Posted: 4/3/19 at 3:14pm
From the mostly negative comments I’m ready to give up on this show (and King Kong, and Tootsie) and see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theatre.
Any thoughts?
Posted: 4/3/19 at 3:32pm
RexInLights said: "I saw Beetlejuice last night and for my money it’s one of the worst new musicals I’ve seen in years. I hated nearly every moment of it. The design work and puppetry is nice. There are a few charming performances. Otherwise, this is a shrill, pandering mess that trades in the unique charm of the film for obnoxious references, awful jokes, and forced emotion. The book, as it were, is a disaster. The songs are mediocre at best. That this composer has two big new musicals in one season is a crime.
I agree that Brightman plays the role the same as he played his School of Rock character. It’s far less effective here.
What a shame."
Yup that's the word around town unfortunately but Leslie Kritzer and the design elements are the only thing worth mentioning.
Posted: 4/3/19 at 3:46pm
Lavieboheme3090 said: "
Get an over priced glass of wine and have some fun."
I like you.
Posted: 4/3/19 at 4:26pm
dmwnc1959 said: "From the mostly negative comments I’m ready to give up on this show (and King Kong, and Tootsie) and see Harry Potter and the Cursed Childatthe Lyric Theatre.
Any thoughts?"
I’ve seen both and you should absolutely go see Cursed Child over Beetlejuice.
Posted: 4/3/19 at 4:42pm
Figured I'd give a rush update - went this morning, a Wednesday, and got stuck on the subway so didn't arrive until 10:10AM - still got an Orchestra Right Row C seat - full view - about four seats in from the aisle. Hoping it's worth the money!!!!
Posted: 4/3/19 at 9:09pm
Posted: 4/3/19 at 9:38pm
Posted: 4/3/19 at 9:38pm
Posted: 4/3/19 at 11:29pm
Saw this tonight. There was a "technical difficulties" hold for about 5 minutes from 9:10 to 9:15. I have many thoughts on this show, but by no means would I call it bad. It's commercial fun and an entertaining night at the theatre.
The performances and characterizations are strong. Personally, I thought the best moments were when Butler, McClure, and Krizter were on stage. They were fantastic. There was this great song and scene between Beetlejuice and Lily on the roof that featured Butler and McClure right before the hold of the show. If able, this needs to be their Tony number. Simply fantastic.
The show is self aware, campy with accidental dips into cheap, and mostly clever. There's enough musical theatre snob moments for theatre critics in the audience to chuckle at.
I thoroughly enjoyed the queerness of the title character and the whiteness the show explored. They were very clear in labeling this as a "watch the white people do white things" show in the first very scenes. As someone studying and teaching about whiteness in academia, this was a nice step forward for the story and Broadway.
My double of Malbec and its refill were helpful. It's a great summer show or a post-brunch show.
Posted: 4/3/19 at 11:40pm
Yea, not sure what all the fuss is about. It likely isn't an award winner - but the show itself is straight up fun. I laughed on several occasions and those around me were laughing hysterically. A few great songs, some clever campiness, and while it isn't traditional theater, I appreciated its awareness of itself. It reminded me of Spongebob, just acceptable for older audiences. Hoping it sticks around for a bit.
Posted: 4/3/19 at 11:44pm
Agreed, stevo3041. And I thought it was LEAGUES better than The Addams Family. (Addams is close to Gettin' the Band Back Together for worst musical I've seen on Broadway.)
Had TDF tickets tonight. Great row from the house right side of Row C of the mezz.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 12:18am
Posted: 4/4/19 at 12:25am
Didn't know what to expect from "Beetlejuice" but I really had a fun time this evening at the show. I think Alex Timbers is an inventive, smart director who has pulled out all the stops for this one. I've loved his work from "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" to "Peter and the Starcatcher" to "Here Lies Love" to "Oh Hello!" and I hear "Moulin Rouge" is pretty damn good. I also credit the creatives in that this doesn't just adapt the movie to the stage but it's a more original story line that most of the recent musicals that have emerged from film. Sure there are iconic moments: Day-O, Shake Sonora, Miss Argentina...and that adds to the pleasure of the evening. I thought the score was was certainly listenable and there were a couple of solid ballads; Alex Brightman is no Michael Keaton but he is a consummate performer and landed all the laughs; and Leslie Kritzer, Kerry Butler, Rob McClure and especially Jill Abramowitz who is a hoot are wonderful in support. And I liked the synergy of the father-daughter relationship between Adam Dannheiser and Sophie Caruso- it added some heart to the show. The design elements are the best of any musical this season. This is certainly not a musical for the ages, but for my money it's the most entertaining musical of the season. They're working on the show so it probably will become better before the opening and right now I'd give it a B+ but I would think it will eventually be an A-.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 5:20am
Ironically perhaps for those of us imagining Tim Minchin for this, it was Minchin who suggested to his friend Eddie Perfect that he try for the Beetlejuice gig.
