“Beetlejuice,” the ghost-with-the-most, makes his Philadelphia debut in this edgy and irreverent musical-comedy, and will haunt the Academy of Music on the Kimmel Cultural Campus from May 30-June 11.
Based on Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy/horror movie, the script for “Beetlejuice’” is flipped, and rather than a family trying to get rid of the ghosts trying to haunt them, the story concerns the ghosts of Adam and Barbara Maitland trying to rid their home of the family that moved in after the young couple’s untimely death.
When the Deetz family — Charles, his wife Delia and daughter Lydia — move into the Maitland’s home and begin redecorating it, Adam and Barbara, armed with a copy of “The Handbook for the Recently Deceased,” attempt to scare the new family away. Pathetically unsuccessful, they seek advise in the afterlife and stumble across a demon named Beetlejuice — a demon with a thing for stripes — who they can summon by saying his name three times.
Helping them along in their quest is Lydia, who finds the Handbook, and so is able to see and talk to the Maitlands as they become friends. And the plot thickens from there.
After making it as a real cult classic, “Beetlejuice” came to life again on Broadway and was the surprise hit of the 2018-2019 season — until COVID shut down the production as it did with other Broadway shows.
But today, “Beetlejuice” returns on a long-awaited national tour. Despite its seemingly unusual undercurrents, the show is remarkably touching about family, love, and making the most of every day.
Appearing as Barbara Maitland is Britney Coleman, born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of the youngest members of a large musically accomplished family, she began her musical career in elementary school.
“I was in the third grade and I played Mary in ‘The Secret Garden.’ I think that’s when I caught the acting bug., and it just went on from there,” Coleman recalls.
She continued to pursue theater, choir and orchestra all through high school when her many accomplishments finally led to her acceptance into the nationally-recognized BFA Musical Theatre program at the University of Michigan.
“While there, I also got a chance to audition for a student-run musical based on the Harry Potter series,” she says. “Little did I know at the time that it would become one of the most widely recognized videos on YouTube.”
Since gradating from U of M, Coleman has moved to New York and appeared in several Broadway shows, including the revival of “Sunset Boulevard,” “Beautiful: The Carol King Musical,” “Tootsie,” and more. She’s also scored roles in many regional productions, and is now happily touring the country in “Beetlejuice.”
Coleman explains that Geena Davis played the roe of Barbara in the movie version. “It’s funny but our characters are written very differently from the movie. While the Maitlands lived on for a while in that script, in our version within minutes of entering the stage, Adam and I die. So we become this dead duo from then on.”
But it’s been 35 years since the movie was first released, so why does Coleman think it remains so popular after all this time?
“I think because it’s so funny,” she replies. “In the movie, Beetlejuice doesn’t have many minutes on screen — maybe 20 or 30. But in our musical he’s introduced right away, and goes on a mile a minute full of jokes and boundless energy. I believe the musical is funnier than people expect.
“And with that in mind,” she continues, “‘Beetlejuice 2’ is now in the works. That’s probably because a whole new audience has found it and love it.”
Speaking of new audiences and productions, Coleman is set to play Bobbie in a version of Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant “Company.” The script has been rewritten to have the lead character be a woman.
“Although they did do a gender-swap in this new version, the musical is still 95% in tact. And we’re getting ready to begin a national tour with the new version, hopefully sometime this coming fall — something I’m really looking forward to!”