The Beetlejuice Musical Offers a Darkly Comedic Outlook on Life

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetle—

Okay, hang on a second, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Beetlejuice: The Musical (The Musical, The Musical) has officially hit San Diego on its national tour, and the mind trip of fun that took up the three-hour runtime was an awesome deep-dive into the themes and storyline from the original movie it’s based on.

Justin Collette (Beetlejuice) and Tour Company of Beetlejuice. Photo by Matthew Murphy

What’s Beetlejuice: The Musial About?

Like the movie, the Beetlejuice musical largely follows Lydia Deetz (Isabelle Esler) who is grieving the loss of her mother. After the funeral, her father, Charles (Jesse Sharp) uproots her and moves into another house, which he doesn’t know is haunted by the spirits of Adam and Barbara Maitland (Will Burton and Britney Coleman), who have recently died (though the reason is different on stage than in the film.)

Pictured (L-R) Britney Coleman (Barbara), Will Burton (Adam), Isabella Esler (Lydia) and Justin Collette (Beetlejuice). Photo by Matthew Murphy

Behind the scenes in the dead world with Adam and Barbara lies Betelgeuse (Andrew Kober), a demon who’s trapped and needs a human to say his name three times in a row, uninterrupted, to free him and bring him back to the world of the living. After convincing Adam and Barbara to help him scare the new tenants who have taken over their house, chaos ensues as they get entangled with Lydia, whose main drive is reconnecting with her dead mother and processing her grief.

The film’s plot is broken up into two acts in the musical, with the first covering everyone’s introduction and the second about what happens after the underworld gets involved. In between is a lot of wacky humor, upbeat music, and just as much demonic pizazz as everyone grew to love from the movie.

Isabella Esler (Lydia) and Justin Collette (Beetlejuice). Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Performances from the Beetlejuice Musical

First and foremost, Esler delivered some serious chest voice in her role as Lydia. As someone who recently lost their father, I personally connected with her journey of loss and suffering and simply trying to figure out the “why” behind everything. Her character largely remains in that bargaining stage throughout the narrative while also juggling her struggling relationship with her father.

Charles, on the other hand, is handling his grief by also trying to move forward with Delia (Kate Marilley), a life coach who has been hired to help Lydia move forward from losing her mother. This is another difference from the movie, where Delia was already the stepmother, and in the musical she’s only the fiancée.

Kate Marilley (Delia) and Jesse Sharp (Charles). Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Marilley totally slayed the role and payed perfect homage to the great Catherine O’Hara who originated it in the film. The way she moved around the stage and owned her character was my favorite part of the show, and I looked forward to any scene she weaved her way into.

Kober did a great job handling the title role, though I feel bad what it does to his voice. Or, what I feel like it does, anyway, because Betelgeuse’s voice, in general, is already pretty scratchy. When you throw in the breakaway numbers he has to belt, I’m sure hot honey and lemon is always ready to help soothe the vocals. Kober takes on the role for the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings on the tour, while Justin Collette handles the Friday, Saturday, and double Sunday performances.

Elsewhere, Burton and Coleman were highly entertaining as Adam and Barbara, with Coleman’s “Barbara 2.0” being one of the highlights, both musically and characteristically as it carried through the remainder of the second half. I also enjoyed the play on how sexy Adam was and the awkward flirtatiousness between him and Betelgeuse, and the actors resonated well with each other on stage.

Overall Thoughts on the Beetlejuice Musical

Isabella Esler (Lydia), Will Burton (Adam) and Britney Coleman (Barbara). Photo by Matthew Murphy.

For a show about death, the music expertly captured the serious intonations behind the plotline as well as the comedic approach as seen in the original film. The set design added a lot to the show overall, and each of the actors was given an opportunity to shine at one point her another.

One standout came from Esler’s rendition of “Dead Mom,” as well as the ensemble closeout to act one with “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).” The exploration of the underworld throughout “What I Know Now” was humorous and dark at the same time, ultimately culminating in the reconnection of Charles and Lydia after a heartwrenching performance of “Home.”

Although the show itself could have probably only been one act that stretched across a two-hour runtime instead of nearly three, the show still captured what it means to be a human, what it means to deal with death, and what could happen if you befriend a demon.

The Beetlejuice musical plays at the San Diego Civic Theater through August 20th before heading to Tempe, Arizona. Purchase your tickets here, and be sure to check out other tour dates to catch a performance near you.

Have you seen the Beetlejuice Musical? What was your experience like? Let me know down in the comments!