Changes to Beetlejuice? - Page 2

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 12/16/18 at 2:23pm

rosscoe(au) said: "Does anyone really think that Warner’s is going to make changes to this, that won’t make it worse. Charlie is a perfect example, beyond awful in the West End , a turd of a show on Broadway."

I have a lot more faith in Alex Timbers than I do in Jack O'Brien, and if they are indeed doing a 2-week lab, that's a good sign. But I have more faith in the CHARLIE writing team that I do in the BEETLEJUICE writing team. So choose the lesser of two evils?

[haterobics]

Posted: 12/16/18 at 2:48pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "I have a lot more faith in Alex Timbers than I do in Jack O'Brien, and if they are indeed doing a 2-week lab, that's a good sign. But I have more faith in the CHARLIE writing team that I do in the BEETLEJUICE writing team. So choose the lesser of two evils?"

There's really no need to quantify guesses for something that will open eventually.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/16/18 at 4:14pm

LightsOut90 said: "Steves fathers house burned down like right after they closed in Chicago, it had nothing to do with lack of chemistry, again people talking about stuff they clearly dont know the whole story about."

Don't get me wrong, that's unfortunate for his dad, but your logic doesn't track. The house burned down in May, so he backed out of a job that began 3 months later in July and would run for (at least) a year? Obviously this tragedy didn't interfere with him moving to LA and starting to date Channing Tatum's ex-wife at the same time he could have been opening Pretty Woman on Broadway.

Steve Kazee didn't come to Broadway with Pretty Woman. None of us know the real reason. You making up excuses isn't anymore accurate than the rumors posted here.

 

Anyway, the Beetlejuice book needed work. Beetlejuice's lines were all over the place, in terms of humor and tone. I would have liked more consistency in the character's humor- it went from immature potty humor to smarter wry humor to snarky references from joke to joke. Pick one. Or even two. But it makes no sense for him to be Archer one minute, then Larry the Cable Guy the next.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 12/16/18 at 5:25pm

Sweets, FOSSE/VERDON has been filming since October and will be wrapped up in a few more weeks.   Also, Butz isn’t playing Bob Fosse but a small role which would take 1-2 days to shoot, if it hasn’t already.  FOSSE/VERDON is also filming in NY so he could easily have filmed his role between performances of MY FAIR LADY. 

Nope, don't ever call me sweets or anything other than my name again. Once again, Norbert isn't playing this role, he is leaving My Fair Lady to shoot his scenes for the tv series, he has a main role in the show.

 Alex isn't being recast, by anyone.
 

Updated On: 2/7/19 at 05:25 PM

[Alex M]

Posted: 12/16/18 at 5:31pm

Pretty sure the Norbert rumor started as a joke in another thread and people took it seriously 

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 2/5/19 at 7:08pm

New Marquee is up, here's a shot of the new one next to the concept art:

https://imgur.com/a/AQFKryR (s/o to u/busterrbrown on Reddit for the new image)

 

I hope they add the "Here Lies" billboard, and change the Winter Garden lightbulbs to green!

Updated On: 2/5/19 at 07:08 PM

[Christoph]

Posted: 2/6/19 at 6:52pm

Good to hear as they really needed to make some changes to the show from the DC run.  Brightman, however, is not one of the changes needed.  Leslie Kritzer and the actress playing Lydia also need to be kept in place.  The show never seems to know what to do with the Adam and Barbara characters and both Butler and McClure seemed utterly wasted in excess baggage/nothing roles.  Plus Beetlejuice's reason for being makes no sense in the context of the play.  Act II is all over the place, Otho's inclusion makes no sense with the way Delia's character has been redefined, turning Juno into BJ's mother (and a villain) for a last minute chaotic climax (following a really questionable act by Lydia) comes out of left field, and dear God, ditch that godawful boy band number in Act II.  The show definitely has promise and these things are fixable, so kudos if they get it done.

[LLW2]

Posted: 2/6/19 at 7:03pm

DiscoCrows said: "New Marquee is up, here's a shot of the new one next to the concept art:

https://imgur.com/a/AQFKryR(s/o to u/busterrbrown on Reddit for the new image)"

That sure looks like Alex Brightman on the new marquee. Does that put an end to the rumor?

Editing to add: I just did a search, and the cast has been announced:

http://www.playbill.com/article/principal-casting-set-for-broadways-beetlejuice

Updated On: 2/6/19 at 07:03 PM

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 1:56am

apparently chunks of the book have been rewritten and several new songs added. 

