Will Burton, Megan McGinnis, Madison Mosley and Justin Collette in Beetlejuice | Photo by Matthew Murphy, 2024
Is Beetlejuice kind of hot?
I was not expecting to ask myself that question. But now I’ve seen Justin Collette take the lead in Beetlejuice (the musical), presented by Mirvish, and so here we are. I’m a huge fan of Michael Keaton’s manic persona from the films and worried that an impression would irritate me. Collette, though, does his own outrageous and specific thing with the character. The Juice—a cartoonishly vulgar and macabre huckster gameshow host pervert—always had some ghoulish razzle-dazzle, but the jazz hands are dialled up to eleven here and surprisingly queer!
Scott Brown and Anthony King’s book holds onto enough of the original film’s plot and character dynamics to ground it as nostalgia-bait, but also tinkers with the story’s mechanics to make it feel reasonably novel. They’ve given goth teen Lydia (Emilia Tagliani at the opening performance) some explicit emotional baggage to make her alienation from dad and mother figure a little more motivated. Her mom’s dead in this version and her dad, Charles (Jesse Sharp), has essentially replaced her with a ditzy life coach he’s hired. Given the same name and similar antagonistic parental dynamic with Lydia, it’s clear this Delia (Sarah Litzsinger) is meant to stand in for Catherine O’Hara’s hilariously eccentric portrait of flaky pretension. The Maitlands (Megan McGinnis and Will Burton) are here too, the recently deceased owners of this country house, and their quaint and crafty selves are given a little more dimension.
Lydia wants to be reunited with her mom. The Maitland’s want to get this new family out of their house. Beetlejuice wants someone to say his name three times so he can manifest in the world of the living. A sandworm makes an appearance. Hijinks, hilarity and some tender moments ensue.
As the narrative riffs on the original, the design team do the same with aesthetics. Tim Burton-esque flourishes abound—German expressionist skewed angles, white and black stripes, that adorable shrunken-head guy even makes an appearance. One of the coolest tricks from David Korins (scenic design) and Peter Nigrini (projection design) is their collaboration on making the house feel possessed. The edges and prominent protrusions of the physical set are enhanced by jittery surface projections that give an astonishing impression of incorporeality. Another trippy integration of set and projection is the depiction of a simple hallway of the netherworld. A dizzying series of concentric, warped frames masterfully hides the division between on-stage elements and the projection of an endless void. The curtain that descends to hide large-scale scene changes and give interstitial moments a vaudeville framing feels a little clumsy, but it hardly detracts from the overall execution, which is solid.
And, yes, those beloved calypso standards are here too. The “Day-O” possession-dance set piece is recreated, but the song also figures more poignantly into the story, established early on as Lydia’s mom’s favourite. The finale features “Jump in the Line,” though Lydia’s supernatural levitation is underwhelming in scale and may as well just be cut entirely—especially after such grand moments as Beetlejuice bursting into the house on a huge sandworm. Michael Curry’s puppet does the creature justice.
Director Alex Timbers’ production honours the source material and is playfully inventive in its own right. While Eddie Perfect’s songs aren’t especially memorable, they are suitably entertaining. My favourite number, “That Beautiful Sound,” celebrates Lydia and Beetlejuice’s mischievous buddy phase as they take turns traumatizing visitors, during which he conjures multiples of himself to fill the stage for a full-on Broadway spectacle. Connor Gallagher’s often acrobatic choreography supports the circus-like atmosphere. In addition to fourth-wall breaks, there are also a few nods to the musical theatre canon. Brigadoon and Wicked get some shade thrown their way and I chuckled at Beetlejuice’s sly reference to “Being Alive” from Company.
Shout out to Maria Sylvia Norris as a dinner party guest who delivers her lines with such intrusively loud and obnoxious force, she became the comic centrepiece of a scene for which she’s really only supporting player. It doesn’t sound like it should work, but damn, her disruptive intensity just tickled me.
While I found the family drama aspects of Burton’s own follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, flat and cumbersome (the original was a more fully committed comedy), the heartfelt bits feel more earned and compelling here. I don’t love it, but have ample affection for this Beetlejuice, which is a thoroughly well designed and joyfully performed crowd pleaser.
Beetlejuice
running June 3 to July 19, 2025
CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre (244 Victoria Street)
running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes (includes intermission)
Madison Mosley in Beetlejuice | Photo by Matthew Murphy, 2024