Review: BEETLEJUICE at Gammage Auditorium

The Broadway stage version of BEETLEJUICE, as you might expect, is an over-the-top comic food fight of a musical based on the Tim Burton film of the same name. It’s a fun, attendable show performed by extraordinary comedians working with a limited book and score.

“Already such a bold departure from the original source material,” wisecracks the title character minutes into the show. And It’s clear right away the stage version is NOT about Barbara and Adam Maitlin, the recently deceased married couple (played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in the film.) From that first break of the fourth wall, this is his show, his comic-star-vehicle, his floor show of love me/hate me charm. Andrew Kober is up to the task and works the crowd to laughter like I haven’t heard in Gammage since THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG.

Barbara and Adam have been deemphasized, while Lydia, the daughter of the family moving into the Maitlins’ home has moved up to protagonist. She’s been developed beyond the prototype Tim Burton anti-teen girl version of the character into a Gen Z hero. Socially aware, intellectual; nihilistic but emotional. It’s a welcome addition.

I can’t say the same for how they get her there. Lydia is presented as a grieving daughter pushed to suicidal ideation. Lydia’s mom has died before the story begins and every indication is that mom wasn't the flighty woman (played by Catherine O'Hara in the film) who is out-of-touch with her daughter, but rather a devoted and caring matriarch. Lydia and her father have become gravely distanced by the tragedy. The theme of the story has been changed from parent-to-child generational miscommunication to the more substantial and sobering theme of familial reconciliation after trauma.

It doesn’t work. Compare it to injecting hard sentimentality into NOISES OFF or THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. I liked Lydia who was goth because it was her personality, not because she's processing grief. In the case of BEETLEJUICE, I’d prefer a film-to-musical adaptation more aligned with the film. similar to LEGALLY BLONDE or THE FULL MONTY.

There are plenty of ways to strengthen the character of Lydia through increasingly challenging interractions with Beetlejuice leading to her outsmarting and cleverly defeating him. The grieving daughter route feels like an excuse to cram in some ballads (lovely ones, well-belted, but hey LES MIZ is next season). Such a quantum shift in the story has to REALLY pay off to be justified. It doesn't and isn't.

It’s a credit to the talented cast that the show still manages to succeed. Isabella Esler, as Lydia, is delightful and all-in invested in her performance that thankfully elevates the material.

The supporting cast checks all the boxes on singing, dancing, and comedy. Megan McGinnis and Will Burton, as Barbara and Adam, have handfuls of comic moments. The new stepmom character Delia may be an unwelcome plot device, but that doesn’t stop Kate Marilley from making the character a highlight.

The derivative, unmemorable score has the same depth and complexity as something you’d hear in a Saturday Night Live cold open. It serves its purpose though.

Production heroes besides the cast include (legend) William Ivey Long for his Dios de Los Muertos dipped costumes bathed in deep greens and purples by Kenneth Posner’s light design.

BEETLEJUICE is a lot of fun both onstage and in the house. It's a crowdpleaser. It’s over-the-top, followed by over-over-the-top, exponentially. Everyone wants to see that at least once in a while, especially when well executed like it is here. If you are looking for that kind of comedy and tour-de-force comedians, it is the show you are looking for. Find it at Gammage through August 27th.

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