Review: BEETLEJUICE at Broadway San Jose

Who knew that Beetlejuice would be just the right tonic for the nightly news and this summer’s Indictment Watch ’23 (there’s still Georgia to watch for).  Turns out that frighteningly funny laughs about death beats reality every time. This screen-to-stage adaptation from the iconic, beloved 1998 Tim Burton film of the same name was made for the stage. But it has a less than one-week-only, “Bay-stay” (it RIP after August 6) so get your tickets now. Forget your troubles, c’mon it’s scary at Broadway San Jose’s Beetlejuice!

With clever songs by Eddie Perfect and a book by Scott Brown & Anthony King, the team rightly puts the spotlight on the over-the-top, high energy slapstick comedy stylings of the hilarious Andrew Kober the millennia-old demon “Beetlejuice.”

Even though death and the Netherworld hold court throughout, you find yourself drawn in by the “make ‘em laugh” by any means energy of the show.  We meet Beetlejuice at the funeral of Emily Deetz who is being mourned by her goth teenage daughter, Lydia (Isabella Esler is morose and fantastic) and her not-so-mourning dad, Charles (Jesse Sharp is the perfect slightly sleezy dad). Lydia’s despondency has led him to get his daughter a life coach named Delia (deliriously played by Kate Marilley) who also happens to be dad’s new girlfriend.

Soon, Beetlejuice introduces us to Barbara and Adam Maitland (Britney Coleman and Will Burton) a young, straightlaced couple who are about to die in their home and boom, they’re gone. As luck would have it, Charles, who is a real estate developer, buys the house and moves in with Lydia in tow. But the recently dead Maitlands are not ready to give up the ghost just yet. Gosh darnit, it’s their house! So, Beetlejuice suggests they haunt the new homeowners away. Hijinks ensue. Yes, it’s predictable, but it is so well done that you just have to roll with it and this San Jose audience absolutely loved every moment of this iconic show!

It’s as if director Alex Timbers told his creative team to let their imaginations run wild with Beetlejuice and wow, do they have fun.  David Korins’ set is ghoulishly fantastical and works hand-in-glove with Peter Nigrini’s projections and the great Kenneth Posner’s dazzling light design. Charles LaPointe must have had a blast creating the iconic upward hairdo for Beetlejuice while Jeremy Chernick and Michael Weber provide an extravaganza of special effects and illusions.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s show time! Go see Beetlejuice. It’s a laugh riot that will knock you dead from start to finish.

BEETLEJUICE
Now through August 6
www.broadwaysanjose.com
Book by Scott Brown and Anthony King
Music and Lyrics by Eddie Perfect
Directed by Alex Timbers

Photo courtesy of: Mathew Murphy

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