Beetlejuice - The Musical

“This show so overstuffs itself with gags, one-liners and visual diversions that you shut down from sensory overload...Brightman and 'Beetlejuice' can indeed sustain this anything-for-a-laugh intensity. And it is not a trait that benefits from prolonged exposure...Here, everybody, including every member of the support cast, has already gone so far over the top that there’s no room for comic contrast. The disheartening moral of 'Beetlejuice' is that when anything goes, nothing much registers.”

“Happily and improbably, 'Beetlejuice,' directed by Alex Timbers, lays those problems to rest. (A pretty hectic rest, but still.) Where the show falters is in the more ordinary stuff of musical theater, story and song...The book writers, Scott Brown and Anthony King, have plenty of good lines, but they haven’t really decided what story they want to tell...Eddie Perfect’s songs are forgettable...And yet somehow, impossibly, 'Beetlejuice' is pretty fun.”

“The retooling done since its out-of-town tryout in D.C. gives the latest film-to-musical adaptation fresh snap, surprises and (gasp!) even heart. Sure, the narrative becomes a bit of a cluster-muck in the second act — but mostly it’s just screamingly good fun...The plotting eventually goes completely off the rails, but keeping things entertaining enough are the off-the-wall humor, endless visuals and aural delights, tuneful music and wicked lyrics of Perfect.”

“The show is a loving homage to a wonderfully weird original, reconceived for the stage with eye-popping design, full-throttle performances and a mischievous sense of fun...It's impossible to deny the virtuosic showmanship of lead actor Alex Brightman...The writers struggle to control the reins of their galloping narrative...The musical delivers a unique fan experience for lovers of the movie, and plenty of touches that Burton cultists will appreciate.”

“Whatever else it may or may not be, 'Beetlejuice' is spectacularly weird...there are magic tricks and giant worms and a starkly linear idea of the afterlife that contrasts well with the chaotic world of the living. If only so much of the rest of 'Beetlejuice' were not a busy mess...It looks great, and there are strong performances and some outré laughs, but none of it quite fits together; the tone varies wildly, and skids around on Eddie Perfect’s slipshod score.”

“True to its source material, it’s loud, it’s cheeky, and it’s all about excess. It’s also—thanks in large part to Alex Brightman’s spot-on performance as the incorrigible titular ghoul—a pretty fun time...The truth is we’re not here for the sweet stuff; we’re here for the mayhem, and the show is at its best when the growling, grinning Brightman is onstage...The musical is supposed to have twin engines, Beetlejuice and Lydia, but only the first is fully firing.”

““This self-described ‘show about death’ bombards us with every piece of theatrical weaponry Timbers and numerous other imagineers could devise...Perfect’s score sounds like a simulacrum of Broadway show music, the cloth cut to fit each occasion, with rising modulations and drawn-out cadences simulating drama...The major impression, ultimately, is not that of a clever romp wickedly testing the limits of the tasteless, but of a repetitive refrain of disgust and disdain.”

“This reworked incarnation, under Alex Timbers’s direction, breathes slightly more enjoyably even as it remains too faithful to the pumped-up inclinations of book writers Scott Brown and Anthony King and composer-lyricist Eddie Perfect...On the seriously plus side, two inferior songs have been cut from Act 2...It will never be among my favorite musicals, but I bet there will be a healthy and less-encumbered cheering section for it in New York.”

“There’s plenty worth a haunt here, from David Korins’ off-kilter spook house set to Alex Brightman’s raspy-voiced title performance and, most of all, the deliriously gorgeous singing of young Sophia Anne Caruso, and it all comes within reasonable reach of exorcising the bad vibes that attached themselves to the production during its pre-Broadway run in Washington D.C...The book retains the best bits from the movie without adding much of lasting value.”

“Crafted from a group of creative minds who clearly love the source material...There are still second act problems and a song list void of any real bops, but it’s a fun time for the Burton novice and pure fan service for the Burton stans, thanks in large part to the titular puckish undead spirit breathing life into a Broadway experiment that could’ve been dead in the water...The real surprise standout is Kritzer’s Delia. A supporting role, yes, but one she blends with all kinds of comedy.”

“Alex Timbers’ production looks suitably Burton-esque while also attempting to give more of a backstory to the characters. Despite lots of solid laughs, some clever fourth-wall-breaking, and some strong performances, the middling rock-pop score and the unwieldy, sorrowful storyline sap some of the vitality from the original...Burton’s film was a macabre joy, but this 'show about death' doesn’t quite hit the mark. It never quite finds the right mixture of funny and creepy, lurid and light.”

“One of those what-were-they-thinking shows that crop up on Broadway and spend tens of millions of dollars mostly to reveal an eye-popping tonal disconnect...The problems with this show — which does, at least, feature a cool set design from David Korins, witty costumes from William Ivey Long and a genuinely funny shrunken head — are fundamentally structural...Truly, this is most cacophonous and ill-conceived musical of the season — in fact, for several seasons.”

