Musical Monday: Beetlejuice (Broadway)
Spoiler alert: This review contains some spoilers for Beetlejuice, which opened on Broadway April 25th.
In October 2018, I saw the Beetlejuice out of town tryout in Washington D.C. the afternoon after a really good friend got married. While I enjoyed the show, I thought it was held back by feeling inconsistently crude and the music feeling like a comparative weak link. After seeing the show on Broadway, I want to change my tone completely. The creative team for Beetlejuice took the six months to iron out the issues I had with the show, and Beetlejuice has simply become a really good musical.
Admittedly I do not have the musical knowledge nor expertise to tell you exactly what was changed in the orchestrations from D.C. to Broadway, but the music throughout felt more consistent tonally, which helped all of the jokes in the songs land. Part of this was songs being cut and new songs being added. It felt like there wasn’t a misstep in these decisions. I was tapping my feet at songs and realized I had the exact opposite reaction when I left the show that I had in D.C.—I wish the cast album was out already. Similarly, any concerns about the crudeness of the show were thrown out because though Beetlejuice was crude as a character, his voice felt more consistent and complete. Any crude lines or jokes didn’t stick out for shock factors; all of the jokes felt like something this absurd character would say. The entire audience was laughing through the show; I’m not sure a single joke missed the mark.
I said the out of town tryout with a few tweaks that this could be an “awesome time.” It is; Beetlejuice hits the mark. While the book and music are certainly huge parts of making it so much fun, a special shout out should be given to both Alex Brightman playing Beetlejuice and Sophia Anne Caruso playing Lydia. Mr. Brightman was Tony nominated for his lead role in School of Rock, and I think this was a much stronger performance. The season isn’t over, but I think his Beetlejuice could be a dark horse for this year’s Tony Winner. Mr. Brightman is that good. He’s painfully funny, committed to all aspects of the role, and a hell of a singer all rolled into one incredibly memorable character. While Mr. Brightman rightfully would outshine most people, Ms. Caruso absolutely matches him line for line. She might only be 17, but Ms. Caruso has the pipes and the chops to shine. She is unquestionably a performer to watch.
Beetlejuice really took the time to take what worked out of town and make it shine in New York. Not often do I go to the theater and leave with the absolute joy of a big, beautiful show. While there were some nods to the movie, and broadly the story is obviously taken from it, this is a musical that stands on its own legs. Whether or not you’ve seen the movie, if you get a chance to see the musical, then do it. You won’t regret it.