Everything you need to know about 'Beetlejuice' on Broadway

Here's all you need to know about the ghoulishly fabulous musical adaptation of the Tim Burton film, now returning to the New York stage for the third time.

Tom MillwardJune 3, 2025, 04:00

Hi! We'll be your guide! We'll be your (New York Theatre) G-U-I-D-E to the other side! The whole "being dead" thing has never been so frightfully fun as in Beetlejuice, the Broadway musical based on the 1988 Tim Burton cult classic movie. The show opened in April 2019 at the Winter Garden Theatre but, just under a year later, the pandemic shuttered it prematurely. But someone must have said Beetlejuice's name three times, because his musical has been resurrected yet again, and the "ghost with the most" is haunting the Palace Theatre eight times a week from October 8 to January 3.

Just about everything audiences loved about the Beetlejuice musical's original run is the same: the songs, the sets, the giant sandworm. If you missed out on Beetlejuice the first time around, read below to learn all about the show and how you can get tickets, tickets, tickets now that it got a third life.

Check back for information on Beetlejuice tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

What is Beetlejuice about?

Teenager Lydia recently lost her mother and harbors an unhealthy obsession with death. Meanwhile, a perfectly ordinary suburban couple, Barbara and Adam Maitland, die in their home and watch as Lydia, her emotionally closed-off father Charles, and her life coach Delia (who also happens to be Charles’ new lover) move in.

The “strange and unusual” Lydia is the only one who can see the house’s ghostly past owners. Lydia hopes they'll help her fetch her mother back from the Netherworld, while Barbara and Adam want to scare off Charles and Delia and get their home back. When Lydia calls on the demonic Beetlejuice to help out, all hell (literally) breaks loose. And he's got his own agenda: He plans to use Lydia, Barbara, and Adam to come back to life.

The production contains profanity and obscene gestures, so the show is not for very young children despite is funhouse-like aesthetic.

Where is Beetlejuice playing?

Beetlejuice is at the Palace Theatre, located at 160 W. 47th St. Newly reopened in 2024 after extensive renovations, the Palace is fully accessible and was raised 30 feet above the ground to accommodate commercial developments underneath.

Shows that have played at the Palace since its renovation include Tammy Faye and Glengarry Glen Ross. After Beetlejuice ends its limited run, another supernatural movie-to-musical adaptation, the vampire-centric The Lost Boys, will go in.

How long is Beetlejuice?

Beetlejuice runs 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission. This is a typical Broadway musical length, though musicals can run anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours. Intermissions are usually either 15 or 20 minutes long.

What days is Beetlejuice playing?

Beetlejuice plays eight performances a week at the Palace Theatre, with performances usually scheduled every day except Monday. There are two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For the complete performance schedule and most up-to-date weekly show times, please visit the Beetlejuice page to learn more.

Who wrote Beetlejuice?

The book for Beetlejuice was written by Scott Brown and Anthony King, who adapted it from Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren's screenplay. Brown and King made their Broadway debuts with their Beetlejuice script.

Eddie Perfect wrote the music and lyrics for the Beetlejuice musical. Beetlejuice is his second Broadway musical; his first was the 2018 musical adaptation of King Kong, which premiered on Broadway about six months before the Beetlejuice musical did.

Sophia Ann Caruso and Alex Brightman in Beetlejuice

When did Beetlejuice premiere?

Beetlejuice premiered on Broadway in 2019, but the show had been in development since 2014. Learn more about how the Beetlejuice musical was brought to life and how the Netherworld soon took over the theatre world.

2014: Eddie Perfect begins writing songs for the Beetlejuice musical. He was in the songwriting process from 2014 to 2019 and recorded tons of demos, many of which were of songs that didn't make it into the final cut of the musical. He later released the songs as a companion album to the Beetlejuice cast recording.
2016: It is announced to the public that a Beetlejuice musical adaptation was in the works, with Alex Timbers tapped to direct. A reading took place that year, with Christopher Fitzgerald in the role of Beetlejuice.
2017: Perfect is announced as the show's composer/lyricist and another reading is set. A total of three more readings and two staged workshops for Beetlejuice took place, with Alex Brightman, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Butler, and Rob McClure in the roles they'd eventually originate on Broadway.
2018: Beetlejuice has monthlong a pre-Broadway run at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. from October to November 2018. Future Broadway cast members Leslie Kritzer, Adam Dannheisser, Jill Abramovitz, Danny Rutigliano, and Kelvin Moon Loh joined for this production.
2019: Beetlejuice opens at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre. The production, like the movie, becomes a fan favorite and earns eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. The show was meant to run through June 2020, but it was shut down prematurely in March 2020 when all Broadway theatres closed for Covid-19.
April 2022: After overwhelming fan demand, Beetlejuice returns for an encore Broadway run, this time at the Marquis Theatre. Most of the actors in the cast in March 2020, including Brightman as Beetlejuice, returned to their roles.
December 2022: Beetlejuice launches its first national tour.
October 2025: On the heels of the national tour, Beetlejuice returns to Broadway for a third time.

