The full cast has materialised for the eagerly awaited West End premiere of Beetlejuice: The Musical next month.
As previously announced, Olivier Award nominee David Fynn (School of Rock The Musical, Gillian Lynne Theatre) will materialise as the self-styled ‘Ghost With The Most’ at the Prince Edward Theatre from 20 May.
Olivier Award nominee Tom Xander (Mean Girls, Savoy Theatre) will join the cast to play the alternate Beetlejuice with Hannah Nordberg (Euphoria, HBO, Little Miss Sunshine, Second Stage Theatre) as goth girl Lydia Deetz.
The newly-dead homemakers who unwittingly unleash the comic chaos of Beetlejuice, Adam and Barbara Maitland will be played by David Hunter (Time Traveller’s Wife, Apollo Theatre, Waitress, Adelphi Theatre/UK tour) and Chelsea Halfpenny (9 to 5: The Musical, Savoy Theatre, Waitress, UK tour).
They will be joined by Alasdair Harvey (The Little Big Things, Soho Place; Come From Away, Phoenix Theatre) as Lydia’s bereaved father Charles Deetz and Olivier Award nominee Aimie Atkinson (SIX The Musical, West End/UK tour, Pretty Woman, Savoy Theatre) as his fiancée, life coach Delia.
Chasity Crisp (Hamilton, UK and Ireland tour) will make her West End debut as Maxine Dean/Juno, and Richard Frame (Frozen the Musical, Theatre Royal Drury Lane; The Lion King, Lyceum Theatre) will play Otho; with Irvine Iqbal (Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre, East is East, National Theatre) as Maxine’s investor husband Maxie Dean and Rachel Macdougall (The King and I, Dominion Theatre/UK tour) as Girl Scout. Vanessa Aurora Sierra will reprise her Broadway performance as Miss Argentina.
The company will be completed by Jemma Alexander, Samuel Bangs, Natasha Cayabyab, Chris Draper, Harley Emmitt, Catherine McCormick, Robbie McMillan, Kieran Mellish, Elliott Parry, Jacob Smith, Adam Taylor, Tyler Timmins and Issie Wilman.
Presented by Crossroads Live and Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, the hit production is planned to haunt the West End for a strictly limited run up to 17 April 2027.
Reuniting the creative team behind the musical which first appeared on Broadway in 2019, the West End production features a book by Scott Brown (Castle Rock) and Anthony King (Broad City), along with an original score by Tony Award nominee Eddie Perfect (King Kong). Alex Timbers (Here Lies Love, Moulin Rouge! The Musical) directs.
Announcing the London transfer last year, producer James Lane from Crossroads Lives said: “The wait is over! We are beyond thrilled to be working alongside Warner Bros and the ingenious team behind Beetlejuice to bring this highly anticipated Broadway hit to London’s West End at last. There is nothing else quite like this show, and audiences really are in for a terrifyingly hilarious treat at the spectacular Prince Edward Theatre next year.”
Co-producers Mark Kaufman (Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures) and Kevin McCormick (Langley Park Productions) added: “After three successful Broadway engagements, a record-setting 88-city North American tour, and captivating audiences across international stages in Tokyo, Seoul, Abu Dhabi, and Melbourne, Beetlejuice will finally arrive in the United Kingdom. We are thrilled Beetlejuice will soon make its debut in London’s West End with its signature wit and irreverence.”
Beetlejuice: The Musical features choreography by Connor Gallagher, music supervision, orchestrations and incidental music by Kris Kukul with additional arrangements by Kris Kukul and Eddie Perfect. Scenic design is by David Korins, costume design is by six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, with lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Peter Hylenski, projection design by Peter Nigrini, puppet design by Michael Curry, special effects design by Jeremy Chernick, illusions by Michael Weber, hair and wig design by Charles G LaPointe, make-up design by Joe Dulude II dance arrangements by David Dabbon and the music producer is Matt Stine. Casting is by Harry Blumenau, UK general management is by Crossroads Live UK and US general management is by Bespoke Theatricals.
The 1988 movie Beetlejuice gave the mainstream moviegoer a first glimpse of the distinctive creative talent and vision of Tim Burton, the director who had gained a devoted cult following for his first full-length feature Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Based on an original script by novelist Michael McDowell, Burton’s inventive and innovative film featured a wickedly funny, scene-stealing performance from Michael Keaton as the poltergeist Betelgeuse and a career-launching turn from Ryder as Goth teen Lydia.
The story of a recently deceased young couple (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who are tricked into enlisting the help of the devious Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice) to help them rid their dream home of its new obnoxious owners, the film was a hit at the box office and with the critics. The film won an Oscar for make-up, spawned an animated series and video games, and a long-awaited sequel which finally materialised in 2024.
Word of a stage musical version of the film first emerged in 2016. However, the biggest obstacle to transforming the film into a stage musical was the fact that the title character is essentially a featured character with limited screen time in the original film. For the stage version, the character is front and centre.
After a try-out run in Washington in 2018, Beetlejuice The Musical burst onto Broadway in March 2019 with the stars of the original workshops, School of Rock’s Alex Brightman and Sophia Anne Caruso in the central roles of the self-styled bio-exorcist Beetlejuice and Lydia.
Angela Thomas
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