It's showtime, folks! The ghost-with-the-most makes his Broadway return in this edgy and irreverent musical comedy based on Tim Burton's dearly beloved film. BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager whose life changes when she meets a recently deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a demon with a thing for stripes. When Lydia calls on Beetlejuice to scare away anyone with a pulse, this double-crossing specter unleashes a (Nether)world of pandemonium, and the biggest sandworm Broadway has ever seen.
But this is really Beetlejuice's show, and while it never lags or lacks energy when the bio-exorcist is not around, whenever Justin Collette appears under that green wig the show explodes off the stage as he banters with the audience. Determined to use any manner of tricks and schemes to get back into the land of the living, this Beetlejuice absorbs the side-splitting asides of the pantomime dame in a performance that doesn't need the giant props or chorus line of Beetlejuices to engulf the entire stage. And, yes, even he has some unresolved mommy issues that become much more pressing in the second act's journey into the expressionistic Netherworld.
Justin Collette is confident and snarky as our titular spook, a supernatural horndog who somehow manages to both charm and repel everyone he encounters. From the get-go, Collette treats his role like a stand-up comedian, pacing the stage, dropping politically charged jokes and playing frequently to the crowd. While he deploys plenty of his character’s familiar mannerisms, he never tries to channel Michael Keaton. He rocks out in "Fright of Their Lives," the number where Beetlejuice tries (and fails to teach Adam and Barbara how to become scary ghosts.
2018 | Washington, DC (Regional) |
Pre-Broadway Engagement at National Theatre Washington, DC (Regional) |
2019 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Return Broadway |
2022 | US Tour |
North American Tour US Tour |
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