Beetlejuice characters

Half the main characters in Beetlejuice are living humans, and others are ghosts and demons from the Netherworld. Most of these roles were made iconic by celebrities like Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara in the movie, and now the Broadway cast is putting their own spooky spin on them. Here are the major characters in the Beetlejuice musical.

Beetlejuice: A hellish, troublemaking demon who's desperate to come back to life. He can't be seen by any living people, but he needs a living person to say his name three times to make him visible, and for one to marry him to fully resurrect him. He befriends the morbid Lydia and the buttoned-up Maitlands to help his scheme along.
Lydia Deetz: A goth teenager grieving the loss of her mother. She's the only living person who can see Beetlejuice, and she enlists his haunting skills to help her take her anger out on her father, whom she feels distant from.
Barbara Maitland: A suburban housewife and the wife of Adam Maitland. Fearful of failure, especially at motherhood, and risk-taking in life, she ends up gaining new confidence as a ghost. She and Adam are upset that a new couple is moving into their house, and they want to scare them out.
Adam Maitland: Barbara's husband, who's also fearful and cautious. Barbara goads him on to break out of his shell and their old habits.
Charles Deetz: Lydia's father. He has trouble expressing his feelings, especially his grief, so he's thrown himself into his work and into a new relationship with Delia to take his mind off it, alienating his daughter in the process.
Delia Schlimmer: Charles's new lover, who he also hires to be Lydia's life coach. She has insecurities about her age, her failed past marriage, and her infertility, so she throws herself into over-positive thinking and crystal therapy.

Beetlejuice songs

Most of Beetlejuice's songs deal with death, the afterlife, hauntings, and other macabre topics, but in an upbeat and comical fashion. In between, though, are a few heartfelt ballads about grief and making the most of life, showing that Beetlejuice also has heart. Besides all the songs that made it into the final cut of Beetlejuice on Broadway, listed below, there are lots of other cut songs, which Eddie Perfect released as a 2020 album called Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos.

Act I

"Prologue: Invisible"
"The Whole "Being Dead" Thing"
"Ready, Set, Not Yet"
"The Whole "Being Dead" Thing, Pt. 2"
"The Whole "Being Dead" Thing, Pt. 3"
"Dead Mom"
"Fright of Their Lives"
"Ready Set, Not Yet (reprise)"
"No Reason"
"Invisible" (reprise)/"On the Roof"
"Say My Name"
"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)"

Act II

"Girl Scout"
"That Beautiful Sound"
"That Beautiful Sound (reprise)"
"Barbara 2.0"
"The Whole "Being Dead" Thing, Pt. 4"
"Good Old Fashioned Wedding"
"What I Know Now"
"Home"
"Creepy Old Guy"
"Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora) / Dead Mom (reprise) / Home (reprise) / Day-O (reprise)"

What awards has Beetlejuice won?

Beetlejuice has won awards for its design, directing, and performance, besides receiving acclaim from critics and audiences. The four-star New York Theatre Guide review reads, "A creative team that includes director Alex Timbers and his inspired designers David Korins (sets) and William Ivey Long (costumes), animate this parade of eccentricity with flair and great comedy technique that turns it into a subversive delight." Learn more about the awards and nominations Beetlejuice has received for its Broadway premiere.

Tony Awards: Beetlejuice did not win any Tony Awards, but it did receive eight nominations in 2019, including Best Musical and Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Alex Brightman.
Drama Desk Awards: David Korins won the 2019 Outstanding Set Design for a Musical Drama Desk Award. Beetlejuice received six additional nominations for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical (for Leslie Kritzer as Delia), Outstanding Book of a Musical, and costume, projection, wig and hair, and puppet design.
Outer Critics Circle Awards: Korins also won the 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Set Design. The show received two additional design nominations (costumes and projections) and one for Kritzer.
Drama League Awards: Alex Timbers won the Founder's Award for Excellence in Directing at the 2019 Drama League Awards. The show also received a nomination for Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical, and Brightman and Kritzer were nominated for their performances.
Theatre World Awards: For playing Lydia, Sophia Anne Caruso won the 2019 Theatre World Award for Outstanding New York City Stage Debut Performance.
Academy Awards: The original Beetlejuice movie won the 1989 Oscar for Best Makeup.

Alex Brightman in Beetlejuice

Major productions of Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice is such a high-energy delight that it's likely to get resurrected for years to come. Here are some of the major productions of the Beetlejuice musical.