“If we say his name three times, will he go away? I’m not talking about the title character of 'Beetlejuice,' but Eddie Perfect. Fresh off his heinous music for 'King Kong,' the Australian composer’s dismal soft-rock score fuels one of the worst Broadway musicals in years...Indeed, if the actors took their scripts, threw them into the air, picked up the pages and performed them in their new order, Act 2 would be about the same.”

“The noisy musical...has arrived...like a garbage strike in Beirut...Aside from the usual cult followers, I suspect this horror will appeal mostly to pretentious grown-ups who discuss the psychological impact of Pee-wee Herman at cocktail parties at the MoMa....It left me with a headache no Excedrin can cure. Weird and macabre...sordid collection of gimmicks, sight gags and desperate jokes...I won’t bother to bore the uninitiated with the details of a plot, since there isn’t one.””

““’Beetlejuice’ is a ghoulishly good time that pays loving homage to the mythology of the movie while fundamentally reorienting the story and lending it an unexpected punch of pathos amid its crass and crude mania. Gorgeously designed with a Tim Burton aesthetic, and featuring a relentless series of bawdy jokes and entertaining songs, this hyperactive musical comedy might not meet the elevated aesthetic standards of some, but I had a blast.””

“This theme park-type show is visually a spectacle with a set that does all sort of tricks and changes, but as the adage goes, you can't go home singing the scenery. And the score by Australian composer/performer Eddie Perfect (whose only other American score has been 'King Kong the Musical') is eminently forgettable. In the title role, Alex Brightman, who was charismatic in a similar role in 'The School of Rock,' is so over-the top that he becomes tiresome very quickly.”

““The madcap sprint through the scenes is totally nonsensical, but with flash and dash, wacky visuals, Eddie Perfect’s off-the-deep-end pop score, and the enthusiasm of Alex Brightman driving the show, 'Beetlejuice' is certainly an experience...Expect to follow a plot? Don’t even bother; just watch the effects...The show holds nothing back and all in all, ‘Beetlejuice’ offers sane advice about living life to the fullest.””

““Madcap spectacle, a killer set, and some fine performances dominate this movie-to-musical product of the Broadway-industrial complex...The sort of high-octane thrills you might you might find at a high-end amusement park...’Beetlejuice’ isn’t at its best when it’s trying to tug at the heartstrings. The story is most effective when it’s satirizing America’s out-of-touch bourgeois, and this cast is up to the task.””

““The story goes a bit flat, and is harder to follow than the film, Brown and King have fun with the dialog...Aside from Brightman and Kritzer, none of the performances really jump, mostly because the otherwise talented actors bring very little life or dimension to their characters. But the show succeeds...’Beetlejuice’ is a Broadway crowd pleaser that does what it sets out to do: provide a visually pleasing reminder of an old favorite. To look any deeper would be a mistake.””

““Under the resourceful direction of Timbers, the principals form a sublime ensemble...They create maximal mayhem...There are moments when relentless exuberance becomes monotonous and it's hard not to ponder all that doesn't add up in the story. Those moments are relatively few and when they occur, the eclectic musical score, the visual humor, and the cast's hijinks soon reassert themselves, distracting us once again from our disbelief.”

“The show feels like a musical that’s been tampered with—which is the case—as certain characters zoom in and out of focus along with the narration itself. Some songs seem unnecessary and the central couple is kind of dull, even when deceased. But then there will be a flash of inspiration and a burst of sardonic kookiness and this seems like a noble misfire that occasionally comes back from the dead when you thought it was down for the count.”

“This garishly pandering endeavor to the afterlife...The loose plot, executed with varying degrees of humor ranging from laugh-out-loud to offensive, keeps things moving at a pace befitting a Universal Studios theme park show. Unfortunately, the $21 million spectacle suffers an artistic heart attack from over-exertion...Besides its film fans, it’s unclear for whom 'Beetlejuice' is intended...More disconcerting is its dated and offensive stereotyping of same-sex attraction.”

““A succession of inventive visual, comic, and musical delights…The lyrics are often risibly clever but the music is best at creating upbeat rhythmic backgrounds for Connor Gallagher's…acrobatic choreography...Too many…tunes…sound like the generic, big-note numbers that populate so many 21st-century musicals…I can't deny occasionally feeling I was six feet under but that doesn't mean that 'Beetlejuice,' which insists it's about death, isn't very much alive.””

“The new book and music and lyrics build on the source material, but add more rapid-fire jokes, some slightly different twists, and a score that infuses Broadway with rock, punk, pop, and Latin music styles for an ebullient edgy theatrical re-imagining of the cult-classic movie. Director Alex Timbers sets a lively pace, and a killer cast embraces the quirky characters, offbeat jokes, madcap songs, and zany choreography with full-blown vibrancy.”