BEETLEJUICE - Pre-Broadway Tryout in DC

[darquegk]

There's a weird racial undercurrent to the show that I'm not entirely sure works- but the original film "Beetlejuice" is VERY much a satire of whiteness, from the Americana hipster Maitlands to the cold, stylized and artificial "cultural" world of the Deetzes and their big-city ilk. Delia and her friends are perpetually dressing in stylized, chilly appropriations and revisions of ethnic clothes from around the world, complete with near-Kabuki makeup for the dinner party scene. It's the bottom-level bedrock of the "Day-O sequence:" stuffy white people lip-syncing and dancing to a faux-primitive black calypso. (Beetlejuice, in the film script, is written as a "shifty little Arabic guy," the better to emphasize his role as an outsider. Michael Keaton improvised an almost entirely different script for every scene Beetlejuice appears in.)

[freewilma]

Book needs to be funnier, but I guess that's what they're workshopping. Some jokes fell completely flat with no reaction. Beetlejuice as a character is very unevenly written. It's not Alex Brightman's fault, it's the material. Sometimes, the humor was great (One of my biggest laughs was the "F*CK Brigadoon" moment), but more often than not, it fell flat for me. It's like they're trying to figure out what type of humor to imitate, so they're just throwing it all in at once.

Totally agree with this.  I'm all for crude humor if it's clever and actually funny.  There were many lines by Beetlejuice in the the opening song that felt rushed or I had difficulty hearing.  Alex is working hard to make the very most of the material...but it just needs some punching-up and polish.  The humor that worked the best for my group were the Broadway inside jokes...but those may not resonate quite as much with the tourist crowd.  

[orangeskittles]

darquegk said: "There's a weird racial undercurrent to the show that I'm not entirely sure works- but the original film "Beetlejuice" is VERY much a satire of whiteness, from the Americana hipster Maitlands to the cold, stylized and artificial "cultural" world of the Deetzes and their big-city ilk. Delia and her friends are perpetually dressing in stylized, chilly appropriations and revisions of ethnic clothes from around the world, complete with near-Kabuki makeup for the dinner party scene. It's the bottom-level bedrock of the "Day-O sequence:" stuffy white people lip-syncing and dancing to a faux-primitive black calypso. (Beetlejuice, in the film script, is written as a "shifty little Arabic guy," the better to emphasize his role as an outsider. Michael Keaton improvised an almost entirely different script for every scene Beetlejuice appears in.)"

Yeah, none of that is in the musical.

The Maitlands are just squares who died before they accomplished anything. You could have the actor who plays Chidi on The Good Place play Adam Maitland and get the same effect. Their race is inconsequential to the story.

I don't recall anything being mentioned about the Deetzes as big city arts people. Delia is just a ditzy life coach who redecorates the house with modern art. Charles Deetz has a totally different vibe than his movie counterpart.

The Deans are the only speaking guests at the dinner party- both white actors- but the ensemble with minority actors is also there, so it's not just stuffy white people dancing. Otho isn't in this scene either.

No offense to any of the actors in these roles, they were fine, but I don't buy that casting notices went out and the best person for every role just happened to be white save the Asian guru.

[LightsOut90]

seems the picture of the merch earlier in the thread was deleted, would anyone mind reposting with prices perhaps, just curious

[OKBroadwayFan]

LightsOut90 said: "seems the picture of the merch earlier in the thread was deleted, would anyone mind reposting with prices perhaps, just curious"

I don't have a picture.   

Prices:

Logo Tee $30.00

Strange and Unusual Tee $30.00

Zip Hoodie $60.00

Dad hat $30.00

Magnet $10

Keychain $10

Color Changing Mug $20

Recently Deceased Notebook $20

Tote Bag $20

Windowcard $20

The merchandise had "Washington DC" on it.  

[curel1]

Kerry Butler on twitter said lots of changes going in tonight.

[taylortrensch]

ok sorry for the repost but the person who offered to help backed out on me so...

i'm looking for someone to purchase some merch from the show for me! i'll paypal you in advance for the merch and the cost of shipping (should fit into a priority mail flate rate box). so if you think this is do-able for you please let me know !! if i could fly to the us and purchase it myself trust me i would 

[WhiJo Bloom]

I’ll be at the show tonight! First time seeing it as I happened to be in DC for work, so I won’t be able to tell if there are changes, but will report on how it goes!!!

I’ll take merchandise and show curtain pictures as well! SO EXCITED

[WhiJo Bloom]

Btw, not sure if this has been mentioned, but I got my orchestra seat through TodayTix.

I just picked it up at the box office and got Orchestra Left Row P for $69 - same price as some of the balcony seats were going for

[Bwayfan292]

Taylortrensch,

If you have ebay theres a windowcard/playbill bundle for $14.99, I saw when I looked it up!

[taylortrensch]

Bwayfan292 said: "Taylortrensch,

If you have ebay theres a windowcard/playbill bundle for $14.99, I saw when I looked it up!"

thanks so much for letting me know!!! (: