He’s here, the scheming demon, the Broadway poltergeist, the striped menace himself, Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice). The eponymous ghostly host of this musical may be dead but he sure does slay.
The eight-time Tony Award-nominated Beetlejuice The Musical has made its Australian premiere, opening at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre last week. This exclusive Melbourne season brings Tim Burton’s cult classic to life in a riotous stage adaptation featuring a score by Australia’s own Eddie Perfect, who also stars in the title role
Let’s skip the tears and start on the whole, you know, Eddie Perfect thing. Alex Brightman the broadway actor for Beetlejuice may be an icon but here in Melbourne we get the lyricist himself – our lovely Australian quadruple threat. You read that right, this man can sing, dance, act and write.
Now with our lead actor’s introduction out of the way let’s talk about the ghost host with the most. I’m sure we’re all familiar with the grumbly, boozy, sleazy and dare I say it, creepy old guy that is Beetlejuice. He’s gross and obnoxious and helplessly crass but Perfect returns just a little bit of humanity to our bio-exorcist.
It’s definitely interesting watching Perfect play the character he polished for this musical. Beetlejuice was of course and existing character and by in large he’s quite the same, but he has a motivation, he has a past, he has a desperation for something more than the endless drudge of life as the undead. Brightman may have honed the character in his own right, but Perfect dusted him off and let him shine. Watching Perfect’s performance you can feel how much love and energy he gives to this character, how much of himself he surrenders to the stage, to his fellow actors and to his audience. It’s truly remarkable to see that dedication.
This comedy production covers a lot of heavy topics, and it does so with such an incredible grace. Our leading lady Karis Oka as Lydia Deetz is phenomenal when it comes to integrating the heartbreaking emotional side of the plot into the otherwise quite silly and lighthearted show. She brings such a depth to the story as a whole, and a depth to her character unique only to Oka.
There’s a lot of sadness and a lot of anger behind Lydia generally, but Oka brings a sort of subtle sweetness and longing to the grieving teenage girl, she turns her from a rebel to a little girl who just wants to be seen.
Lydia loses her mother and while feeling just that. Unseen, unheard, invisible. She struggles to keep the memory of her mother alive in the very same world and family that didn’t stop turning for her sorrow. Oka portrays this quiet misery and the much louder subsequent rebellion Lydia strikes against her father so well and admittedly I sobbed my way through the song ‘Dead Mom’.
The crew really outdid themselves as well, lead and directed by Alex Timbers is a fairly large and so incredibly talented team. Puppet designer Michael Curry who you might recognise from the animals in the Lion King musical, designed a 25 foot long (or for those of us who don’t speak American, 7.62 meters long) massive sand worm puppet.
If you thought we were out of divas you couldn’t be more wrong, Jeremy Chernick was the special effects designer for the production. Chernick flies a little under the radar unless you’re in the design world but this man is a LEGEND. With work featured in over fifty broadway productions including Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, Hadestown, The Addams Family and The Book of Mormon, Chernick brought some truly iconic ideas to life for this musical. He made the netherworld door possible, the show truly would not be the same without his contributions among those of the other designers who helped make this production what it is.
This show is amazing for both a laugh and a cry, it’s witty, silly, spooky and tragic all at once. It’s a haunted house on stage full of fog, smoke, monsters, ghosts and about 13 demonic Beetlejuice doppelgängers running around. The costumes and props are stellar, the actors and ensemble sing wonderfully and Sandy the sand worm in all her majesty gets to show the world her greatness.
I simply can’t recommend this musical enough, it’s been on my personal bucket list for a long time for the sound track alone and my God was I stoked to not only see the show but see such a beautifully orchestrated production of it. Congratulations Perfect, Timbers, cast and crew for this phenomenal performance, design and execution.