[Larcen26]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 5:33pm

Christoph said: "Good to hear as they really needed to make some changes to the show from the DC run. Brightman, however, is not one of the changes needed. Leslie Kritzer and the actress playing Lydia also need to be kept in place. The show never seems to know what to do with the Adam and Barbara characters and both Butler and McClure seemed utterly wasted in excess baggage/nothing roles. Plus Beetlejuice's reason for being makes no sense in the context of the play. Act II is all over the place, Otho's inclusion makes no sense with the way Delia's character has been redefined, turning Juno into BJ's mother (and a villain) for a last minute chaotic climax (following a really questionable act by Lydia) comes out of left field, and dear God, ditch that godawful boy band number in Act II. The show definitely has promise and these things are fixable, so kudos if they get it done."

Agree 100%.  Particularly about The Maitlands.

My theory on the biggest problem with the show is the shift of focus from them to Beetlejuice and Lydia.

The narrative and emotional through-line should be the childless couple discovering an adoptive daughter who is reaching out for something her own family can't give.  But instead it is about a daughter struggling over the loss of her mother and distance from her father...and oh look, there's this other couple that they meet.

Plus Beetlejuice! and he's funny!

If they want to refocus things on BJ and Lydia, that's fine, but then they have to make hard decisions about how close they want to stay to the movie.  I argue there are too many things that are there "Because they are in the movie" and for no other reason...and I would argue The Maitlands fall into this category too.

Oh, and the entire end "sequence", including Lydia's song, is a convoluted mess where they try to have their cake and eat it too.
 

Updated On: 2/7/19 at 05:33 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 5:51pm

I assume Will Blum is the Beetlejuice standby. I'm very pleased.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 7:08pm

darquegk said: "Beetlejuice is a star vehicle role and they’re figuring what kind of role it should be. It’s very much like Genie in Aladdin, and the tryout period for that show went through a lot of takes on that role, including John Tartaglia as a “sassy gay friend” Genie."

Do you mean this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvO_6nwMtbE 

Girl, no. So many "choices."

I'm still confused about who they're selling a Beetlejuice musical to. Tootsie is a similar question mark as far as banking on existing IP goes but at least they've got David Yazbek.

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 7:49pm

I'm thinking they are selling to anyone who will buy tickets.  Mostly people who grew up with the movie.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 7:55pm

I don't anyone who is interested in seeing this. With no stars attached, it might last through the summer unless it pulls a Pretty Woman.  

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 8:05pm

You don't know me, but I'm interested in seeing it. The buzz about it at BroadwayCon was enough to push me over the fence.

[LuPita2]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 8:16pm

Um. Me saying I don't know anyone who wants to see it still stands...........

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 8:17pm

Maybe you should go to a few meetups!

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 2/7/19 at 9:16pm

LizzieCurry said: "...but I'm interested in seeing it. The buzz about it at BroadwayCon was enough to push me over the fence."

 

I don’t know BroadwayCon, but I too am VERY interested in seeing this. I’m already planning a second trip back to NYC this year, and “Beetlejuice” is high on my list of shows to see along with “Moulin Rouge”. After deciding recently to skip “Hamilton” in Chicago, planning for my July trip went back into high gear. Love me some Broadway and NYC!!!

 

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 2:17am

DC was fun, but I'll skip it in NYC and wait to see if a tour comes to San Francisco.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 8:25am

I'm really looking forward to this one. I can't wait to see the set.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 9:56am

Just bought my ticket for 2nd week previews. I, for one, am interested to see this. And, regardless of how good or bad it is, this will have legs forever simply based on the property alone. Amateur theatre will eat this up for years.

[Kad]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 10:07am

I will say I am extremely curious, but the buzz out of DC has tempered my enthusiasm a great deal. 

I'm expecting eye-popping visuals and a characteristically fantastic performance from Leslie Kritzer, at the very least. 

[musikman]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 2:01pm

Kad said: 

I'm expecting eye-popping visuals and a characteristically fantastic performance from Leslie Kritzer, at the very least."

Her line reading of "ROSSSSSSSSSSSAMUNDDDDD"  just popped into my head.  

[darquegk]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 2:02pm

Greens, I'm not convinced regional theatres will take to it as readily: this is a massively visual production, and it's likely that only the biggest and best companies will have the budget and resources to stage it adequately.

And if you can't do the big visual feats of Beetlejuice (a property not only defined by but almost ABOUT splashy visuals), why do Beetlejuice?

[Luminaire2]

Posted: 2/8/19 at 2:52pm

Why are broadway Marquees so boring? I wish they followed the West End style.