Musical Adaptation of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice Headed To Broadway
Someone in Midtown Manhattan must have said the name three times, because Beetlejuice is officially Broadway-bound.
The musical adaptation of the Tim Burton classic will come to a New York stage after making its debut this October at Washington D.C.’s National Theater.
Alex Timbers, whose staged version of Moulin Rouge will open in Boston this summer, is set to direct the adaption, which will have a score by Australian musician-comedian Eddie Perfect and a book by Anthony King and Scott Brown.
While the show will be inspired by the 1988 film, Beetlejuice the musical will place most of the focus on Lydia Deetz (originally played by Winona Ryder), who is able to communicate with the ghosts of the former owners of their new house, and who eventually invokes the eccentric demon Beetlejuice to scare her parents off.
The announcement of the musical has resurrected yet again the oft-asked question, “Is anything original anymore?” But I would argue that there are some movies that are just screaming, begging, pleading for a stage adaptation, and Beetlejuice is one of them. My mind immediately jumps to the aesthetic: the iconic black and white accents and acid green flashes, most notably. If done correctly, the set design alone could be very, very cool.
And, as anyone who has seen the movie knows, Beetlejuice the movie is not without its musical moments. I can already envision the famous “Day-O” around the dinner table scene bringing the house down—and don’t even get me started on the potential of a “Jump In The Line” finale with the actress playing Lydia Deetz swinging over the audience’s heads on a wire while a gaggle of football player ghosts do a kickline on the stage. That’s Broadway, baby!
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