San Jose high school grad Isabella Esler starred as Lydia Deetz. (Photo courtesy Matthew Murphy)
On its first national tour, “Beetlejuice,” the musical, the comedy, the horror show, brought in fans dressed in black and white costumes alongside the traditional theater crowd at the Civic Center. Although the run of the raunchy show was cut short by Hurricane Hilary, its four nights in Downtown San Diego proved the musical stands up to its source material, the 1988 film directed by Tim Burton.
The plot focuses on grieving teen Lydia Deetz rather than nerdy couple Barbara and Adam like in the original, but Burton’s influence was still clear in the angular sets, wacky lights and black and neon color scheme. For a touring show, the musical has complex set changes, lights, and major costume and makeup changes for the chorus.
As dissimilar as two sun-deprived angsty teen characters can be, recent San Jose high school grad Isabella Esler made Deetz lively and dramatic to Jenna Ortega’s expressionless Wednesday Addams. While belting out anthems and masterminding complicated schemes, Esler as Lydia demonstrated an obsession with death is more normal than the anxious adults around her pretending not to grieve.
For a couple of the nights in San Diego, standby actor Andrew Kober flew in to take on the role of Beetlejuice, infusing the lascivious character with his own lively style. Justin Collette was in town for part of the run. While the script includes many asides, fourth wall breaks and gags for the audience, each actor and even show brings a new vibe to the character, according to Kober in an after show talk with the audience.
Operating as a stand-up comic, with crowd work and insulting audience member included, the rest of the cast and crew must constantly adapt to the improvisation and additions of Beetlejuice. For those who saw the “Aladdin” musical at California Adventure’s Hyperion Theater during its multi-year run, Beetlejuice has the same role as the genie: adding pop culture references and new jokes to keep the material fresh each night. For instance, at the end of a self-pitying monologue, Kober mumbled Taylor Swift’s iconic “anti-hero” lyrics, “It’s me. Hi, I’m the problem. It’s me.”
The rest of the over-the-top characters are played to perfection by the cast. It was shocking that a bimbo character whose lines mostly consisted of giggles could steal the scene during the business meeting turned scary prank.
Part of the show’s cult following stems from songs by Eddie Perfect being used as TikTok audios. Unfortunately, the sound design made some of the humorous lyrics difficult to understand amid the loud rock music. Flashing lights between scenes could also be cut but the puppet sand worm, fog machines and numerous dances made the production fabulous.
For a musical about death and demons, “Beetlejuice” is surprisingly fun, campy and hilarious while still being emotionally honest.
