Alex Brightman & Sophia Anne Caruso

Beetlejuice secures the Winter Garden Theatre for an April 2019 Broadway opening

Preview performances for the Broadway premiere of Beetlejuice are scheduled to begin in March 2019.

Tom Millward
Tom Millward

This coming spring will indeed be Showtime, folks! Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Langley Park Productions have now confirmed that the Broadway premiere of new musical comedy Beetlejuice will begin previews at the Winter Garden Theatre in March 2019, ahead of an official opening in April. Exact dates will be announced soon.

The musical's world premiere is set to play the National Theatre in Washington D.C. from October 14 through to November 18, 2018, with an official opening set for November 4.

Based on the hugely popular 1988 Tim Burton film with a story by Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson, the musical adaptation of Beetlejuice features a book by Scott Brown and Emmy Award nominee Anthony King, with an original score by Eddie Perfect. The production will be helmed by two-time Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers and choreographed by Connor Gallagher.

Synopsis: "It's showtime, folks, he's back! Beetlejuice is ruder, raunchier and frankly, more repellant than ever in this original musical based on Tim Burton's wonderfully demented film. Beetlejuice tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange and unusual teenager obsessed with the whole "being dead thing." Lucky for Lydia, her new house is haunted by a recently deceased couple and a degenerate demon who happens to have a thing for stripes. When Lydia calls on this ghost-with-the-most to scare away her insufferable parents, Beetlejuice comes up with the perfect plan, which involves exorcism, arranged marriages and an adorable girl scout who gets scared out of her wits. Plus singing and dancing, of course."

As previously announced, the cast of Beetlejuice includes Tony Award nominee Alex Brightman (as Beetlejuice) and two-time Lucille Lortel Award nominee Sophia Anne Caruso (as Lydia), alongside Tony Award nominee Kerry Butler (as Barbara), Tony Award nominee Rob McClure (as Adam), Obie Award winner Adam Dannheisser (as Charles), two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Leslie Kritzer (as Delia), Jill Abramovitz (as Maxine Dean), Danny Rutigliano (as Maxie Dean) and Kelvin Moon Loh (as Otho).

The ensemble includes Tessa Alves, Johnny Brantley, Ryan Breslin, Brooke Engen, Abe Goldfarb, Eric Anthony Johnson, Elliott Mattox, Mateo Melendez, George Merrick, Ramone Owens, Devin Roberts,Presley Ryan, Kim Sava, and Dana Steingold.

The creative team also features musical direction by Kris Kuku, scenic design by two-time Tony Award nominee David Korins, costume design by six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by Tony Award winner Kenneth Posner, sound design by four-time Tony Award nominee Peter Hylenski, projection design by Drama Desk Award winner Peter Nigrini, puppet design by Drama Desk Award winner Michael Curry, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Michael Weber, music production by Matt Stine, and dance arrangements by David Dabbon, 

Directed by Tim Burton and released in March 1988, "Beetlejuice" earned over $73 million at the US box office and also picked up the Academy Award for "Best Makeup". The film's cast was led by Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara.

(Photos by Darren Cox / SpotCo)

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