Beetlejuice is set haunt fans once again in 2022, with the kooky character making his Broadway musical return later this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the stage show based on the iconic ’80s movie will make its 2022 debut on Friday, April 8. The show previously closed on March 11, 2020 — after premiering in April 2019 — when the Covid-19 pandemic caused a complete showdown of all Broadway shows.
In the 1988 film, directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice is a goofy ghoul who is summoned by a recently deceased couple to scare off the rude people who’ve moved into the home they occupied when they were alive. However, they soon grow close to the outcast teen whose parents bought the house, and eventually learn that Beetlejuice is not to be trusted. The film stars Michael Keaton as the titular ghastly goofball, with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis playing the couple responsible for unleashing him. Winona Ryder portrayed Lydia Deetz, the gothic teen, while Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara starred as her self-centered parents.
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In the play, stage actor Alex Brightman portrays Beetlejuice. Shortly after it launched in 2019, he spoke with New York Theater Guide about the show and shared what he thinks fans of the movie might find to be most surprising about the musical. “I’ll tell you exactly what – nobody expects this musical to have a beating heart in it,” he said. “I think people are coming to see the zaniness, the circus and the vaudeville and the dark comedy that is Beetlejuice.”
Brightman continued, “You get a lot of that in the movie. But what I don’t think you get in the movie until the dead-end is the heart. We follow the story of Lydia, who has just lost her mother, and that’s a very real topic that we really explore and dive into in this musical. I think people will be surprised that they’re crying by the end. There are moments that are really quite touching.”
The actor also joked about similarities between himself and his character. “Well, I don’t wanna say I’m a degenerate like Beetlejuice,” he said with a laugh, “but I’m a little bit of a degenerate. Only because I enjoy dark comedy and I enjoy pushing the envelope and seeing how far I can take things when it comes to comedy. Other than that, I’m certainly not as snappy a dresser as he is. But he does smell worse than me!”
