Beetlejuice: The Musical, The Musical, The Musical was Fun, Fun, Fun

–by Ashley Cox

 

After multiple seasons, Beetlejuice has returned to The Fox to wreak his signature havoc this weekend. Friday night, the crowd was a sea of black and white stripes, electric green, and deep purple. As expected by anything from Tim Burton’s material, it was a stimulating feast for the eyes and ears. While similar to the source material, there are notable differences as told to us by Beetlejuice himself during his frequent 4th wall breaks.

Cast standouts were, of course, Beetlejuice played by Ryan Stajmiger. I have found the “Beetlejuice” gravely voice to be extremely grating in some productions, but Stajmiger was able to capture the roughness of the character without giving me an ASMR neck itch. He was incredibly entertaining at being crass but likable. Yes, Beetlejuice is supposed to be a gross villain but he should also be weirdly endearing. The huge standout was Bailey Frankenberg as Delia, Lydia’s life coach and future stepmother. An absolute knockout with a diva-level vocal range and impressive physicality. She stole the show anytime she was onstage. “No Reason” a duet with Leinna Weaver’s Lydia ended being my favorite song… outshining the iconic “Day-O (The Banana Boat)”

This has been the season for awe-inspiring set design… Immersive, creative, and a character all its own. The Maitlands, before their untimely death, are rehabbing their home which featured cut outs to the interior of the walls. As the owner of an “antique” house myself, I got a great chuckle from the knob-and-tube wiring. Take a guess as to what turned our heroes into ghosts. Large props and inventive spotlighting helped create the chaos of our titular demon.

This show is recommended for 13 and up as it features a lot of coarse language, plenty of middle fingers, and what I thought was a well-crafted cocaine gag which you may not want your younger children to parrot at school. Lighting and fire may also overwhelm some.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I laughed at what I thought was another chance to milk an IP until its death. Maybe like Beetlejuice, I have become a little jaded that the amount of movie-based shows. Our friendly and not-so-friendly ghosts move on to haunt another theatre this week, but a band of witless knights invade May 5th as Monty Python’s Spamalot takes the stage.