Beetlejuice: a story of family and life
'It’s the funniest, most inappropriate show you’ve ever seen in your life. But at the same time ... it’s a very touching musical about very human things'
In 2023, having just missed the opportunity to see Beetlejuice on Broadway, Noah Missell decided to watch the film on the flight home from New York.
“I remember I could just hear the lady sitting next to me whispering and looking at my screen. She was quoting the movie the entire time,” Missell laughed. “Obviously, there’s a very big following for the story. Two years later, here we are.”
Missell was chatting to The AJN about his upcoming role in Beetlejuice the Musical, alongside Eddie Perfect as Beetlejuice and Karis Oka, who will be playing the role of Lydia Deetz.
Beetlejuice was made famous in 1988 through the original Tim Burton film, starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder.
Missell explained that while the story is still the same, it takes on a different vision as a stage production.
“You have Beetlejuice who wants to come alive. You have Lydia and Charles and Delia. You have the Deetz family and lots of chaos,” Missell said. “But in the musical, Beetlejuice is almost with the audience … In the fun, fantastical way through song, there’s this crazy emcee who takes the audience through the show, as opposed to the audience just watching. It honestly makes it very fun. And Eddie seems to have fallen into that shtick really well.”
It’s a musical that lends itself to fantastic prop and set design, which is also something Missell said has been fascinating to watch play out.
“It sometimes feels like a props and set musical,” he laughed. “We’re doing our thing, and then we stop to learn how to do something new, and the set moves. So we have to move around it. Our performance is enhanced by it all. Nothing is without purpose, and half the fun is learning how to make everything work. There’s a lot of magic in this show.”
As for what audiences can expect, Missell said you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be surprised and scared. But you’ll also be getting a show that focuses on a very real human experience.
“When we did the first table read with all of the actors, we had the pianist and the drummer play the music with us, we all knew it was going to be a really funny show,” Missell recalled. “It’s the funniest, most inappropriate show you’ve ever seen in your life. But at the same time, it is also surprisingly very touching. It’s a very touching musical about very human things. And I guess that’s one of the great things about it. Even though you’ve got demons and skeletons and the ghosts and things, it is a very human show, which is why I think it’s so wonderful.”
Missell expects to catch audiences a little off guard with the heart behind the show. Saying while audiences know they are coming in for a fun time and they will leave in stitches, Beetlejuice is also a very humbling, very sweet show about family and about life.
“Quite literally. There is a line in the show where Beetlejuice says, ‘L’chaim, to life’,” Missell explained, laughing as he said he’ll listen out for the Jewish community in the audience when that line is said. “I’m excited for the audiences to come along on the journey with us.”
Beetlejuice is playing exclusively in Melbourne at the Regent Theatre from May 7. For more and for tickets, visit beetlejuicethemusical.com.au
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