BEETLEJUICE - Pre-Broadway Tryout in DC

[\_(•_•)_/]

LoLsmileyFace said: "_(•_&bull_/ said: "Okay my thoughts are gonna be out of order since im still tired from getting to my hotel late last night:

So im a long time lurker, first time poster. This show is in great shape, there are definitely a lot of things that need to be fixed. For example, A lot of Alex’s jokes were hit or miss, Im not sure if thats because of Alex or just the jokes themselves.

Alexs coustume reminds me so much of the Universal Studios stage show beetlejuice. Like they are just renting his coustume.

I would give Sophia, Alex, Rob, Lesli, and Kerry all tony noms as I enjoyed everyones performance.

The Sets are really something else. They give the whole creepy vibe and I love it. Its a cross for me between Nightmare before Christmas and the Adams family. Hands down the highlight of the night.

Now the negative:

The score is very weak. How the composer got two broadway shows is beyond me. Of course its the first time hearing them, but I couldnt hum you one song I heard (excepet Banna Boat song).

I almost feel like the lack of a good score is forgiven by how much fun this production was. After a lackluster season of musicals so far its nice to see something refreshing.

I would give this a score of a 7.5/10. Its great but once they fix a few problems this thing is going to be a HIT. And sweep come tony time.

Im happy to answer any question you have about the production.



Also, in my playbill there was no song list. Im not sure if Mine was a dud, but I didnt recieve one. Which lends me to believe this score isnt 100% set, and thats great."

TWO Questions!

Did they have the Beetlejuice theme during the show?

Any specialty Beetlejuice drinks at the bar?"

Im going to be honest with everyone, but I have never seen the original movie. so im not too sure what that sounds like. Im also under 21 so i didnt venture over to the bar area. Im sorry! 

[\_(•_•)_/]

Some more thoughts;

Act 2 is way better than Act 1.

Act 1 is a little slow to get into, but once Act 2 hit I was instantly a fan.

[BroadwayNoob]

How vulgar is it? They were really pushing the "not appropriate for kids" aspect of it

[BroadwayNoob]

How vulgar is it? They were really pushing the "not appropriate for kids" aspect of it

[HGR2]

I didn't think the vulgarity was that bad.  PG most of it, maybe a visual gag going PG-13 (I won't do any spoilers.)  Cus words - of course.  Some sexual jokes.  I really didn't think it was that bad at all.  Not as bad as Book of Mormon - nothing near that explicit.  I would not be scared away by the warning. 

[darquegk]

Having just heard the opening number, I can answer some of my own and other questions. They tease the Beetlejuice melody but (at least in the opening) don't deliver it. They DO open with the minor-key "Banana Boat Song" tag that Danny Elfman sang at the opening of the film.

"Welcome to a show about death," the opening number bids us, and breaks the fourth wall repeatedly to warn the audience that death is inevitable and messy and gets very weird. Some people have been saying how Danny Elfman is the big musical influence here, but if you're an experimental music nerd, it's Mike Patton and Mr. Bungle that sticks out the most in this first song, with its mix of Elfman carnivalesque moments, outright death metal, and mocking interludes of ukulele pop and lounge jazz. Alex Brightman's sneering vocal is very Pattonesque, especially when he slides from a mousy mocking voice to a full on guttural metal scream. This score will be DECIDEDLY not for everyone but it's a ton of fun for me, and I can't wait to hear more.

[standingovation79]

Saw this a few days ago....an ABSOLUTE MESS. Who cares about the sets if writers and director didn't want to dig into what could make this a musical.  NONE of the songs set a tone for this story...they neither push it forward emotionally or story wise.....RANDOM POP MELODIES that sound like someone had one of the keyboards as a kid with different melody and beat settings. It's embarrassing and quite frankly I would be offended if this took up a Broadway house. SHLOCK at best, sorry not sorry. I don't know who Eddie Perfect is, but his score is far from it. For god sake, if he couldn't find away in just listen to the Elfman score on a loop...it was pop and riffing or rock licks. Lydia Deets isn't Ariana Grande.  These characters can't just sing emotional ballads....that's not who they are, it betrays the whole thing.  You have to be smarter than that to pull this off. Laurence O'Keefe would have been a great idea to write this.

The tone is more  Scooby Doo pop concert with hacky performances ALL THE WAY AROUND than the dark comedy that Tim Burton Made it into.  Alex Brightman is too young and doesn't have the comic chops to make this anything more than a grumbly voice that sounds like he's hurting himself.  

Scott Brown and Anthony King's book doesn't have an ounce of good black humor in it....Why is Beatlejuice constantly telling broadway jokes!!?? It's ridiculous and cheap. These writers have no idea who the character is and they clearly didn't try hard enough to understand him.

Alex Timbers proves here once and for all that he should not be developing broadway musical comedies.  All he knows how to do is corny camp.....The worst film to broadway transfer I've ever seen. If you like this, I question your taste level, sorry not sorry.

[GeorgeandDot]

How could you have seen it a few days ago if it opened last night?

