It's Showtime! Alex Brightman and Sophia Anne Caruso to Lead Pre-Broadway Tryout of BEETLEJUICE

It was announced today that Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman (School of Rock) will star as 'Beetlejuice' and two-time Lortel Award nominee Sophia Anne Caruso (Lazarus) will star as 'Lydia' in the world premiere Pre-Broadway engagement of the new musical comedy Beetlejuice.

Directed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!, Peter and the Starcatcher), with choreography by Connor Gallagher (The Robber Bridegroom), an original score by Eddie Perfect (King Kong) and a book by Scott Brown & Emmy Award nominee Anthony King (Broad City), Beetlejuice begins performances on Sunday, October 14, 2018 and officially opens on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

It's showtime, folks! Beetlejuice is ruder, raunchier and frankly, more repellent than ever in this original musical based on Tim Burton's wonderfully demented film. BEETLEJUICE tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole "being dead thing." Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon who happens to have a thing for stripes. When Lydia calls on this ghost-with-the-most to scare away her insufferable parents, Beetlejuice comes up with the perfect plan, which involves exorcism, arranged marriages and an adorable girl scout who gets scared out of her wits.

Beetlejuice features scenic design by two-time Tony Award nominee David Korins (Hamilton), costume design by six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long (The Producers), lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner (Kinky Boots), sound design by four-time Tony Award nominee Peter Hylenski (Frozen), projection design by Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini (Dear Evan Hansen), puppet design by Drama Desk Award winner Michael Curry (The Lion King), special effects design by Jeremy Chernick (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), illusions by Michael Weber (Forrest Gump) musical direction by Kris Kukul (Joan of Arc: Into the Fire), music producing by Matt Stine, dance arrangements by David Dabbon, casting by Telsey + Company and Rachel Hoffman, CSA; Associate Director Catie Davis, Associate Choreographer Nancy Renee Braun and Line Producer Jenny Gersten.

Beetlejuice is based on the 1988 Academy Award-winning Warner Bros. motion picture with story by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson. The smash hit comedy was directed by Tim Burton and starred Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder.

Tickets for Beetlejuice range from $54.00 - 114.00 and are available at www.TheNationalDC.com. For more information visit www.BeetlejuiceBroadway.com.

Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice) is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Dewey Finn in Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical School of Rock, for which he received a 2016 Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award nomination as well as an Outstanding Actor in a Musical Outer Critics Circle Award nomination. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called his performance "as notable for its generosity as its virtuosity," and David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter raved "a star-making performance." Alex's Broadway debut was in James Gardiner and Nick Blaemire's Glory Days. He since appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Big Fish and Matilda. Off-Broadway he starred in Encores! City Center's production of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, and in The Old Globe's world premiere musical, Nobody Loves You. On television, Alex most recently appeared on the Showtime series "SMILF" and "The Good Fight" with Christine Baranski. He has also appeared on USA's "Royal Pains," and on Comedy Central's "Important Things With Demetri Martin." He can next be seen on IFC's "Documentary Now!" opposite Bill Hader. Alex has established himself as a playwright. He and his writing partner, Drew Gasparini, premiered a new musical thriller called "Make Me Bad" at the Bloomington Playwrights Project in 2013. Their next production was the one-man show Everything In Its Place: The Life And Slimes Of Marc Summers, starring Marc Summers. The duo are currently developing several other projects, including a musical adaptation of The Whipping Boy, based on the Newbery medal-winning children's book and a musical adaptation of Universal's It's Kind Of A Funny Story, which was workshopped this past year at Feinstein's/54 Below. Alex enjoys teaching music and for several years has taught at Broadway Artist Alliance, Camp Broadway and in his own class, "Alex Brightman Teaches You How to Kick Auditions in the Ass." Alex currently resides in New York City.

Sophia Anne Caruso (Lydia) began her professional career at age 9, in the role of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, directed by Patty Duke. She played Young Norma Jean alongside Bernadette Peters in NBC-TV's hit series, "Smash." Sophia's regional credits include the world premiere of Second Hand Lions directed by Scott Schwartz at the 5th Ave Theater in Seattle, and Charlotte Van Goethem in the world premiere of Little Dancer, directed by Susan Stroman at the Kennedy Center. Sophia was Brigitta Von Trapp in NBC-TV's first live TV musical, "The Sound of Music Live!." Her first off-Broadway stage show was The Nether directed by Anne Kaufman at MCC where she received her first Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Following The Nether, Sophia began work on her first feature, a multi- award winning film about autism called Jack of The Red Hearts, directed by Janet Grillo. Sophia was also featured in the film 37 The Kitty Genovese Murder. Caruso's love for the stage brought her back to off-Broadway, when she was cast as "The Girl" in the David Bowie / Enda Walsh world premiere musical, Lazarus, directed by Ivo van Hove, at the New York Theater Workshop. She received her second Lucille Lortel nomination, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. After a record breaking sold out run in New York City, Lazarus transferred to London's West End in 2016. Sophia received her first West End nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical from the prestigious "What's on Stage Awards". She is also prominently featured on the Lazarus cast album, most notably in "Life On Mars." Her first Broadway credit came in the Tony-nominated production of Blackbird, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Michelle Williams and Jeff Daniels. That same summer she also appeared in New York City Center's production of Runaways. Sophia appears in the first episode of Season 2, in the Facebook hit series "Strangers" that is currently streaming on Facebook Watch. Next year she will be seen in the new Showtime series, "City on a Hill," co-starring opposite Kevin Bacon, as his teenage daughter.