Ghost with the most: ‘Beetlejuice the Musical’ haunts the Segerstrom Center

“Beetlejuice the Musical” made its debut at Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa this week. Billed as an edgy musical comedy, the play is based on the 1988 Tim Burton fan-favorite film starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder.

Like the film, the musical tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a self-described “strange and unusual” teenager who discovers an “unalive” couple in her family’s new house along with a demon named Beetlejuice the couple summons to help them scare away Lydia and her parents.

The show first opened in April 2019 at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre in New York and went on to win the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for David Korins’ scenic design. The show was also nominated for eight Tony Awards including Best New Musical. The show played 366 performances at the Winter Garden Theatre before the pandemic shut down the theater and the rest of Broadway in March 2020. Then the show was raised from the dead for a 2022 tour at the Marquis Theatre. Now the musical enjoys a run at Segerstrom, running until April 28.

While film composer, singer-songwriter and frequent Tim Burton collaborator Danny Elfman wrote the score for the film, the music and lyrics for the musical version are by Eddie Perfect, with a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King.

Isabella Esler as Lydia, left, Will Burton as Adam and Megan McGinnis as Barbara in “Beetlejuice the Musical.”

(Dan Norman)

The tour stars Justin Collette as Beetlejuice and Isabella Esler as Lydia. Megan McGinnis is Barbara and Will Burton plays Adam, the two roles originally played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in the movie. Lydia’s father, Charles, is played by Jesse Sharp, and her step-mother, Delia, is played by Sarah Litzsinger.

The musical hits Costa Mesa just following the buzz around the release of the trailer for the Warner Bros. movie sequel, “Beetlejuice 2,” coming to theaters on Sept. 6. Keaton will revive his role as the title character, and Ryder will return as Lidya Deetz. Jenna Ortega, who has cemented herself as a goth girl favorite in movies like “Scream” and “X” and the Netflix series “Wednesday,” will appear as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid Deetz.

Tickets for “Beetlejuice the Musical” start at $49 and are available in person at the box office or at scfta.org. Performances run through April 28.