Beetlejuice the Musical
Strong Equity National Touring Production Stops in Miami
By: Aaron Krause - May 02, 2025
Beetlejuice the Musical may resemble a freaky carnival or haunted house, but at its core, the show is about a lonely, grieving teenager craving recognition.
In a world where people often ignore lonesome youth – sometimes with tragic consequences – Beetlejuice reminds us that it is important to truly see and listen to one another.
Unfortunately, sometimes the show’s many visual thrills overshadow the human story at the heart of Beetlejuice the Musical. At times your senses may feel overstimulated. Frankly, the 2018 musical, which lasts about two hours and 35 minutes, including an intermission, sometimes drags. However, the libretto, by Scott Brown and Anthony King, thrills at other times. Perhaps with fewer visuals and a little reduced running time, this show would achieve the perfect balance of weirdness, creepiness, and comedy.
The live show’s mix of heart and horror is on display in Miami, under Alex Timbers sensitive direction. A strong equity national touring production is playing at the Adrienne Arsht Center through Sunday. After it leaves Miami, the show will run at venues in many other cities.
You may remember the story from the 1988 Tim Burton film, also titled Beetlejuice. In the movie, a recently deceased couple, Adam and Barbara Maitland, try to scare away their home’s new owners with the help of a mischievous ghost named Beetlejuice. But in the film, he is a supporting role, as is Lydia Deetz, the lonely, sad teen who is the daughter of the house’s new owners. The movie instead focuses mostly on the Maitlands.
In the musical, which is mostly faithful to the film, the titular character and Lydia are the main characters. Also, the live show features a more elaborate and fantastical netherworld.
The “ghost with the most” is our host in the musical. He is on stage for most of the show, narrates it, and often breaks the “Fourth Wall” to talk to the audience, even though he cannot see us. At times during the reviewed performance, he addressed specific audience members.
The title character has grown tired of being invisible to living people. And, so, he wants our help to change that. For humans to be able to see him, a living person must say his name three times in a row out loud.
Our host, with greenish hair and makeup, may be dead and eccentric, but somehow, he wins us over. Indeed, he is charismatic, conniving, and may remind us of a fast-talking salesman, conman, or performer who loves to hear himself talk.
In the movie, a fast-talking Michael Keaton imbued the title character with a winning eccentricity and unpredictability. Keaton’s magnetism kept our eyes and ears glued to the screen. Likewise, in the equity national touring production playing the Arsht Center, Justin Collete infuses the title character with his own brand of charisma and shamelessness. In addition, he is nimble and you never know what he is going to do next. Look away from the stage even briefly at your own risk. To his credit, Collete never makes Beetlejuice evil. Sure, he can startle you, but you never want to shield your youngster from the crazy ghost on stage.
Speaking of young people, the show is not too frightening for children, although they may feel startled, along with the adults, at times. Expect the unexpected and pay close attention so that a sudden sound or action does not alarm you.
Chances are, in the film, Lydia won over many young audiences. Perhaps they could sympathize with this melancholy, goth-like girl who feels different, isolated, wears all black, and can see ghosts. You may remember her saying “I myself am strange and unusual.”
Winona Ryder portrayed Lydia in the film as a subdued and perhaps bored and lonely youngster who could use a friend. When she meets the Maitlands and learns they are ghosts, Ryder’s Lydia grows enthusiastic. In fact, she seems attracted to death.
In the national touring production, Madison Mosley, who portrays Lydia, is nothing like Ryder. The dark-haired Mosley, clad in black, believably makes the girl an intense, frustrated youth with a sense of urgency. It is almost as though she is just looking to hit someone or something to placate her anger. Also, she seems doggedly determined to find her mother in the netherworld and make her neglectful father recognize her. Speaking of Lydia’s mom, it would have been nice to learn something about her. Even at her brief burial service at the beginning of the show, we learn nothing about her.
It takes great stamina to play Lydia in the musical. After all, she must not only act but intensely yet naturally sing some of the show’s songs. But Mosley triumphs with a clear, powerhouse voice and a natural stage presence that help her deliver a dynamic and convincing performance. Her transformation from an angry, lonely, intense mourning teenager to a youth who reconciles with her father and finds peace and happiness occurs seamlessly and believably through Mosley’s performance.
