Broadway-bound Beetlejuice musical to premiere in October

Lock up your kids: He's back!

BEETLEJUICE
Photo: Mary Evans/GEFFEN PICTURES / WARNER BROS/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

It’s been in the works for years, but a Beetlejuice musical is finally set for an official launch.

Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Langley Park Productions jointly announced Wednesday that Beetlejuice, a musical comedy based on Tim Burton’s beloved film of the same name, will make its world premiere in a pre-Broadway engagement at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. The production is tentatively slated for an October bow, and performance dates are expected to be confirmed shortly.

Tony Award nominee Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher) will direct a production choreographed by Connor Gallagher (The Robber Bridegroom), with an original score by Eddie Perfect (King Kong) and a book by Scott Brown and Emmy nominee Anthony King (Broad City). Pitched as a “ruder, raunchier, and frankly, more repellant” version of Burton’s film, Beetlejuice tells the story of Lydia Deetz, a strange teenager obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Luckily 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.

Timber’s Beetlejuice production was workshopped last year, with Community breakout Danny Pudi among the actors to star. No casting information for the pre-Broadway National Theatre production has been announced as of yet.

You can visit BeetlejuiceBroadway.com for more information.

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