David & Hannah Mirvish/Beetlejuice, music & lyrics by Eddie Perfect, book by Scott Brown & Anthony King, (based on the 1988 Geffen Company film), music supervision, orchestration & incidental music by Kris Kukul, choreographed by Connor Gallagher, directed by Alex Timbers, CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre, closes Jul. 19. Tickets here.
The official title of the show is Beetlejuice, The Musical. The Musical. The Musical, and I think the many repeats are designed to tell us that this is a musical on steroids.
And be warned. If you are inclined to be dismissive of Beetlejuice in true elitist fashion, as I was, think again. The show is a winner. It’s as clever as it is hilarious.
Background
While I am definitely not steeped in pop culture, I am aware of it, and at the back of my mind I knew there was a cult movie called Beetlejuice.
Upon research, it turns out that the 1988 film was the brainchild of revered gothic, horror, fantasy, comedy director Tim Burton and starred an A-list of actors, winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup.
Burton actually released a Beetlejuice sequel in 2024, fully 37 years after the original, which has also reached cult status. A third film is in development.
In short, the source material for Beetlejuice, The Musical is movie royalty.
- Trivia #1. The name Beetlejuice comes from Betelgeuse, a giant red star in the Orion constellation.
- Trivia #2. Eddie Perfect, who wrote the music and lyrics, is a multi-talented Australian comedian, actor, writer, musician and composer.
Production History
After tryouts at Washington D.C.’s National Theatre in 2018, Beetlejuice opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in 2019 to great success, both before and after COVID, closing in 2023. The show was nominated for an impressive seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The National Tour currently in Toronto began in 2022 and is slated to open at Broadway’s Palace Theatre in October 2025.
The Story and Characters
(By way of explanation. The Beetlejuice at my performance, Matt Kurzyniec, is one of three understudies for the role and he was just terrific. The audience loved him. Note, however, that the images depict headliner Justin Collette.)
Beetlejuice is a 1000-year-old, bio-exorcist demon who is invisible to any living thing and can only become visible if a living person says his name three times.
The character’s uproarious opening monologue and song — “The Whole ‘Being Dead ‘Thing” — gets the musical off to a rip-roaring start with an energy that never lets up.
At one point, Beetlejuice asks if there are kids in the audience, and when they answer back, he tells them they’re going to learn things, and they certainly will since the show is on the blue side. Perhaps adults should think twice about bringing children to see the production.
To make himself become visible, Beetlejuice has an elaborate plan. He has to get near humans.
He arranges the deaths of the Maitland couple, Barbara (Megan McGuinnis) and Adam (Will Burton), and when they are ghosts, he offers his services to help drive the new owners away so they can keep the house for themselves.
However, Beetlejuice abandons the Maitlands when they can’t learn to be scary enough. He was hoping to make contact with the new owners through the ghostly Maitlands.
The new family includes real estate developer Charles Deetz (Jesse Sharp), his morose goth daughter Lydia (Madison Mosley) and her feather-headed life coach Delia (Sarah Litzsinger) who also happens to be Charles’ mistress. Delia was originally hired to help get Lydia out of her depression caused by losing her mother.
Lydia, who has extrasensory perception, meets the Maitlands and joins forces with them to help them drive out the Deetzes because she wants to go back to the house where her mother once lived.
Charles turns the Maitland place into a model home as a prototype for a new development and he’s anxious to impress the developer Maxie Dean (Ryan Breslin) at a dinner party he’s holding.
Lydia, thinking she’ll never go home, and that her mother is forgotten, contemplates suicide, and on the roof meets the depressed Beetlejuice. When he realizes she can see him, he has hope again. He will help her spoil the dinner party and gets her to say his name three times.
Beetlejuice, now visible, develops a more ambitious plan, this time to become human, and so the shenanigans really take off.
This Production
Everything in Beetlejuice works. It’s a wonderful production on every level.
First of all, giving the character of Beetlejuice the narrative line is a very clever ploy.
He’s always front and centre, breaking the fourth wall, engaging with the audience, coming out with great zingers, some of which have become so famous that they are oft quoted by devoted fans of the musical. The character has even been known to ad lib as well, so all the Beetlejuice actors are clearly fast off the mark.
Perfect ‘s songs are all hummable, and not that awful amorphous soft rock that infects so many musicals today. An added plus is that his lyrics are clever and the dialogue by Brown and King is downright witty, albeit bordering on risqué.
As well, the show looks first rate. David Korins’ set and Peter Nigrini’s projections are delightfully goth, while clearly William Ivey Long had great fun with the costumes.
The production numbers in Beetlejuice are some of the best I’ve seen, and Gallagher’s choreography is outstanding. The scene with Beetlejuice and his many clones and the Netherworld ensemble are just two examples of the rich musical visuals that make Beetlejuice so eminently watchable.
However, the standout production number is the “Day-O” dinner party and for those of a certain age who remember Harry Belafonte and “The Banana Boat Song”, the scene is screamingly, belly-laugh funny.
Kudos to director Timbers who knows how to envision a musical and keep it hopping.
A Big Problem
I do have a cavil, however.
The actors are talented, but the problem is DICTION when people sing. I wanted to hear every word of the lyrics, and I’m mad as hell that I couldn’t. This show is particularly bad at diction because everyone is at fault, some more than others.
End Note
I admit I came to Beetlejuice as an intellectual snob, but left as a convert. I had such a good time at the musical that I’m actually going to look up the movie.
Beetlejuice is pure entertainment in the best sense of the word.
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