC hits like ” “I Want You Back,” “Tearin’ Up My Heart” and “It’s Gonna Be Me” as well as Backstreet Boys tunes like “Shape of My Heart” and “I Want It That Way.”

But Fatone’s character doesn’t sing any of the *NSYNC songs. Instead, he takes on two Backstreet Boys songs.

“Even though my loyalty remains with NSYNC, they still have bangers,” Fatone joked when news of his casting was announced back in October.

& Juliet imagines what would happen if the title heroine from William Shakespeare’s classic romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet would have survived and gotten to live and love as she pleased.

The musical’s hilarious book was written by David West Read, the Emmy-winning writer from Schitt’s Creek. Luke Sheppard directs.

Other Martin hits — including those made popular by Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Bon Jovi, Ariana Grande, Pink, Kelly Clarkson and Robyn — are included in the show’s score.

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Fatone made his Broadway debut as Mark Cohen in Rent in 2002, and later starred in Little Shop of Horrors as Seymour in 2003.

In & Juliet, Fatone stars alongside Maya Bod as ‘Juliet,’ Alison Luff as ‘Anne,’ Drew Gehling as ‘Shakespeare,’ Liam Pearce as ‘Romeo,’ Michael Iván Carrier as ‘May,’ Jeannette Bayardelle as ‘Angélique’ and Nathan Levy as ‘François.’

Gabe Amato, Daniel Assetta, Reese Britts, Nicholas Cooper, Charli D’Amelio, Jhailyn Paige Farcon, Makai Hernandez, Najah Hetsberger, Joomin Hwang, Khailah Johnson, Elsa Keefe, Alaina Ví Maderal, Daniel J. Maldonado, Alejandro MullerDahlberg, Ava Noble, Cassie Silva, Darien Van Rensalier and Romy Vuksan complete the cast.

Tickets for & Juliet are now on sale.