Directed by Alex Timbers, Beetlejuice tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon who happens to have a thing for stripes.
When Lydia calls on this ghost-with-the-most to scare away her insufferable parents, Beetlejuice comes up with the perfect plan, which involves exorcism, arranged marriages and an adorable girl scout who gets scared out of her wits. Plus singing and dancing, of course.
Alex Brightman, foreground, as Beetlejuice, in Beetlejuice: The Musical. Photo: Matt Murphy, 2018
The reviews are in:
"Beetlejuice, the rowdy, raunchy musical adapted from Tim Burton’s 1988 horror-comedy, openly embraces the theme park-y aspects of an enterprise like the one it’s engaged in. True to its source material, it’s loud, it’s cheeky, and it’s all about excess. It’s also — thanks in large part to Alex Brightman’s spot-on performance as the incorrigible titular ghoul — a pretty fun time." — Sara Holden, Vulture.com
"This Beetlejuice is no pale imitation of Mr. Keaton or anyone else. Or not one single person. Instead, he seems to be channeling the entire ensemble from the early years of “Saturday Night Live,” with a soupçon of Jerry Lewis and Robin Williams at their most frenzied."