Alex Brightman, who plays the title role of Beetlejuice, and director Alex Timbers, bring us into the world of Beetlejuice. The show has been nominated for eight Tony awards, including Best Musical.
While Brightman didn’t have a lot of time to study the material, he did as best he could. “I came in and was very much myself,” says the actor who was last on Broadway masterfully paying Dewey Finn in School of Rock. “I thought, that was easy. That is how I would like to audition for every single show I ever do.”
Director Alex Timbers was floored by Brightman who also has a background doing improv and sketch. “Alex is an incredible performer,” says Timbers. “He is so thoughtful and improvisatory on his feet.”
Back in 2010, Warner Bros. producer Kevin McCormick approached Timbers with an idea. What if Beetlejuice was a musical? Timbers, like so many, grew up watching the movie and was smitten. “So many people relate to the movie,” he says. “It’s a story about outsiders. People see themselves in these characters.” Timbers believed that Beetlejuice, the musical, could work if three things were true. First, Lydia, the sardonic, yet vulnerable teenager, had to be a central protagonist. “Even though she is not necessarily the focus of the movie, her emotional story feels like the core of it,” says Timbers.
Timbers also wanted to focus on the house as a place that transforms. As he explains, so many plays take place in a single location. But what if you could see the Maitland’s version, the Deetz’s version and then the Beetlejuice house? “How fun would it be to have a little magic box?” observes Timbers. Also, he wondered if Beetlejuice could break the fourth wall. “Beetlejuice feels like one of those great musical theater characters who could talk directly to and calm the audience,” he shares.
Wishes granted. Timbers was able to move forward with the Beetlejuice he envisioned. A dream creative team was enlisted. It included book writers Scott Brown and Anthony King, Eddie Perfect (original music and lyrics), music supervision, orchestrations and incidental music by Kris Kukul, choreographer Connor Gallagher, set designer David Korins, puppet designer Michael Curry, costume designer William Ivey Long, lighting designer Kenneth Posner, sound designer Peter Hylenski, projection designer Peter Nigrini, special effects designer Jeremy Chernick and illusionist Michael Webe.
Timbers and the team were determined not to place a carbon copy of the film on stage. So at first the idea of creating a transforming and trippy world that would deliver on its own was terrifying for Nigrini. Especially since so many people have such a strong attachment and clear memory of the film. “It was a huge opportunity and responsibility to deliver something that doesn’t look like the movie but feels like it,” says Nigrini.
They also assembled a comic gold cast who could deliver the hilarity and heart of the show. They include Kerry Butler and the Rob McClure as Barbara and Adam Maitland. Leslie Kritzer and Adam Dannheisser as Delia and Charles Deetz. “They are such funny people who I have seen onstage and admired over the years,” says Timbers. Plus, with something like 70 magic tricks and loads of pyro, they also had to be ace magicians.
Meanwhile, Brightman got the part. “He has been able to take the role as written and bring it to new heights of invention,” observes Timbers. For Brightman it was a labor of love, but a real labor. “I worked my ass off to make it something special and not make anybody regret the decision to cast me,” shares the actor who was nominated for a Tony for Beetlejuice.
Sophia Anne Caruso, a dynamo who has been working professionally since she was nine-years-old, was cast as Lydia Deetz. The actress who won great acclaim for her role in David Bowie’s Lazarus had the chops and golden voice to perform such a multi-faceted role and the ideal foil to Beetlejuice. “These characters are all outsiders, but particularly Lydia,” says Timbers. “She is sarcastic, funny, captivating, whip smart and an equal to Beetlejuice.” For Timbers one of the most fun parts of the show is watching them outwit each other.” In fact, Brightman likens their relationship to one of those Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis road comedies. “Except,” he says, “With a 17-year-old girl and a millennia-old demon.”
Brightman revealed more.
Jeryl Brunner: What qualities does Beetlejuice have that you love?
Alex Brightman: What I love about this Beetlejuice, in particular, is that he is more human than you think. He is obsessed with the idea of being alive. So for a millennia, he has tried to get the human thing right. That is a fun dynamic to play – how humans relate to each other and react to things. And he couldn’t be more wrong, which is adorable. That is why he says things that are out of line and off-color.
