Who would've guessed that one of the biggest movie stars of 2024 would be a gross ghost from the 1980s? All it took was Jenna Ortega's Gen Z goth girl appeal, Tim Burton rediscovering his fastball, and Michael Keaton once again becoming a creepy agent of chaos. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earning over $450 million at the worldwide box office proved that there remains a cultural appetite for "the ghost with the most."
If you're still craving more of that brand of comedic horror goodness after watching the latest film, Beetlejuice: The Musical is here to scratch that festering itch with a run at First Interstate Center for the Arts, Dec. 31-Jan. 5.
The musical adaptation of the original 1988 Tim Burton classic came about well before the cinematic sequel's success. With a cheeky full title — Beetlejuice: The Musical. The Musical. The Musical. — the production first took the Broadway stage in March 2019 and ran through January 2023 (with the obvious extended break during the height of the COVID pandemic). The show opened to critical acclaim and ended up earning eight Tony nominations.
The music broadly follows the same story beats as the original movie. Married couple Adam and Barbara Maitland unexpectedly die, become ghosts and attempt to scare away the new family that moves in (which includes the young Lydia Deetz, who can see the Maitlands). Frustrated, the Maitlands turn to Beetlejuice, a rather disgusting and inappropriate demon to help them with their haunting, but he soon takes over the whole shebang.
In order to capture Beetlejuice's wild spirit, the stage production incorporates elements of magic and fourth wall-breaking improv. It's an ideal role for someone like Justin Collette, who feels most comfortable making people laugh on stage. Collette came up doing sketch and improv comedy at spots like Second City in Chicago before entering the Broadway scene in 2017 playing the Dewey Finn, the lead role in another film-to-stage hit, School of Rock. Landing the role of Beetlejuice in the touring production was his first gig after theaters opened back up, and he's still having a blast doing it.
"The musical form just lends itself so well to how big of a character Beetlejuice is. The character is such an id and over-dramatic, exaggerated personality. It really fits well into the musical theater realm," Collette says. "I like that he's a character that kind of exists a little bit beyond the fourth wall. There's some great interaction with the audiences built into the script. So I think that makes the character feel very alive and very dangerous, in a way that a lot of musical theater characters don't typically feel. And I think that that's the part about it that I enjoyed the most — they've added that fourth wall-y, break-y element that I think makes the character's motivations feel a little more visceral."
Taking over such a well-known role is never an easy task, but Collette put in the work to study the psychology Michael Keaton brought when creating the character even more than specific mannerisms.
"I watched [Michael Keaton] talk about the character. That's kind of what I like to do. In an instance where you're taking over an iconic character, I'm more interested in how the actor thought about making the character, rather than what they ended up with as a final product." Collette says. "So, obviously, there are affects that Michael Keaton has that you just have to kind of keep in the character, because they're so associated with who he is. But also I wanted to know how he thought about making the character, and what his process was behind that. And, thankfully, there was a lot of material to figure that out."
Collette was drawn to how funny and fresh the musical's script was considering it was drawing on such a known movie, but the longer run times in the theatrical setting allows Beetlejuice: The Musical to explore new ground that deepens the world for fans.
"The whole narrative in the film is in our musical, but the musical is two and a half hours versus the hour and a half that the movie was. So anything that you saw and liked in the movie, I think that we've either paid homage to or we do directly in the show," says Collette. "But in the movie Beetlejuice, plot-wise, not a lot happens. You're kind of just waiting in the house for whether he will come out or whether he won't come out. It's really such a visual film — I think it's the first film that really kind of had that Tim Burton style that he's become so known for. It's really that kind of eye feast. I think our writers did a really great job of taking a lot of things that were said maybe offhandedly in the movie — like what happened to Lydia's mom? There's one line that says that Delia is just her stepmom. And so we're like, alright, let's explore that story."
Between the stage magic conveying the supernatural and the loose comedic structure of the show, Beetlejuice is on the opposite end of the spectrum from any stereotypically erudite and stodgy musical theater production.
"I like that he's a character that kind of exists a little bit beyond the fourth wall."
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"I mean, this is the first musical where I ever had magic rehearsals during the process. It's a heightened reality experience for people who are going to the theater," Collette says. "I've been doing [Beetlejuice] for over two years now, so a lot of the improv-y moments that are in there, we've kind of found the greatest hits and know how these moments can work out the best. So they've honestly become kind of baked in. But every night, if something happens, the character has the ability to adapt to it in a way that wouldn't take you out of the show. Because we've already set up the conceit that he's able to do that, it kind of makes the show seamlessly truck along."
While Collette hasn't noticeably seen a huge uptick in audiences in the wake of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, it's clear that this ghost is having a moment. What better way to ring in the New Year than with a little New Fear?
"We've been really, really fortunate that we've been performing to packed houses now for two straight years, so we haven't seen much of a difference [since the sequel came out]," says Collette. "I think everybody's just really into Beetlejuice right now."
(Just don't tell Beetlejuice that. His ego is already inflated to horrific levels.) ♦
Beetlejuice: The Musical • Dec. 31-Jan. 5; Tue-Sat at 7:30 pm; also Sat at 2 pm and Sun at 1 and 6:30 pm • $50-$105 • All ages (Recommended 13+) • First Interstate Center for the Arts • 334 W. Spokane Falls Blvd • broadwayspokane.com