2016: Beetlejuice has its first reading, with Christopher Fitzgerald playing the titular ghost.
2018: Beetlejuice has its official world premiere in Washington, D.C. at the National Theatre. Brightman, who played the role in workshops after Fitzgerald, starred as Beetlejuice.
2019: Beetlejuice makes its Broadway premiere with the cast from the D.C. run. The production transforms the Winter Garden Theatre to fit the otherworldly theme: Green and purple light bulbs were installed throughout the auditorium, and eerie pre-show music and purple lighting effects greet the audience when they walk in.
April 2022: Beetlejuice returns to Broadway for an encore run after closing in 2020. It was not considered a "new" production or a revival for awards purposes, as it featured the same cast, design, and staging. It did have a new venue, though: the Marquis Theatre, since the 2021 revival of The Music Man moved into the Winter Garden.
December 2022: The first national tour of Beetlejuice kicks off.
October 2025: The touring production of Beetlejuice comes to Broadway, marking the show's third time in New York.

Celebrities who have performed in Beetlejuice

There haven't been a lot of major celebrities in Beetlejuice on Broadway, but the original film is filled with them. Learn more about the famous figures that have stepped into the Netherworld on stage and screen.

Michael Keaton: Golden Globe winner Keaton originated the role of Beetlejuice in Tim Burton's film.
Winona Ryder: Ryder played Lydia in the original Beetlejuice movie. Lydia was her breakout role, two years after her film debut, and it remains one of her best-known performances.
Geena Davis: Academy Award winner Davis played Barbara Maitland in the 1988 Beetlejuice film. She visited the Broadway production in September 2019 and surprised the audience with a post-curtain call appearance.
Alec Baldwin: Golden Globe and Emmy winner Baldwin played Adam Maitland in the Beetlejuice movie opposite Geena Davis.
Catherine O'Hara: Golden Globe and Emmy winner O'Hara played Delia in Burton's 1988 movie, and her performance in the "Day-O" scene, where Delia gets possessed, is one of the movie's most famous moments that made it into a pop culture touchstone. O'Hara visited the Broadway show in July 2019.
Alex Brightman: Tony nominee Brightman originated the role of Beetlejuice on Broadway. He's also known for his Broadway roles in School of Rock and Wicked.
Rob McClure: McClure originated the role of Adam Maitland in the Beetlejuice musical, but he left to play the titular role of Mrs. Doubtfire on Broadway.
Kerry Butler: Known for originating the role of Penny Pingleton in Hairspray on Broadway and also playing main Broadway roles in Mean Girls, Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop of Horrors, and Xanadu, Butler originated the role of Barbara Maitland in Beetlejuice on Broadway.

Onscreen adaptations of Beetlejuice

Rather than the Beetlejuice musical being the basis for a film, it's the other way around. The musical was adapted from the hit 1988 Tim Burton film, which featured a starry cast led by Michael Keaton and soon became a cult classic. The film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup as well as three Saturn Awards: Best Horror Film, Best Makeup, and Best Supporting Actress for Sylvia Sidney, who played Juno.

Before getting the musical treatment, Beetlejuice was adapted into an animated TV show, which ran for three seasons on ABC and one on Fox, as well as multiple video games. The character of Beetlejuice also appeared in an episode of Teen Titans Go! in October 2020, and Brightman provided the voice for the character in between his Broadway appearances.

Fun facts about Beetlejuice

Venture even deeper into the Netherworld with these fun facts about the Beetlejuice musical.

Like The Book of Mormon before it, Beetlejuice lovingly sends up Broadway musicals of the past during the show; one of the most famous references is a roast of the Golden Age musical Brigadoon.
Having been performed on the Macy's Parade, the Today Show, and the Tony Awards, "The Whole "Being Dead" Thing" is one of the show's most famous songs. The lyrics are changed slightly each time to fit the event or venue it's being sung at. For example, when Beetlejuice was at the Winter Garden, the song began, "Hey folks, beggin' your pardon / Welcome to the Winter Garden!" At the Marquis, the lyric was, "Hey folks, ain't it pretty? Look who's back in New York City!" At the Tony Awards, it was "Hey folks, I'm at the Tonys, chilling with my Broadway homies."
Beetlejuice's name is actually spelled Betelgeuse; he's named after a star in the Orion constellation. However, the film and musical used the phonetic spelling "Beetlejuice" in the title to make it easier to advertise.
Beetlejuice has a large social media following. One of the original understudies, Presley Ryan, often posted videos of herself and the cast to TikTok, and many went viral. The show leaned into its online popularity and hosted virtual costume contests, fan art contests, and more for its online fanbase, especially when live theatre shut down in 2020.
Alex Brightman used a special technique called "ventricular fold phonation" to perform the role of Beetlejuice, which allowed him to sing in the character's raspy growl without damaging his voice.

How to get Beetlejuice tickets

Beetlejuice is not just for Tim Burton aficionados or for those that take special delight in macabre creations like The Addams Family, but for anyone who likes theatre bursting with special effects and eye-popping illusions. Beetlejuice will have you rolling in your graves… or rather, rolling over with laughter in the aisles!