For so many children of the ‘80s, the revisiting and repurposing of our childhoods’ intellectual and emotional property is comforting. Maybe I’m more cynical, but so many of pop culture’s attempts to cash in on my nostalgia don’t do much for me. And so, when Tim Burton’s beloved tale of a recently deceased married couple and their debauched and equally dead ghostly exterminator became a Broadway musical, I was unsure about yet another attempt to take my fond memories and put them on the stage.
All that to say, I went into the Auditorium Theatre for Broadway on Chicago’s current production of Beetlejuice the Musical. The Musical.The Musical. a skeptic. And I came out smiling like I haven’t smiled in years.
For real, this is the most enjoyable production I’ve seen since before the pandemic.
It began with the set, which won me over immediately. I’ve found that shows put on in the Auditorium face the challenge of living up to such a large, looming, living house as Adler and Sullivan’s 19th-century masterpiece. Sometimes it can overshadow shows. Sometimes it can swallow them up. Sometimes it’s just too much, itself. Not in this case. The set, designed by David Korins, already faced the challenge of living up to the zany and iconic look of the film, straight from inside Tim Burton’s head. But the set does live up to Burton’s vision—from the BETELGEUSE sign and spooky lighting—designed by Kenneth Posner—that greets you to the ever-changing innards of the soon-to-be-haunted house that hosts the show, as do the costumes (by William Ivey Long), the projections (by Peter Nigrini), and especially the puppets (by Michael Curry). This production not only recreates the brilliance of Burton’s movie, but it also recreates the BIGNESS of it. This Beetlejuice is a real spectacle, as it ought to be.
The music, too, of this 21st-century reimagining of 20th-century classic totally works. Going in, I knew the songs would be good, as my daughters have played the original Broadway soundtrack around the house since it came out in 2018. With words and music by Eddie Perfect, these are really good songs. And the orchestra, produced and supervised by Matt Stine and Kris Kukul and directed by Andy Grobengieser and Julia Sunay, is really tight throughout, something as a musician myself I notice and appreciate.
Yes, if the wonderful scenic and sonic experience I had at Beetlejuice was all I had to talk about, it still might rank up there with the shows I’ve most enjoyed. But I haven’t even gotten to the show’s cast yet. And—as they would be filling roles first played by none other than Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Winona Ryder—that was my main area of concern. Could anyone live up to those names and those performances?
This cast does.
Justin Collette takes on the title role with ghoulish glee. While Collette nails the gravelly voice of the original, he doesn’t try to perfectly recreate the grubbiness of Keaton’s spectral chiseler. Collette’s Beetlejuice is a bit more modern, a bit more fun—more carnival barker or social media attention hound than used car salesman—while every bit as irreverent and foul-mouthed (and actually Rated R to the 1988 PG-rated poltergeist). And Collette can sing. He’s on all night long—all over the stage, interacting with the audience like a standup comic, dancing with the ensemble, shaking a leg, breaking off an arm, evading a sandworm, holding a minute-long note—without breaking a sweat. I was out of breath just watching him, but Collette proved himself a real pro.
Also, a real pro—in her professional debut—is Isabella Esler as poor little broken-hearted gothic girl, Lydia Deetz. Now, again, I’m a 1980s kid. And Winona Ryder will always be everything to me—especially as the original Lydia. In fact, in the clips I’d seen of other performances from other productions of Beetlejuice, Lydia was the one who could never live up to the original. But Esler does that. She not only keeps up with an ever-changing set and never-tiring ensemble, but she also leads them. Confident, coordinated, and with a face so expressive it seems to pop right off the Auditorium’s giant stage and right into the seats, Esler was every bit the star of the show as Beetlejuice. And like Collette, Esler can also really sing—always finding another gear and a higher or more emotionally compelling note—sing like someone who’s been doing this for decades.
The rest of this cast, too, are professionals, or even better than the great professionals I’ve come to expect in such productions. Baldwin and Davis were (and still are) reliable, benignly attractive icons in the film. But as recently deceased husband and wife onstage, Megan McGinnis and Will Burton play up the boring and benign, which only highlights how extraordinarily talented the two are. They sing, they dance, they act as ensemble side pieces when needed, but carry whole scenes themselves.
While those two expand on the film’s characteristics, the two other principal characters are much different, and for the better in this case. The book—by Scott Brown and Anthony King—takes license throughout, even referring to the fact that this isn’t the Beetlejuice many old fans like me might be expecting. Because of the big plot changes, the roles of Lydia’s parents completely change. Instead of sleezy Jeffrey Jones’ standard 80s sleaze he brought to this or other film classics, Jesse Sharp’s Charles Deetz is someone you can—or come to—root for. And as Catherine O’Hara (always the perfect film mom from that era) is inimitable, the show doesn’t even try. Kate Marilley’s Delia Deetz is a completely different character than O’Hara’s, and Marilley is a complete hoot—maybe the most fun physical comedian on a stage that’s full of them during this production.
So, yes, this production, wonderfully directed by Alex Timbers, not only won over this old, pessimistic grump (and completely charmed the audience, regardless of age), it wowed me. From the sights to the sounds to the stars on the Auditorium Theatre stage, Broadway in Chicago’s current production of Beetlejuice—running now through November 19—is an event you do not want to miss.
