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When & Where January 21- 26, 2025, evenings at 7.30pm, plus Sat & Sun matinees at 2pm | Queen Elizabeth Theatre Director Alex Timbers Choreographer Connor Gallagher Music Director Andy Grobengieser Scenic Design David Korinsl Lighting Design Kenneth Posner Costume Design William Ivey Long Sound Design Peter Hylenski Projection design Peter Nigrini Special Effects Design Jeremy Chernick Stage Manager Brant Sennett Main Cast: Beetlejuice Justin Collette Lydia Madison Mosley Barbara Megan McGuiness Adam Will Burton Charles Jesse Sharp Delia Sarah Litzsinger Reviewer John Anthony Jane |
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This Broadway Across Canada touring production is a stage musical adaptation of the 1988 gothic fantasy comedy film, Beetlejuice. Tim Burton’s iconic film starred Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice (or Betelgeuse if you prefer the alternate spelling taken from the red supergiant star) and Winona Ryder as his reluctant sidekick Lydia Deetz. The stage version differs substantially from Burton’s original film. Danny Elfman’s score is replaced by Eddie Perfect’s serviceable Broadway style songs and the title character role has been expanded to take in the story’s narrator who addresses the audience directly – mostly through the songs. Madison Mosley inherits the role of Lydia in her national tour debut, while Justin Collette is outrageously over the top in the central role of the bizarre and deviant Beetlejuice. Collette warns the audience in his first song (The Whole Being Dead Thing) that “this is a show about death.” Megan McGuiness and Will Burton as Barbara and Adam Maitland die right in front of the audience in an early scene and spend the most of the rest of the show in their attic when Lydia and her father Charles (Jesse Sharp) and her life coach Delia (Sarah Litzsinger) move into their now vacant house. McGuiness and Burton are tasked with anchoring the show and display their comedy schtick with one of the better songs, ‘Barbara Two-Point-O.’ If anything, the stage show is even more madcap than the movie. The first act, that ends with Sharp and Litzsinger performing ‘The Banana Boat Song’ while possessed ticks along at a quick, yet even pace. The second act, even though it begins with a delightful scene with Emilia Tagliani as a Girl Scout with a genetic heart murmur out selling cookies, seems to degenerate into puerile absurdity. It culminates in the curious plotline of Beetlejuice and Lydia’s “green card marriage.” The cast coming together to sing ‘Creepy Old Guy’ just seems to emphasis the weirdness. Maria Sylvia Norris’ committed, though excessive performance as Juno doesn’t help the cause. In fairness, Ms. Norris’ performance in her other role in the production as Maxine is hysterical. Connor Gallagher’s choreography features some lively dance numbers, particularly the routine where we see a mob of Beetlejuice clones. William Ivey Long’s lavish costumes that include Beetlejuice’s iconic stripes that is emulated by some members of the audience. Jeremy Cernick’s amazing special effects had the audience cheering. Beetlejuice is unabashedly deranged. The songs sound pretty good as we hear them and are generally well sung by a talented cast, but the show’s only song I found myself humming on the way home was ‘Banana Boat Song.’ © 2025 John Anthony Jane |
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