Nick Romano

Beetlejuice, with music and lyrics from Eddie Perfect (King Kong: The Musical) and a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, was crafted from a group of creative minds who clearly love the source material, though not all of it works. There are still second act problems and a song list void of any real bops, but it's a fun time for the Burton novice and pure fan service for the Burton stans, thanks in large part to the titular puckish undead spirit breathing life into a Broadway experiment that could've been dead in the water.

With Moonlight still looming so presently in our current cultural conscious, McCraney's past work, accompanied by this brief premise, paints a more solemn coming-of-age tale, which makes the joy that bursts forth from this cast of largely budding talents unexpected and well balanced. In addition to low, from-the-gut laughs, largely coming from Pharus' whip-smart comebacks ('I've never missed a key of G since I was 3'), AJ (John Clay III), Pharus' friend and roommate, offers brotherly warmth and acceptance as a tall, jock baseball player.