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”<\/p>\n”<\/p>\n
Beetlejuice The Musical”
\nthe Winter Garden Theater
\nManhattan<\/p>\n
Music\/Lyrics: Eddie Perfect
\nBook: Scott Brown, Anthony King
\ncast: Alex Brightman, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Butler, Rob McClure<\/p>\n
As wacky as director Tim Burton 1988\u2019s cinematic comedy, \u201cBeetlejuice,\u201d was, throwing it on stage is even a wackier idea. With the film version starring such a sterling cast as Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin as Barbara and Adam Maitland respectively; Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz; and Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse — that’s “Beetlejuice” actually — Burton\u2019s happy house haunting would seem hard to translate to a live Broadway experience.<\/p>\n
Yet, there is a staged version and this musical adaptation goes much further in the narrative chaos that oozed from the film\u2019s all-over-the-place plot. Whatever nuttiness ensues in the staged theatrical version, Tony-nominated actor Alex Brightman \u2014 in the title role \u2014 makes it all acceptable through his energy and presence.<\/p>\n
Complementing his performance is that of teenaged Sophia Anne Caruso as Lydia Deetz, the black-clad, angst-ridden \u201cyoung adult\u201d who needs to overcome internal and external challenges \u2014 including managing the maddening Beetlejuice \u2014 to fully make it to adulthood. Recalling the storyline gets challenging given its angular nature but it goes something like this: there\u2019s this much loved house, once occupied by the now drowned Maitlands \u2014Barbara and Adam (played by Kerry Butler and Rob McClure respectively). Once they realize they\u2019re both dead and ghosts, they try to drive out the Deetzs \u2014 a family they particularly dislike who now occupy their residence. In order to ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/beetle-1-300x168.jpeg\")
be more effective ghosts, they enlist the aid of the demon Beetlejuice to help in the haunting. That sort of backfires \u2014 because, thrown into the mix, is their daughter Deez, who can see all the ghostliness. Ultimately, Deetz, the demon and the Maitlands find some sort of resolution and Beetlejuice has to deal with his monstrous mother in Hell.<\/p>\n
At least that\u2019s what I pieced together from what was experienced on stage. Loaded with many conceptual incursions such as a demonic puppet monster worm and Beetlejuice\u2019s fourth-wall breaking commentary addressed directly to audiences attending the performance, it wasn\u2019t always clear whether there was any logic to the plot. But thanks to Brightman and Caruso\u2019s exemplary performances, the whole cast worked through the show with a kind of amped-up enthusiasm that pushes back against the lack of logic \u2014 making it worthy entertainment.<\/p>\n
And much as it was in the film, the \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d rendition of Harry Belafonte\u2019s \u201cDay-O (The Banana Boat Song)” \u2014 with Delia, Charles, Maxine, Maxie, Lydia, and the ensemble all rocking out \u2014 stirred the audience. In fact, like other cult faves such as \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show,\u201d this Broadway musical is bringing the hardcore regulars who know every lyric and melody and rave along — enhancing the experience even if it doesn\u2019t always make sense.<\/p>\n