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/eddie-perfect-on-breaking-into-broadway-and-sneaking-songs-into-his-new-play-vivid-white-20171115-gzljyw.html
MusicAndPassion, if you're interested, it seems Perfect has had a go at skewering whiteness in a musical before, 'Vivid White'. The above article mentions it briefly. Here's one positive review and one negative:
https://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/reviews/vivid-white-melbourne-theatre-company/
https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/vivid-white-review-satirical-musical-fails-to-gel-20171123-gzrpsn.html
For the record, I haven't heard/seen any of Perfect's stuff so have no opinion there myself.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 10:37am
quizking101 said: "It basically looks like they threw all their money into the set."
Lots of folks are commenting positively on the set design, but no one has described it in any detail. What's so impressive about it?
Posted: 4/4/19 at 1:12pm
Are they doing regular, daily rush tickets for this or just that weekly game show thing?
If they are doing daily, what's the price for the tickets?
Posted: 4/4/19 at 2:55pm
jas1234 said: "I thought the score was was certainly listenable..."
I hope they use this as a pull quote for the poster.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 4:15pm
I totally agree with some of the last posters...I cannot understand the absolute passionate hatred for this show by some of the posters here. I saw it over the weekend and had a total blast. I thought the performances were really strong, especially Alex Brightman, who is killing it up there. To read some of these posters saying "it was the worst Broadway performance I have EVER seen" just makes me stop reading the assessment right there. I also loved Leslie Kritzer, like the rest of you, and I loved the latin number in Act 2. I also thought the Act 2 opener (with all of the Beetlejuices) was a showstopper. The audience I was in lost their mind after that one. It's my favorite choreography of the season by way. On the critical side, I do agree that some of the jokes fell flat and there were some slow sections, but they have two weeks until opening. I am confident all of those issues will be solved. And as for the changes to the story, I think they are entirely necessary. The movie basically doesn't have a plot, and that would not have worked on stage (at all). I like that they fleshed out the characters in a fun way.
And I'll say it again, go ahead and criticize a show, but do it intelligently and stop being mean. I feel like there is so much gleeful hatred on these boards for every show, no matter what. The audience I was with certainly didn't hate the show. Plus it's selling out, so I think there will be a lot of full audiences enjoying this one in the future.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 5:18pm
Who CARES if someone else hated something you liked? Does it take away from YOUR enjoyment? I'm seeing this in a few weeks and HOPE that I like it, but we'll see what happens. People have different tastes, why can't that be accepted?
I LOVED Natasha, Pierre. L.O.V.E.D. I know people that absolutely loathed it. So what. Big whoop. Let people be.
Posted: 4/4/19 at 8:15pm
RumTumJM said: "Are they doing regular, daily rush tickets for this or just that weekly game show thing?
If they are doing daily, what's the price for the tickets?"
Theres a daily rush - $43
Posted: 4/5/19 at 10:30am
I saw Beetlejuice last night, and I was surprised at how much I loved it! I had seen Tootsie the night before, and was deeply disappointed in that one, particularly Yazbek's score. Hard to believe it was the same guy who wrote The Band's Visit! Anyway, IMHO, Beetlejuice is the most cohesive, well-made musical comedy this year!
The songs are tuneful with a nice pop/rock edge, the lyrics are often insanely clever, and the characters are fully developed - the actors portraying them all have moments to shine, especially for me, Leslie Kritzer, who is balls to the walls hilarious!! And Sophie Ann Caruso! WOW! Look out Tony Awards! And count me in the camp that found Alex Brightman's Beetlejuice an absolute delight from start to finish.
How refreshing to finally have a show where we care about the lead character (Lydia) and who experiences change and growth by the end of the show (and so does Beetlejuice!). Lydia's last solo brought tears to my eyes, and I certainly never expected that at this show!
Thrillingly surprised all in all!
Posted: 4/5/19 at 12:52pm
About 10 my friends went to see this the other day and they all said they had fun. Maybe not high-quality theatre but it seems like the majority of people are actually having a pretty good time.
Posted: 4/5/19 at 2:55pm
Count me in as someone else who doesn't get the anger towards this show. I went last night expecting to hate it based on the comments on this board, and found myself loving it.
It's not perfect. I enjoyed the music, but found the rhyming embarrassingly sloppy. Alex's "character" voice can be irritating, although I eventually made peace with it. The set and direction are terrific, and the book is funny and very solidly constructed. Second only to The Prom (a show I'm partial to) this show felt like a hit from beginning to end.
Posted: 4/5/19 at 3:28pm
leefowler said: "Count me in as someone else who doesn't get the anger towards this show. I went last night expecting to hate it based on the comments on this board, and found myself loving it.
It's not perfect. I enjoyed the music, but found the rhyming embarrassingly sloppy. Alex's "character" voice can be irritating, although I eventually made peace with it. The set and direction are terrific, and the book is funny and very solidly constructed. Second only to The Prom (a show I'm partial to) this show felt like a hit from beginning to end."
I agree,
I can't really say my problems with Eddie Perfect's music. There are some good moments, but then he moves onto another melody, and it's not really structured well. Also, I think that he should stay away from rap.
Updated On: 4/5/19 at 03:28 PM
