Beetlejuice’s goofy ghosts and spunky spirits make their way to Fort Worth’s Bass Hall
They say the afterlife is forever, and that seems true with Tim Burton’s haunting creation “Beetlejuice.”
The character, made famous by Michael Keeton in the 1988 movie written and directed by Burton, has resurfaced this year in a movie sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
Also, a musical adaptation of the story has been keeping the goofiest of ghosts, the spunkiest of spirits in the spotlight for several years. First, it was on Broadway beginning in 2019, and now it is on a national tour that is making its way to Fort Worth’s Bass Hall Oct. 29-Nov. 3.
The show is part of Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Broadway at the Bass Series.
“There’s a large, eclectic bunch of performers who take you on this journey to a haunted house and the netherworld,” said Connor Gallagher, the show’s choreographer, in a press release. “We go to a bunch of places and introduce different characters throughout. It’s constantly changing and morphing, and that makes the show really fun for a choreographer.”
The show maintains the original story of Lydia Deetz, a goth teenager who’s grieving her recently deceased mother while also trying to get her dad’s attention. She stumbles upon Beetlejuice, a demon with a weird (to say the least) sense of humor, bringing him into the world of the living — where he wants to stay and can only do so by getting married.
Lydia becomes friends with a ghost couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland. While they are supposed to be haunting the new home of Lydia, her dad and stepmom, it’s not their forte’ to say the least — but they do battle to save Lydia from Beetlejuice.
No one combines the world of death and the macabre with humor like Burton. However, in the press release Gallagher stressed the musical is not simply a rehash of the movie.
“Very often with films adapted for the stage, you see a version of the movie on stage,” he said. “Here, Act I sticks pretty closely to the movie, but Act II feels almost like a fan-fiction expansion of it.”