BEETLEJUICE Reviews — Page 6

Late to the party. After hearing bad things, I had no interest in seeing the show, but my friend got tickets, so I went. I actually thought it was a pretty fun way to spend a few hours. None of the songs were very good (other than maybe the "If I knew then what I knew now" number in the second act), but they were functional enough in the moment. The book had a lot of great lines (and was stronger than the score, other than the forced dead-mom-family-reconciliation climax; but then, all the dead mom stuff was tiresome). It kept me engaged through the whole thing, made me laugh a lot, and the cast was strong and giving it their all. None of it really stuck with me as soon as I left the theater, but for the two and a half hours there, I was entertained, and sometimes that's enough.

My main takeaway was that the actress who played Delia (and a second role in Act 2) was robbed of a Tony nomination. She was terrific and a few days later, she's really the only thing I remember about the show (other than the great sets and impressive effects).

I’ll be seeing the show two weeks from today. Wooohooo!!!

Anyone here on the forum been recently?

In the outer lobby of the Winter Garden now, they’re going to be letting us in at about 7:25pm. They were kind enough to fill the outer lobby with the first of those waiting in line to get out of the heat. The rest of those poor souls are standing out in the Netherworld.

Updated On: 7/20/19 at 07:22 PM

Don’t know if this would be consider spoilers.

Act 2 started off with a strobe light explosion , but overall, when compared to the pacing of Act 1, the second half of the show slowed down quite a bit. The Netherworld was crazy - the psychedelic down-the-rabbit-hole visuals were cool. But the fun seemed to come to a crashing halt with all the feels that came with Home. Sophia Anne Caruso did sing the hell out of it.

The whole marriage part seemed long and drawn out, more serious, and at a slower pace than all of Act 1, which blew right by.

Every single song was greeted with a burst of screams and thunderous applause. Like I said before, the audience was eating this show up. Most of the songs have already left my head, but it’s probably because I didn’t listen to the OBCR for months on repeat like I have with other shows. Still, I don’t think there was a bad song in the show.

I really liked Alex Brightman a lot more than I expected, and his character and voice never got on my nerves. He was vulgar, and funny, and his comedic timing and crazy antics were just fun. The actors that played the Maitlands were perfect with their bland, dry, plain, dull witted portrayals - just funny. And Delia was wonderfully ditzy. I think Otho was just not funny at all and seemed a bit of an awkward part. Not sure that more of him would have helped. I did love the giant sand worm. Very cool. And the Conductor that arose from the orchestra pit at curtain call - bwahahahaha!

The strobes, which were going off like fireworks at times, didn’t give me a headache which I was initially a bit concerned about. Most of the stage sets, most especially the house, I really liked. And the projections were done well and not overly used.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish. It was that type of show where you just have to sit back, take nothing seriously, and just let go.

I don’t think I’ve ever had THIS much fun at a show!

Updated On: 7/21/19 at 07:56 AM

dmwnc1959 said: "I think Otho was just not funny at all and seemed a bit of an awkward part. Not sure that more of him would have helped."

Definitely not. We got lots more of him in the DC tryout -- I think he even had a song, "The Box" or "My Box" or something, which was mercifully cut from the Broadway version.

LLW2 said: "dmwnc1959 said: "I think Otho was just not funny at all and seemed a bit of an awkward part. Not sure that more of him would have helped."

Definitely not. We got lots more of him in the DC tryout-- I think he even had a song, "The Box" or "My Box" or something, which was mercifully cut from the Broadway version."

Ooof. Otho and Delia are such great characters with a wonderful dynamic in the film, not sure how they botched it so badly. At least Kritzer is giving her all.

woeisme3 said: "Saw this on Sunday and really didn’t like it. I thought the book was so lazy and often went for the cheapest possible jokes and refused to engage with the material dramatically. The score was even worse and some of the laziest work I’ve seen in a while (other than King Kong which I also had the “pleasure” of seeing this week) The actors and design were easily the most redeeming parts, and Rob McClure Leslie Keitzer and Kerry Butler are making the best of what they’re given."

Agree quote strongly. And disagree with the folks suggesting that those of us who didn't like it are stuck-up or elitist or whatever. I love mindless comedy, but it does not mean the creatives should approach it as lazily and sloppily as these have.