The show’s score, with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect, is not particularly memorable. But the musical numbers, a mix of rock, pop, traditional Broadway, and gothic tones, nicely complement the show’s quirky, dark, and comic story. A live band ably accompanies the performers as they sing. The performers also nicely execute Connor Gallagher’s physical choreography.
While you may not run out to buy a cast recording, fans of the film will be happy to know that the live show includes the songs from the film. Specifically, “Day-O” (the famous banana boat song), comes when the Maitlands possess the home’s new owners, forcing them to sing and dance to the number. It interrupts the new owners’ dinner party with guests. Also, like in the film, the live show’s last song is “Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora).” It is a high-energy number that may move you to clap along. The celebratory song follows a more emotional scene when Lydia comes to terms with her grief and connects with the living and dead.
Overall, the show’s lyrics deepen the characters’ emotions. For example, in “Dead Mom,” Lydia sings “Hey mom, dead mom, I need a little help here.” The number showcases the character’s emotional pain and frustration.
Meanwhile, in Beetlejuice’s opening number, he sings “Hey folks, beggin’ your pardon, excuse me, sorry to barge in.”
While Beetlejuice and Lydia are the musical’s main characters, other people populate the musical’s strange world as well.
Will Burton and Megan McGinnis perform well as the Maitlands. These performers radiate convincing enthusiasm as a young couple looking forward to spending many years together before their accidental death via electrocution. Burton and McGinnis are also believable as upset and confused ghosts new to the afterlife and looking to scare away their home’s new owners.
Jesse Sharp is, well, sharp as Lydia’s father, Charles. He plays him as a well-meaning man who may be emotionally distant. However, the scene in which father and daughter reconcile is moving.
Sarah Litzsinger deft comic timing and energy as Delia, Lydia’s stepmother who is deeply into self-help philosophies. At one point, Delia sings: “When life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade. But life gave me tanking self-esteem, and I made…art.”
A solid supporting cast find the quirky energy and humor that animate Beetlejuice the Musical. The show sometimes loses focus, such as at the top of the second act. Then, out of nowhere, a girl scout (a sunny Emilia Tagliani) enters the picture, sings a song, and then leaves.
But you are bound to recognize characters from the film, such as student athletes (football players) who died after a crash, and Juno, the Maitlands’ caseworker (Maria Sylvia Norris). But Juno is different from the character you saw in the movie. In the live show, she is a villainous, rule-enforcing bureaucrat from the Netherworld. You could escribe Norris’s performance as Juno as Miss Trunchbull from Matilda on crack or heroin.
With its many special effects and visuals, Beetlejuice the Musical probably costs a fortune to stage. Kudos must go to artists such as scenic designer David Korins, who vividly brings the show’s Burtonian landscape to life.
“We’ve culled from all of Tim Burton’s movies,” Korins said in an interview with Broadway.com published in the program. “If you know the worlds from his movies, you’ll see the little things. Every single piece of the set is hand drawn. It’s a very technical and complicated show, but it has a homemade quality – a do-it-yourself aesthetic.”
Burton is famous for his unique blend of macabre and whimsical humor.
In addition, behind the scenes, lighting designer Kenneth Posner paints with light. Specifically, he deftly uses colors such as green and purple to enhance the show’s eerie, otherworldly feel, as well as stage fog. From diagonal shafts of light to flashing lights and moments when the lighting fixtures move, Posner's design is evocative.
Costume designer William Ivey Long has created character appropriate, striking costumes that look sturdy, and many other artists have contributed immensely to shape the overall effect.
Interestingly, the title character technically spells his name “Betelgeuse.” That is a red supergiant star, the brightest in the constellation Orion and one of the largest known stars.
Back on Earth, Beetlejuice is a star in his own right. He anchors a weird and whimsical spectacle that haunts and delights. Despite its sensory overload and the occasional veering from focus, the show’s beating heart is strong. It reminds us of the value of being seen.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Beetlejuice the Musical
WHEN: Through Sunday, May 4.
WHERE: Adrienne Arsht Center, 1300 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami.
TICKETS: For showtimes and tickets, call (305) 949-6722 or go to www.arshtcenter.org. For information about future touring stops, go to https://beetlejuicebroadway.com.