Beetlejuice on Broadway — Reviews & Information
“Beetlejuice” is the piece of horror, dark humor and crazy fun we all need in our lives. Currently haunting the “Winter Garden”, it is one of the high-demand shows on Broadway today. But you can expect this when Tim Burton’s ghostly brainchild hits the big stage. Yes, this is the same ghastly maniac with a striped suit and green hair that we loved (and were scared a healthy dose by) from the 1988 movie, and from the early 90’s cartoon. The team, responsible for this successful transition is composed of Eddie Perfect (lyrics), Scott Brown and Anthony King (book).
In this Beetlejuice review you can find useful info about the show, the Winter Garden seating chart, as well as the best places to get your tickets.
Keep in mind that the show is recommended for children above the age of 10, and kids under 4 are not permitted.
Beetlejuice on Broadway — Plot summary
Beetlejuice is heavy-hearted that he, as a demon, is invisible to the mortal eyes. However, being scheming as always, he came up with a plan to make someone say his name three times, so he can become visible again. After all — are invisible demons scary? I think not…
Beetlejuice on Broadway — Review Act I
Beetlejuice enlists Adam and Barbara Maitland — a newly deceased couple who are still roaming their old house, to aid him. The house was recently purchased by Charles and Lydia Deetz. Lydia is a depressed teenager, who recently lost her mom. Charles is keen on moving forward with his life, that is why he recently got engaged (without Lydia’s knowledge) to Delia, who he hired as his daughter’s life coach. After she runs to the roof with the intention to end her life, she encounters Beetlejuice. He gets very excited that someone can see him and tries to rally her to his cause, but she jokes around with him. He then proceeds to possess the Maitlands to convince her to do so. Meanwhile, Charles is having a business dinner. He wants to start a gated community and has some potential investors over. So, Lydia joins forces with Adam and Barbara to scare the investors away. However, being opportunistic as every great investor should be, they see a gold mine in the ghost intrusion during the dinner party. Failing with this plan, she summons Beetlejuice who throws them all out.
Beetlejuice on Broadway — Review Act II
Beetlejuice and Lydia scare people for fun! Their first victim is Skye — a sweet girl scout. He then confesses to his clones (who he created to scare even more people) that he’s lonely and needs social contacts. He then plots to marry Lydia so he can travel the world freely. At this very time, Lydia is in the attic with the Maitlands. She needs their help — Beetlejuice has given her the “Handbook for the Recently Deceased” — a manual for, well…recently deceased, and she, as a living person, can’t open it. She wants to use it to summon her mother — Emily. Barbara and Adam realize that Beetlejuice had tricked them to stay at their house, and Adam opens a portal to the Netherworld, but Barbara shuts it being afraid to leave their home. But that’s only Beetlejuice’s first trick out of many. His next one is to trick Lydia to read a passage of the Handbook in order to get her mother back, which in fact initiates an exorcism on Barbara, and she must marry Beetlejuice to save her. She agrees, he stops the exorcism and opens a door to the Netherworld, but Lydia jumps through it to search for her mother, followed by Charles (who returned with Delia and Otho to rescue Lydia). They meet a lot of deities along with Juno, the director of Netherworld Customs and Processing, who chases Lydia around. She and her dad return back home, only to find that Beetlejuice is preparing to kill them all. Lydia agrees to marry him, but in turn, tricks him and stabs him with a knife. Then Juno enters the house, revealing to be Beetlejuice’s mother. She tries to take Lydia back to the Netherworld but is confronted by her son, whom she throws out. But he returns, smashing through the walls. Riding a sandworm. Who proceeds to eat Juno. He then says goodbye to the Deetz and Maitland families who agree to share the house in peace.
The show received huge acclaim for its acting, music, but mostly for the Tim Burton inspired staging. Everything is as macabre as it can get — lighting, costumes, and the gothic jewel Lydia. We must send our shout outs to Sophia Anne Caruso for her wonderful acting as Lydia. At just 18 years of age, she gave Broadway a masterclass in being gothic, depressed, as well as running wild, playing tricks, even killing a millennia-old demon. Speaking of the demon — Alex Brightman is as scary as he is charming as our favorite supernatural, green-haired rogue. Rob McClure, Kerry Butler, Adam Dannheisser were stellar as Adam, Barbara, and Charles respectively. Sadly, “Beetlejuice” didn’t win any Tony Awards at the 2019th Ceremony, despite being nominated for eight. Too bold for you, Broadway League?
The music perfectly fits the general atmosphere of the show (special thanks to Eddie Perfect) — moving from dark and haunting, to wild and crazy in a matter of seconds. Music pieces like “Say My Name Lyrics”, “Dead Mom” and “The Whole “Being Dead” Thing” would surely remain as lasting Broadway classics.
Here are two popular clips from the musical
Ticket Availability and Prices
Best websites to purchase Beetlejuice tickets
Discounted ticket prices typically start from $59 and there are several online ticket vendors which list discounted tickets for Beetlejuice.
Although some of the popular online retailers like Stubhub sell tickets for Beetlejuice, they are typically priced substantially higher as they are mostly resale tickets by brokers. We found that the smaller websites specialized on Broadway tickets like Broadway Pass are easier to work with and consistently offer better prices and have discounted tickets straight from the box office👇.
Ticket price analytics
At Hacker Tickets we crunch the ticket data so you don’t have to. Beetlejuice, typically sells out at the box office. The last available tickets are sold about 6 hours before the event. So don’t wait until the last minute.
When the primary market (box office) sells out the only few options left will be the resale market and prices can increase substantially. For best availability and prices try to purchase your tickets at least 2–3 days in advance.
As you can see in the graph above, about 2 hours before the start of the show, the box office is sold out and the only tickets available are from the resale market which can be significantly more expensive.
As you get closer to the start of the event, prices at the box office (if there are tickets left) can increase with about 30% and prices at the secondary market can jump even more.
Beetlejuice — The Musical Seating Chart (The Winter Garden Theatre)
The Winter Garden is located at 1634 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 (Broadway — between 50th and 51st street). It is a large venue, with a big orchestra and a bit smaller mezzanine. We recommend that you get mid-orchestra or front mezzanine seats.
Conclusion
“Beetlejuice” is successful on so many levels — there are very few shows that are a great movie, a great cartoon, and a great stage musical. It is the breath of fresh demonic air, that Broadway needed — a great comedy and a great horror. And we all need a little bit of bone-chilling laugh. Tickets can disappear fast so, don’t hesitate, and try to buy your tickets at least a day or two in advance.
