'Beetlejuice': A musical 'to die for'

‘BEETLEJUICE’: Alex Brightman & Sophia Anne Caruso. Photo: Matthew Murphy

BEETLEJUICE
Music & lyrics by Eddie Perfect
Book by Scott Brown & Anthony King
Based on the 1988 movie Beetlejuice
Directed by Alex Timbers
Winter Garden Theatre
1634 Broadway
(212-239-6200, https://beetlejuicebroadway.com/

Editor’s note: This review is from the 2019 production, starring Alex Brightman, Rob McClure and Sophia Anne Caruso. The show has some new cast members and is now playing at the Marquis Theatre.

By Scott Harrah

Beetlejuice is a rare gem in the genre of Hollywood movie adaptations for the Broadway stage. While following the main narrative from the 1988 Tim Burton film, Beetlejuice expands on the story of Goth teen Lydia (played with panache by rising 17-year-old star Sophia Anne Caruso), making her the central female character. The musical is a theme park unto itself and a fun, offbeat roller-coaster ride from start to finish. It stands out as a superior adaptation for so many reasons, but mostly due to Scott Brown and Anthony King’s clever book and outrageously effervescent performances by Alex Brightman, Leslie Kritzer and Ms. Caruso, plus whimsical sets by David Korins and over-the-top costumes by William Ivey Long.

It’s hard to resist the incomparable Alex Brightman from the moment he enters the stage as Beetlejuice, the lovable poltergeist who is also the tale’s narrator, saying he hopes we’re ready for “a show about death” and starts into the razzle-dazzle opening number “The Whole ‘Being Dead’ Thing”.

Mr. Brightman is that rare entertainer who is so energetic, he commands the whole stage whenever he’s on it. He tosses off bon mots like “I’m powerless…like a gay Republican” with cavalier ease, in one of the season’s best performances. He’s the perfect guide through this gloriously re-imagined version of the hit film. Adam (Rob McClure) and Barbara (Kerry Butler) are the Maitlands, a happy couple in an old Victorian home (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the film). When they tragically die in a freak accident, their spirits are left to haunt their house and live in its attic. Soon the obnoxious Deetz family buys the house. Charles (Adam Dannheisser) and his ditzy paramour/Lydia’s nanny Delia (Ms. Kritzer) want to totally redecorate the place and turn it into a modern art showcase, hoping to make it a model home and land a lucrative real estate development deal. Charles’ daughter Lydia (Ms. Caruso) is a black-wearing Goth and has no interest in the home, and certainly wants nothing to do with her dad and Delia. She runs into the ghosts of Adam and Barbara in the attic and strikes up an unusual friendship with them as they create a scheme to literally scare Charles and Delia out of the house.

In the movie, Lydia was portrayed by Winona Ryder as a dour, depressed teen mourning the death of her mother but there was little explanation as to why the girl was so grief-stricken and obsessed with the dark side of life. However, in Beetlejuice the musical, Lydia and all her quirks and pathos are front and center, tackling the issue of children grappling with grief in a lighthearted way, something one would never expect in a Broadway musical. Ms. Caruso’s voice is richly textured and particularly haunting when she sings the solo numbers “Dead Mom” and “Home.”

In 2014, I caught Sophia Anne Caruso in a revival of Ruthless! The Musical at an uptown cabaret. Ms. Caruso was just a child then, playing Tina Denmark, a parody of the demented girl Rhoda from The Bad Seed. She had a unique stage presence and one-of-a-kind voice I never forgot. I wrote in the review back then about her “wholesome looks, lush singing voice and over-the-top acting style,” noting that she was going to be quite famous someday. It is remarkable how far Ms. Caruso has come in just five years. With her distinctive voice and spunky performance in Beetlejuice, she’s indeed on her way to Broadway stardom.

The book has some minor flaws. A scene involving the “netherworld” and Ms. Kritzer in a secondary role as an otherworldly beauty pageant winner makes little sense. In addition, the songs by Eddie Perfect are bouncy and propel the plot wonderfully. Although the score is upbeat, it is not exactly memorable.

Regardless, director Alex Timbers holds everything together beautifully and gets noteworthy performances from the rest of the cast. Standouts include Ms. Kritzer, who is sensational as the gaudy, overbearing Delia. Rob McClure and Kerry Butler are a hilarious duo as the kooky spooks the Maitlands, and Broadway veteran Ms. Butler (last seen in Mean Girls) has never been funnier.

Musical adaptations of hit Hollywood films are standard fare on Broadway. Most are pedestrian or simply mediocre, but Beetlejuice is colorful, consistently lighthearted fun. It’s—dare I say it? —a musical “to die for.”

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 25, 2019
Reviewed at April 20, 2019 press performance.