Romeo and Juliet are played by Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez.
In real life, their love is not so star-crossed. They are husband and wife.
The couple met while studying here at the Academy of Vocal Arts.
In this version of Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and Montagues are warring fashion houses.
There's even a runway fashion show scene and, for that, the opera company held a costume design contest with students from three local design schools.
Stephen and Ailyn's real life history and connection only adds to their performance.
"You know I think it makes the performance a little more intimate," Stephen said.
Ailyn says, "Sometimes I think I even know what he's thinking while he's singing and I can tell, wow, he feels great and so it makes me feel better. We just feed off of one another's energy and it's just great."
In this version of Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and Montagues are warring fashion houses.
There's even a runway fashion show scene and, for that, the opera company held a costume design contest with students from three local design schools.
Katie Yamaguchi, a junior at the College of Art & Design says, "It had to be Italian and bright colors so I was like bright colors?! That's totally up my alley."
It's the cutthroat Devil Wears Prada world of fashion mixed with Shakespeare's timeless love story.
Ailyn says, "The music is so romantic and just watching these two young people and you see them and they're just a great match for one another and the unfortunate circumstances keep happening step by step and you just think, where did it go so wrong? "
Romeo & Juliet takes the Academy of Music stage for 5 performances starting February 11th. For ticket information, go to http://operaphila.org/