[Impossible2]

standingovation79 said: "Saw this a few days ago....an ABSOLUTE MESS. Who cares about the sets if writers and director didn't want to dig into what could make this a musical. NONE of the songs set a tone for this story...they neither push it forward emotionally or story wise.....RANDOM POP MELODIES that sound like someone had one of the keyboards as a kid with different melody and beat settings. It's embarrassing and quite frankly I would be offended if this took up a Broadway house. SHLOCK at best, sorry not sorry. I don't know who Eddie Perfect is, but his score is far from it. For god sake, if he couldn't find away in just listen to the Elfman score on a loop...it was pop and riffing or rock licks. Lydia Deets isn't Ariana Grande. These characters can't just sing emotional ballads....that's not who they are, it betrays the whole thing. You have to be smarter than that to pull this off.Laurence O'Keefe would have been a great idea to write this.

The tone is more Scooby Doo pop concert with hacky performances ALL THE WAY AROUND than the dark comedy that Tim Burton Made it into. Alex Brightman is too young and doesn't have the comic chops to make this anything more than a grumbly voice that sounds like he's hurting himself.

Scott Brown and Anthony King's book doesn't have an ounce of good black humor in it....Why is Beatlejuice constantly telling broadway jokes!!?? It's ridiculous and cheap. These writers have no idea who the character is and they clearly didn't try hard enough to understand him.

Alex Timbers proves here once and for all that he should not be developing broadway musical comedies. All he knows how to do is corny camp.....The worst film to broadway transfer I've ever seen. If you like this, I question your taste level, sorry not sorry."

Didn't get the part huh?

[AnythingGoes2011]

@standingovation79 WTF is this clown talking about? This HAS to be a bot because nothing in their rant happened onstage last night, you know, the FIRST preview. Either that or some Bitter Betty that didn't get a callback, referring to some discarded first draft.

Go see the show for yourself instead of relying on someone else to tell you how to think.

[h6p8gv]

Any song list in the playbill

[Catsbroadwayfan]

No song list, and standingovation79 none of that happened in the show, he made one joke saying he does this 8 times a week and it was very funny. Not sure we saw the same show?

[IloveNYC2]

standingovation79 said: "Saw this a few days ago....an ABSOLUTE MESS. Who cares about the sets if writers and director didn't want to dig into what could make this a musical. NONE of the songs set a tone for this story...they neither push it forward emotionally or story wise.....RANDOM POP MELODIES that sound like someone had one of the keyboards as a kid with different melody and beat settings. It's embarrassing and quite frankly I would be offended if this took up a Broadway house. SHLOCK at best, sorry not sorry. I don't know who Eddie Perfect is, but his score is far from it. For god sake, if he couldn't find away in just listen to the Elfman score on a loop...it was pop and riffing or rock licks. Lydia Deets isn't Ariana Grande. These characters can't just sing emotional ballads....that's not who they are, it betrays the whole thing. You have to be smarter than that to pull this off.Laurence O'Keefe would have been a great idea to write this.

The tone is more Scooby Doo pop concert with hacky performances ALL THE WAY AROUND than the dark comedy that Tim Burton Made it into. Alex Brightman is too young and doesn't have the comic chops to make this anything more than a grumbly voice that sounds like he's hurting himself.

Scott Brown and Anthony King's book doesn't have an ounce of good black humor in it....Why is Beatlejuice constantly telling broadway jokes!!?? It's ridiculous and cheap. These writers have no idea who the character is and they clearly didn't try hard enough to understand him.

Alex Timbers proves here once and for all that he should not be developing broadway musical comedies. All he knows how to do is corny camp.....The worst film to broadway transfer I've ever seen. If you like this, I question your taste level, sorry not sorry."

did you even see this?

[CT2NYC]

standingovation79 said: "It's embarrassing and quite frankly I would be offended if this took up a Broadway house."

Prepare to be offended.

 

[Call_me_jorge]

GeorgeandDot said: "How could you have seen it a few days ago if it opened last night?"

Maybe they saw an invited dress? And if so doesn’t seem like they’ll be invited to another dress rehearsal again.

[standingovation79]

He has several jokes about about broadway shows in the first couple numbers, one about Hello Dolly. Yes saw the same show, we just have strong different opinions about it.

[standingovation79]

yes, do you want to hear more about the ridiculous opening number about death or the completely out of character clique American Idol pop rock song Lidya sings  about being alone...did you know the world gets cold when she's alone...KEY CHANGE

[dmwnc1959]

CT2NYC said: “Prepare to be offended."

Offend me, please, because I am sooooo looking forward to seeing this on Broadway next year!!!  

 

[standingovation79]

it's a hideous go see something good.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Is Shake Señora in the show?

[morosco]

"Parents Beware, Really F*$#&*G Explicit" - Beetlejuice the Musical website.

Why would you advertise that on your website if, as reports here seem to indicate, it's rather tame? Words like that are bound to turn some people off from buying tickets. 

[standingovation79]

Yes it's the closing number...it does not work as a full number. It plays like a medley of a high school show choir.

[standingovation79]

because he says F*ck at one time and the show is hoping to get that kiddie/adult crossover that like Anastasia has or wicked has.  It's stupid they don't need it but, they are covering their bases.

[WldKingdomHM]

Just heard an audio of the show. 

Why would they have Beetlejuice open the show is beyond me....

[Elegance101]

standingovation79 said: "because he says F*ck at one time and the show is hoping to get that kiddie/adult crossover that like Anastasia has or wicked has. It's stupid they don't need it but, they are covering their bases."

Their marketing as of yet will make parents NOT want to take their "kiddies." If the website says it's "explicit," that's going to turn parents away and they'll go to shows like Anastasia or Wicked instead. I agree that it's not a smart move.